During the first quarter of 2020, Facebook had around 1.73 billion daily active users.
Although that number fluctuates at times, Facebook consistently remains one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.
It’s by far the easiest way to connect with potential customers from all environments.
But how do you know if you’re making the most of Facebook?
The platform is continually changing, and there are so many metrics to consider that it’s easy to lose track. Keeping a close eye on your Facebook advertising results is the only way to see whether you’re getting a return on your investment.
Fortunately, we’ve scoured the web for some handy Facebook ad benchmarks.
These guidelines should help you to figure out if your ads are working for you.
Facebook Advertising Benchmarks: Click-Through
Click-through rate is a number that refers to the average amount of people who click on your ad to visit your website or landing page.
Across all industries, the average click-through is 0.90%. Depending on your industry, the CTR can vary. According to Instapage, legal professionals have some of the highest click-through rates at 1.61%. On the other hand, recruitment companies struggle with only 0.47%
Image from Instapage.
Retail, Apparel, and Beauty companies also got some pretty significant CTR performance from Facebook. This may be because it’s easier for these companies to use a combination of text and images to capture audience attention.
Employment and job training services have a much lower average click-through rate, alongside finance and insurance businesses, home improvement, and industrial services.
These environments may have a lower CTR because their customers frequently look for them on Google, rather than Facebook.
The good news? Even if you’re not getting the best click-through rate on your ad campaigns, you might be gaining attention in other ways.
For instance, Facebook can be a great place to generate brand awareness. Reach on Facebook increased by 37% in 2019. Facebook believes this spike was caused partially by things like Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, and Newsfeed ads.
Facebook Advertising Benchmarks: CPC (Cost Per Click)
So, how much do you pay to earn engagement on Facebook?
A study from WordStream suggests that the average cost per click is around $1.72 across all industries. Once again, this can vary depending on which niche you belong to.
Financial advertisers have the highest Facebook cost per click ($3.77), alongside a lower clickthrough rate. This could mean that if you’re in the financial industry, Facebook isn’t the best solution for you.
The cheapest CPC appears in the Apparel or fashion industry ($0.45). Combine this with a higher click-through rate, and you’ve got a very affordable way to drive both brand awareness and action.
Knowing the average cost-per-click and the click-through rate for your industry might give you a good insight into whether Facebook is the right avenue for you.
Image from WordStream.
Facebook Advertising Benchmarks: Cost per Action
Cost per Action and Cost per Click can seem like similar things.
However, with a cost per action you measure how many people actually do whatever you ask them to do in your ad. This could mean buying a product, providing contact information, or just filling out a form.
Average cost per action across all industries is $18.68.
To calculate this benchmark, Instapage looked exclusively at campaigns using the conversion objective.
Once again, there’s a lot of variety between industries for cost per action.
Education advertisers pay little to push action on their ads. However, technology advertisers can pay a massive $55.21. This might mean that Facebook is a fantastic place for educators to attract new students. However, it’s probably not going to be the right route for every tech company.
The reason that things like CPA vary so much across industries is usually that the internet of customers is quite different on Facebook than it is elsewhere.
Facebook is a social platform where people want to interact with family and friends.
Other industries with higher CPAs include automotive, finance, insurance, and home improvement companies. However, you could potentially benefit from a lower CPA in the real-estate market, or the apparel environment.
Facebook Advertising Benchmarks: Conversion Rate
Here’s the metric that matters to most companies.
Conversion rate refers to how frequently people take the right action after seeing your ad.
The average ad conversion rate for Facebook across all industries is 9.21%, which is a lot higher than Google’s Ad conversion rate. As we can see from Instapage’s study, companies in the Apparel sector had the highest conversion rate overall.
Once again, intent is the main reason why conversions differ so drastically from one environment to the next. On social media platforms, people are interacting with friends, and looking for ways to improve their confidence, or their image.
Apparel, fitness, and education companies therefore get excellent conversion rates. However, other organizations aren’t as effective. Travel and hospitality, and tech companies don’t get as much of a conversion rate, simply because most people know what they want when shopping in these sectors.
That means it’s more likely for customers to visit a website straight away, or for them to type a search into Google and find what they need that way.
Major Takeaways: What to Learn from Facebook Benchmarks
Checking out Facebook benchmarks is a great way to determine how successful this social platform might be for your business. However, you can also use the figures to guide you in your marketing strategies. Let’s take a look at some of the best takeaways you can gather from Facebook.
1. Remember to Target and Retarget
Since Facebook ads aren’t driven by keywords like PPC ads, you need to make sure that you’re targeting the right people. The good news is that Facebook has some of the most comprehensive targeting solutions around.
Taking advantage of Facebook targeting tools means that you can boost your chances of getting the metrics that you want. Companies often look at things like demographic information, life events, and user interests to get the perfect target audience.
Want to take those conversion and click-through rates to the next level? Don’t forget to experiment with retargeting too. There’s a good chance that people who have already engaged with your business will have a higher purchase intent.
Facebook ad CTR can increase by up to 600% just with retargeting efforts.
2. Try Video Ads
Conversion rates on Facebook can vary from sector to sector.
Even if your company belongs to an industry with a higher average conversion rate, there’s always room for improvement.
Video ads are a great way to boost your chances of getting clicks and engagement from your target audience. However, you do need to learn how to use them correctly.
For instance, did you know that the amount of time people spend on watching Facebook Live has quadrupled recently?
Now that customers want deeper relationships with their favorite brands, live video gives you a chance to show off your authentic side. Plus, marketers note that Live videos often perform better with Facebook’s algorithm.
Whether you’re creating live videos or pre-recorded solutions, keep in mind that users watch around 85% of all videos without any sound. This means that it’s best to add captions to your content wherever you can. Alternatively, just make sure your customers can easily understand your message without audio.
3. Invest the Right Cash into Facebook Ads
Ultimately, you need to be willing to spend money to make money.
Although there are a lot of industries out there where the cost-per-click or cost per action can be quite expensive, the price of ads is reducing. According to studies, the cost for a Facebook ad fell by around 6% in 2019. That means now could be the perfect time to jump in.
Aside from prices dropping in 2019, reports also say that Facebook achieved an average 37% increase in ad impressions.
Since reach on Facebook is still high, and there are various ways that you can boost your chances of clicks with excellent ad copy and unique offers, it pays to get involved.
The best thing you can do is work with a professional to determine exactly how much money you need to invest to make your Facebook ads worthwhile.
4. Post at the Right Times
Finally, if you really want to get the best results from your Facebook ad copy, then you need to be committed to posting content at the right time.
The days and the hours when you post on social media have a direct influence on how successful your posts are. A report from Sprout Social found that the best time to post on Facebook is on a Wednesday or Thursday between 11 am and 2pm.
Keep in mind that the perfect posting time for you might differ depending on your audience and industry. It’s worth doing some extra industry on your niche before you jump in.
Making the Most of Facebook Benchmarks
Facebook advertising benchmarks are incredible tools for a lot of companies.
Knowing what the average results might be for companies in your industry helps you to determine just how successful your business is on Facebook. However, it’s important to do your own research too. Track your campaigns and focus on how your customers respond to all of your advertising efforts.
Need help getting started? Reach out to the Graygency today.
