What's the difference between a $0.50 lead and a $50 lead? Most people think "cheaper is better." In reality the difference isn't in the price — it's in who shows up.
At $0.50 you usually get leads who buy up to $1,500 of service/product. At $50 you get leads with a clear $50,000+ monthly turnover who buy $5,000 of service. Two completely different games.
The core of performance is the sale, not the lead
In performance marketing the core is the sale, not lead count. When doing B2B performance — if you dislike working with "junk" leads, and if you care about CAC (customer acquisition cost) rather than lead price — you need to build a proper CJM (customer journey map).
The sad part: most marketers and business owners don't know how to calculate CAC. They only look at lead price and fool themselves — because a low lead price often hides a high, invisible CAC.
A cheap funnel isn't always right
In B2C I've worked with up to 30k leads a month — there the main focus was getting lots of leads and processing them (product price $200–$1500). In that case, cheap, mass leads work.
But if you work with B2B products/services above a $5,000 ticket — a broad target and a 15–20 second creative won't work. Such a product needs its own CJM, its own offer, and its own performance approach.
The expensive but buying lead
In recent months we've been delivering leads to IT companies ready to buy $5,000+ services/products — some bought 30–40k of service. With the right approach these close comfortably.
Conclusion: you can sell via Instagram in B2B too, and a $50 lead price is natural. Offer your clients not "I'll bring cheap leads," but "I'll bring expensive but purchase-ready customers." And most importantly — prove your claim by delivering on it.