Looking to optimize your lead generation strategy in 2025? We’ve compiled 75+ essential statistics from trusted sources to help you make data-driven decisions.

This comprehensive overview covers everything from lead generation costs and digital marketing performance to conversion rates, automation strategies, and B2B metrics, giving you actionable insights across eight key areas of lead generation.

Top Lead Generation Statistics (Editor’s Pick)

These hand-picked statistics represent the most significant trends and benchmarks in lead generation today. From market projections to ROI metrics, these figures provide a snapshot of what businesses can expect from their lead generation investments.

• The global lead generation market is predicted to reach USD $15.55 billion in 2031
• 91% of marketers rate lead generation as their #1 goal
• 42.83% of leads ended up dead for real estate investors using REsimpli in 2024 
• REsimpli’s survey showed that one deal was made every 66 leads
• High-quality sales leads can cost as much as $60 on average
• Email marketing has an ROI of $42 for every $1 spent
• Direct mail generated $32,279,461 for real estate investors in 2024 
• Cold-calling generated $18,502,374 for real estate investors in 2024

Lead Generation Overview & Costs

Understanding the financial landscape of lead generation is crucial for any business’s growth strategy. These statistics reveal current market benchmarks for costs, volume, and ROI, helping you make informed decisions about your lead generation investments.

• The global lead generation market is predicted to reach USD $15.55 billion in 2031 
• 42.83% of leads ended up dead for real estate investors using REsimpli in 2024 
• Organizations generate 1,877 leads per month on average 
• The mean cost per lead across all industries is $198.44 
• 53% of marketers spend over half of their budget on lead generation 
• High-quality sales leads can cost as much as $60 on average
• The cost of acquiring new leads has increased by 50% over the past five years 
• Digital advertising spend on lead generation was $4.6 billion USD in 2021
• Businesses that prioritize lead generation are 13% more profitable than those that don’t 
• 91% of marketers rate lead generation as their #1 goal 
• Outsourcing lead generation generates 43% better results than in-house efforts 

Sources: REsimpli, HubSpot, The Insight Partners, Holger Schulze, Marketing Insider Group, Ruler Analytics, Jeff Ogden

Digital Marketing Channels

Choosing the right digital channels is crucial for successful lead generation. These statistics compare the performance of email, social media, SEO, and SMS marketing to help you identify the most effective platforms for your strategy.

• Email marketing has an ROI of $42 for every $1 spent 
• Only around 1 in 5 marketing emails are opened 
• Marketing emails perform better when sent on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday 
• The average email open rate across all industries is 21.3% 
• Social media drives 31% of referral traffic to websites 
• LinkedIn is 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook and Twitter
• 4.65 billion active social media users worldwide 
• 68% of marketers say social media marketing has helped them generate more leads 
• Facebook ads have an average conversion rate of 9.21% across all industries 
• SMS marketing has an open rate of 98% compared to email’s 20% 
• 27% of marketers say organic search generates the most leads 
• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to only 1.7% for outbound leads 

Sources: Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, Shareaholic, HubSpot, Statista, Social Media Examiner, WordStream, Mobile Marketing Watch, Ruler Analytics, Search Engine Journal

Lead Conversion & Sales Performance

Converting leads into customers is where real business growth happens. These statistics reveal key conversion benchmarks and follow-up practices to help you optimize your sales performance.

• Only 1.5% of leads make it to completion for real estate investors in 2024 using REsimpli 
• 10.23% of leads made it to offers for investors using REsimpli in 2024
• 14.69% of leads went to deals for investors using REsimpli in 2024
• Only 21% of leads convert to sales 
• 79% of leads never convert into sales
• Only 20% of sales-qualified leads are correctly followed up 
• Lead response time is critical: Leads contacted within 5 minutes are 9x more likely to convert 
• The average landing page conversion rate is 2.35% across industries 
• 44% of sales reps are too busy to follow up with leads 
• 41% of companies struggle to quickly follow up with leads
• Leads from inbound marketing cost 61% less than outbound leads 
• 97% of people ignore cold calls 
• Companies that use retargeting see a 147% higher conversion rate

Sources: REsimpli, Business Wire, Vibtech, HubSpot, Verse, WordStream, APSIS, MarketingSherpa, InsideSales

Content & Format Effectiveness

The type and format of content you create can dramatically impact your lead generation success. These statistics reveal which formats deliver the highest engagement and conversion rates.

• Content marketing generates 3x more leads than traditional marketing while costing 62% less 
• Direct mail generated $32,279,461 for real estate investors in 2024 
• Cold-calling generated $18,502,374 for real estate investors in 2024 
• REsimpli users completed 802 deals in 2024 through cold-calling 
• Video marketing helps generate 66% more qualified leads per year
• 72% of customers prefer video over text when learning about a product or service 
• Companies that blog generate 67% more leads than those who don’t 
• Businesses that publish 16 or more blog posts per month get 3.5x more traffic
• Landing pages with personalized content generate 202% more leads 
• Video content gets shared 1200% more than text and images combined 
• 85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool 
• Webinars are the preferred content format for 54% of B2B professionals
• Customer testimonials can increase conversions by 34% 

Sources: REsimpli, DemandMetric, Wyzowl, BigCommerce, Statista, WordStream, HubSpot

Lead Nurturing & Automation

Lead nurturing and automation have become essential tools in modern lead generation. These statistics show how automated systems are dramatically improving conversion rates and ROI, while reducing the resources needed to generate qualified leads.

• Companies that automate lead management see a 10% increase in revenue in 6-9 months 
• Companies using marketing automation see a 451% increase in qualified leads 
• 67% of marketers use automation to help nurture leads 
• Lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times more response compared to standalone email blasts 
• Businesses that nurture leads generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost 
• 49% of companies use marketing automation for lead generation 
• 80% of businesses that use marketing automation generate more leads 
• Lead scoring helps businesses generate 77% more ROI from lead-generation efforts 
• Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads 
• Companies using AI-driven lead scoring achieve a 20% higher conversion rate 

Sources: Gartner, DemandMetric, MarketingSherpa, Forrester, Demand Gen Report, Statista

B2B Specific Metrics

Business-to-business lead generation presents unique challenges that require specialized strategies and channels. These statistics reveal which platforms and approaches are driving the strongest B2B lead generation results in today’s market.

• 93% of B2B marketers use content marketing to generate leads 
• IT & services generate more leads per month than any other industry
• B2B buyers consume an average of 13 content pieces before deciding on a vendor 
• LinkedIn accounts for 80% of B2B leads from social media 
• 96% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation 
• 79% of B2B marketers credit email as their most effective distribution channel 
• B2B companies that blog generate 126% more leads than those that don’t
• B2B marketers allocate 28% of their budget to content marketing 
• Businesses that align sales and marketing see 38% higher win rates 

Sources: Marketo, HubSpot, Content Marketing Institue, LinkedIn, BrightTALK, FocusVision

Customer Behavior & Preferences

Understanding how customers discover and interact with brands is fundamental to successful lead generation. These statistics illuminate current consumer search patterns and engagement preferences, revealing key trends in the modern customer journey.

• 74% of social media users prefer to see 1-2 posts per day from brands they follow 
• Successful demo calls contain an average of 67 seconds of representative monologue, compared to 47 seconds for unsuccessful ones 
• 42.2% of Americans look forward to checking their mailbox daily 
• Less than half of online shoppers open branded emails at least once per day 
• 60% of consumers say they make at least one monthly purchase after reading a brand’s email 
• 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over any other form of advertising 
• 72% of consumers who search for local businesses visit stores within 5 miles
• 46% of all Google searches are for local information 
• Mobile searches for “near me” have grown by over 500% in the last few years 
• 96% of online shoppers who visit a website are not ready to buy 
• 93% of buying processes start with an online search 

Sources: REsimpli, Pinpoint Market Research, Digital Commerce 360, Sprout Social, Nielsen 

Marketing Challenges & Priorities

Lead generation continues to be a major challenge for marketing teams across industries. These statistics reveal the key obstacles and priorities shaping how businesses approach lead generation today.

• REsimpli’s survey showed that one deal was made every 66 leads
• 61% of marketers say generating traffic and leads is their biggest challenge 
• 39.5% of marketers believe having access to more accurate data could improve their marketing efforts
• 53% of marketers say improving lead quality is a top priority 
• 68% of B2B businesses struggle with lead generation 
• The biggest barrier to B2B lead generation success is a lack of resources (46%) 
• Around a quarter of marketers struggle to calculate conversion rates 
• Poor lead quality is the top complaint among sales reps 
• 85% of marketers say that lead generation is their top measure in 2024 
• 87% of marketers report that data is their company’s most under-utilized asset 

Sources: REsimpli, Content Marketing Institute, Invoca, Holger Schulze, HubSpot, Oktopost, Ruler Analytics, MarketingSherpa

Conclusion

The lead generation market is growing substantially, with email and LinkedIn leading digital channels, despite rising costs and low conversion rates. Companies must balance automation with personalization to succeed. Those who master this balance while leveraging emerging AI tools will likely dominate future lead-generation efforts.