Reading Your Lens Spend
Every spend figure Lens shows comes from the record of what was actually debited from your wallet. Not from an estimate, and not from a counter kept alongside the stream.
That is worth knowing because it means the numbers can be trusted, and because it explains why a stream's Total Spent is higher than you might expect if you were only thinking about the per-lead price.
Before You Begin
- At least one stream that has acquired leads
- An understanding of the separate charges Lens makes
Steps
Start with the Lens dashboard for the whole picture
Go to Lens > Dashboard. The metric row across the top covers every stream in the brand: total leads, total spent, average cost per lead, average qualification score, and how many streams are active. Below it, streams are ranked by the number of leads they have produced, alongside the most recent leads and your email verification rate.
Use My Streams to compare streams against each other
Lens > My Streams shows the same four summary figures, then a row per stream with its Leads/Day target, its Leads, and its Spent. This is the screen for spotting a stream that is costing more per lead than the others.
Open a stream for its own figures
An acquisition stream shows Leads Acquired, Total Spent — labelled reveal, scoring and lead charges so it is clear what is included — Avg. Cost / Lead, and its Daily Target.
A feeder stream shows different figures, because it never buys anything: Leads Received, Kept, No Fit Anywhere, and Total Spent reported per lead received.
Read the smaller line under Leads Acquired
If some leads have been moved away from the stream, a second line appears reading N in this stream now. The large number is what this stream acquired; the small one is what it currently holds.
Check the verification rate before blaming the cost
The dashboard's email verification rate tells you what proportion of acquired leads have a verified or likely-valid address. A low rate means you are paying to reveal addresses that cannot be used, which shows up as cost without any corresponding outreach.
Result
You can tell what each stream cost, what it produced, and whether its cost per lead is reasonable for the targeting it is doing.
Which number answers which question
| You want to know | Look at | Note |
|---|---|---|
| What has Lens cost me in total? | Total Spent on the dashboard | Every finalised debit across all streams in the brand |
| Which stream is the most expensive per lead? | Avg. Cost / Lead, per stream | Spend divided by leads acquired — or by leads received, for a feeder |
| How many leads did this stream buy? | Leads Acquired | Stays with the acquiring stream even after a lead is moved |
| How many leads are in this stream right now? | The N in this stream now line | Only shown when it differs from Leads Acquired |
| How many were good enough to contact? | The Qualified tab count | Compare against the Quarantined count beside it |
| Is the data I am buying usable? | Email verification rate | On the dashboard. A low rate is spend without outreach |
Info: A stream's Total Spent includes the data charges, the qualification passes and the lead charges together. It is the complete figure, which is why it is larger than leads multiplied by the tier card price.
Warning: A refunded or reversed charge is excluded from these figures, which is correct — it is money you did not ultimately pay. If you are reconciling against a wallet statement, expect the Lens totals to be lower than the raw list of charge lines for that reason.
