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October 14, 2025
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I’ve worked with dozens of schools, tuition centres, and preschools in Singapore, and I’ve seen the same pattern: most education marketers obsess over Cost per Lead (CPL). It looks nice in reports, it feels “cheap” when the number drops, and agencies love to brag about it.
But here’s the hard truth: a cheap lead doesn’t mean a paying student.
If you stop at CPL, you’re flying blind. The real number you should be tracking is Cost per Enrolment (CPE)—because that’s the only metric that shows how much it truly costs to acquire a student.
In this article, I’ll break down how to calculate CPE, why it’s a more accurate measure of ROI, and how to avoid the traps that most Singapore education businesses fall into.
This piece is part of the State of Digital Marketing for Education in Singapore (2025 Report).
CPL is simple:
CPL = Total Ad Spend ÷ Number of Leads
If you spent $1,000 and generated 100 leads, your CPL is $10.
Sounds amazing, right? Except most preschools and tuition centres in Singapore know that only a fraction of those “leads” actually enrol.
• Some are curious parents who never call back.
• Some filled up a Facebook form by accident.
•Some are “price shoppers” who disappear once you mention fees.
That’s why relying on CPL is like looking at your reflection in a carnival mirror—it distorts reality.
In fact, one preschool client of mine had CPL at $12, but their actual CPE ballooned to $240 once we accounted for conversions.
Connect with our expert team to transform your enrolment process with proven digital marketing strategies that deliver real results.
Connect with us! →Here’s the formula:
• CPE = Total Ad Spend ÷ Number of Enrolments
If you spent $1,000 and 10 students actually enrolled, your CPE is $100.
Now compare that to CPL. If your CPL is $10, but only 1 in 10 leads enrol, your CPE is $100.
That $100 is your true acquisition cost—and it tells you how sustainable your campaigns really are.
From analysing campaigns across tuition centres, preschools, and enrichment classes in Singapore, here’s what I’ve seen:
• Average CPL for preschools: $12–$25
Average lead-to-enrolment conversion: 5%–15%
• Average CPE: $150–$400
(Source: internal campaign data + market studies. For comparison, HubSpot reports global CAC benchmarks showing education among the higher-cost industries.)
Notice the wide gap? That’s why marketers celebrating “$10 leads” are missing the point.
One tuition centre we worked with had a CPL of $20 and was struggling to grow because too many leads went cold. By introducing remarketing campaigns, we warmed up parents who didn’t convert the first time.
• CPL stayed the same at $20
• Enrolment rate increased from 8% to 15%
• CPE dropped from $250 to $133
👉 This mirrors the case study I broke down in detail here: Case study: tuition centre scaling with remarketing.
This shows that lowering CPE doesn’t always mean chasing cheaper leads—it’s about improving conversions from the leads you already have.
Most schools stop at “form fill.” That’s not enough. You need a system that tracks:
• Lead source (Meta, TikTok, Google, Xiaohongshu, SEO)
• Parent details
• Follow-up outcomes (did they attend a trial, call back, etc.)
• Final enrolment status
Tools like HubSpot CRM, Zoho, or even Google Sheets (if set up well) can bridge the gap.
Use unique IDs or tracking parameters. For example:
• Google Ads → use GCLID tracking
• Meta Ads → use offline conversions upload
• TikTok → link via CRM integrations
This ensures you know which ad actually brought in the student.
For each campaign, calculate both CPL and CPE. Compare them. You’ll be shocked at how misleading CPL can be.
👉 I wrote about this in detail here: The $10,000 lesson I learned about tracking the hard way.
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Answers to common questions education marketers ask about lead costs, enrolment, and agency reporting.
Education SMEs in Singapore face high CPCs because:
• Parenting-related keywords (like “best preschool in Singapore”) cost $3–$8 per click.
• Parents are highly selective—cultural buying behaviour means they “shop around” more before deciding.
• SMEs often outsource marketing and rely blindly on agency dashboards, which show CPL but hide CPE.
Combine these with MOE & PDPA compliance rules (see: MOE & PDPA rules every education marketer must know), and you can see why so many schools in Singapore get trapped in the CPL mindset.
• CPL is useful, but CPE is king.
• Without CPE, you’re not measuring true ROI.
• In Singapore’s competitive education market, high CPCs make it even more critical to track down to enrolments.
• Avoid vanity metrics. Demand transparency.
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