Same metric, same funnel, same question — which channel gets you leads for less, with more trust?
You save $161 per lead — and each advocate-sourced lead carries peer credibility that paid clicks can’t replicate. If these leads convert to pipeline at even 1.5× the rate of paid leads, the effective CPL advantage widens further.
Paid funnel: Monthly budget ÷ CPC = clicks. Clicks × conversion rate = leads. Budget ÷ leads = cost per lead.
Advocacy funnel: Advocates × posts/month = total posts. Posts × avg impressions = total impressions. Impressions × engagement rate = engagements (likes, comments, shares, profile visits). Engagements × lead conversion rate = leads. Total cost (creator payouts + $299 platform fee + 15% transaction fee) ÷ leads = cost per lead.
Kindling pricing: $299/mo platform fee + 15% transaction fee on all creator payouts.
Key assumption: The engagement → lead conversion rate for advocate content is a conservative estimate. In practice, a comment on a customer's post or a DM triggered by seeing a peer's recommendation has significantly higher intent than a paid click. We recommend starting conservative and adjusting based on your actual program data.