Facebook Ads Benchmarks by Industry & Format in 2025

If you’re running Facebook campaigns, benchmarks give you a clear target. They tell you if a 1.2% CTR is good or if your $2.50 CPC needs work.

This guide breaks down the latest Facebook Ads benchmarks by industry and format, so you can spot underperforming metrics fast and know what to adjust. 

In this article, we’ll cover: 

• What Facebook Ads benchmarks are
• Benchmarks by industry in 2025
• What a good CTR, CPC, and CPM are in 2025
• What to do if your metrics are below benchmarks

Let’s start by discussing what Facebook Ads benchmarks are.

Disclaimer: The information in this article, including benchmarks, prices, and other figures, is subject to change. While we strive to keep our content current and accurate, we recommend always consulting official sources or qualified professionals for the most up-to-date and authoritative information before making important decisions.

What are Facebook Ads benchmarks?

Facebook Ads benchmarks are average performance metrics that help you compare your campaign results to others. These show how your ads stack up across industries, formats, and objectives. 

Marketers use benchmarks to set performance targets, spot issues early, and guide creative and budget decisions. Key Facebook benchmarks include:

• Click-through rate (CTR): How often people click your ad
  
  
• Cost per click (CPC): What you pay for each time a person clicks your ad
  
  
• Cost per mille (CPM): Your cost per 1,000 impressions (views)
  
  
• Cost per action (CPA): The cost for a conversion like a lead or sale
  
  
• Conversion rate (CVR): How often clicks turn into conversions
  
  
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): Revenue earned for every dollar spent

Your industry, funnel stage, and campaign type all shape your Facebook Ads benchmarks. A 1.2% CTR might be strong for B2B but low for ecommerce. CPMs also shift depending on whether you're running video, image, or Reels.

Facebook Ads benchmarks by industry (2025)

Facebook Ads benchmarks vary by industry because each audience behaves differently. A retail ad might get more clicks than a finance ad, but the finance lead could be worth more. The table below shows average CTR, CPC, and CVR for key industries in 2025:

How we got these numbers

The Facebook Ads benchmarks in this article come from data published by WordStream, Triple Whale, and AgencyAnalytics. We reviewed reports from late 2024 and early 2025, then averaged key metrics across major industries. 

These benchmarks are general guidelines, not fixed targets. Use them to spot trends and compare your performance, not to define your success.

What’s a good CTR for Facebook Ads in 2025?

The average click-through rate (CTR) for Facebook ads across all industries is around 1.57%, based on recent WordStream data. But that number only tells part of the story. A good CTR for Facebook Ads in 2025 depends on your industry, format, and targeting.

For example:

• Restaurants and food see CTRs around 2.19%
  
• Real estate hits about 2.60%
  
• Finance and insurance averages closer to 0.85%

If your CTR falls below 1%, that’s a signal to make changes. Start with your ad creative. Is the image too generic? Is the copy clear? Are you showing people something they actually care about? You might also need to refine your audience or try new placements.

Bestever can help with these issues. It reviews your performance data in real time and flags weak creatives early. You’ll get clear suggestions on what to fix, from headline structure to visual clutter. You can also explore competitor ad formats and messaging styles to inspire your next round of testing. 

What’s a good CPC for Facebook Ads?

The average cost per click (CPC) for Facebook ads across all industries is about $1.72. However, a good CPC varies widely based on the niche. 

Finance and insurance often top the list, with clicks reaching $3.77. On the lower end, industries like apparel and travel can see CPCs under $0.70.

Your funnel stage matters too. Awareness ads usually cost less because you're not asking for much. Retargeting campaigns cost more because you're targeting a conversion. A higher CPC can still be worth it if your return is strong.

You don’t need to panic every time a click costs more. But if high CPC is paired with weak performance, that’s a sign to dig in. Bestever helps you spot that early. It reviews your ad data as it comes in, flags the campaigns where costs are rising, and shows you what to adjust, whether that’s a stale creative, a mismatched audience, or an ineffective placement.

What’s a good CPM for Facebook Ads?

A good CPM for Facebook Ads in 2025 is between $8 and $15, but it changes based on your industry and the season. In 2025, many industries are seeing CPMs over $12, and some have gone much higher during seasonal peaks. 

For example, art and baby products can spike above $18 to $20. These jumps often happen when demand spikes, especially around the holidays, when ad space gets more competitive.

Some of the steepest year-over-year increases came from giftable product categories. Apparel and food, and beverage brands saw CPM rise by 50 to 80%. If you're running ads in Q4, it's normal to see higher CPMs across the board.

A higher CPM doesn’t always mean something’s wrong. It might just reflect timing, audience size, or bidding pressure. What matters more is whether your ad is converting well enough to justify the spend.

Bestever can help you catch expensive trends before they drain your budget. If your CPM is climbing without a clear return, Bestever highlights which creatives, placements, or audiences are driving up your costs. You can use that info to test alternatives and shift spend toward what’s actually working.

Facebook Ads performance benchmarks by format

Not all Facebook ad formats perform the same. In 2025, here’s how the top four ad formats compare based on CTR, engagement, and cost:

Video ads

This type of ad gets the highest average CTR at around 0.98%, according to Lebesgue’s benchmark data. Videos perform well for awareness campaigns because they stop viewers from scrolling and tell a story quickly. 

In one ExoClick case study, split tests revealed that native video thumbnails outperformed static images by 23.3% to 61.3%, with several campaigns reporting a 35% higher CTR from video-based creatives. 

Tip: Videos are most effective when the hook lands in the first 3 seconds.

Carousel ads

Carousel ads average 0.90% CTR, slightly lower than video. However, they convert better and drive higher ROAS. 

According to Lebesgue, carousel ads had the lowest customer acquisition cost at a little over $15. It also has the highest return on ad spend across formats, depending on the vertical. 

Carousels work well when you want to showcase multiple products or benefits in one ad. For example, a skincare brand might use a carousel to highlight each step of a 3-product routine.

Image ads

Image ads have the lowest average CTR at around 0.88%, based on Lebesgue’s benchmarks. They’re easy to run and cost less to distribute, with CPMs around $1.56, but they tend to deliver weaker results. 

The average cost to acquire a customer from image ads is about $28, the highest among all formats. While these ads can still be effective for quick promotions or retargeting, they often struggle to drive genuine engagement on their own.

Reels

Reels ads continue to lead in engagement, and they’re also proving strong for conversions. Meta analyzed over 12 million ad sets and found that campaigns using 9:16 vertical video with audio had 12% higher conversions per dollar than those using other formats. 

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That boost comes from the immersive, mobile-native experience that Reels create. If you're running ads for mobile users or focusing on top-of-funnel traffic, Reels are one of the most effective formats to grab attention and stretch your budget.

What to do if your metrics are below benchmarks

If your Facebook Ads aren’t hitting benchmark levels, something’s probably misaligned. That could be your targeting, creative, placements, or even post-click experience. Here’s what to check and how to fix it, with clear examples for each part of the funnel:

Audit targeting and creative quality

Low CTR usually means one of two things. Either your ad is showing to the wrong people, or it isn’t saying something they care about. Fixing either one can make a noticeable difference.

Here are a few things you can try:

Audience targeting

The more specific your targeting, the more relevant your ad will feel, and that usually means higher CTR and lower CPC.

A broad audience like “parents” might sound fine at first, but it usually leads to wasted spend if your offer is niche. 

For example, if you’re advertising private tutoring, you might want to narrow your audience down to “parents of high schoolers in ZIP codes with $100K+ income” instead of just “parents.” Choosing the specific audience means the parents you target are more likely to have the need and budget to actually afford tutoring.

Creative quality and match

Strong creative grabs attention fast and keeps your relevance score high, which helps improve both your reach and cost efficiency.

Even great targeting won’t work if your ad doesn’t stand out. If your creative shows a generic stock image with “Shop Now” as the call to action, most users will scroll past it. There’s no value, no urgency, and no reason to care. 

Now take that same offer and show a photo of a student working with a tutor, paired with a headline like “20% Off ACT Prep This Week Only.” That feels real. It tells people what’s in it for them and why they should click today. 

Use a creative analysis tool like Bestever

After you’ve fine-tuned your targeting and refreshed your creative, it helps to get a second opinion backed by data. Bestever reviews your ad performance in real time and flags weak creatives before they drain your budget. 

It checks for visual clarity, headline strength, CTA quality, and layout issues using actual campaign data. If your image is too busy, your message isn’t landing, or your design is causing drop-off, Bestever will show you what’s getting in the way and what to fix next.

Test ad types and hooks

If your performance is weak across formats or audiences, it might be time to try a new ad type or message. Some formats just work better for certain goals, and sometimes your hook needs a sharper angle to grab attention. 

Here’s what you can do:

Format swap

Not every format works the same way. A static image might be easy to launch, but if it’s not getting traction, try a carousel to show multiple products or steps. 

For example, if you're targeting mobile-first users, a short-form video or Reels ad may be a better fit for their scrolling habits. 

Reels especially shine in awareness campaigns because they feel native and quick. Choosing a format that matches your audience’s habits can give you more engagement without changing the offer.

Hook variations

Your headline and primary text are the first things people read, so they need to grab attention quickly. A line like “100% Waterproof” gives a fact. A line like “Never worry about spills again” gives a benefit. That shift in framing can increase clicks, because it’s about what your audience feels, not just what your product does. 

Urgency-based hooks like “Only 12 Left in Stock” or social proof like “Over 10,000 Sold” also perform well because they add emotion or fear of missing out (FOMO) to the message.

A/B testing

You don’t have to guess what will work. A/B testing lets you run two versions of an ad with the same offer, but different visuals or headlines. When you run those tests, you can see which one performs better. 

Sometimes it’s not even close. One version will just click with your audience. That kind of small, focused test can help you scale faster by putting budget behind what is already converting.

Test many variations with Bestever

If you’re running lots of variations and aren’t sure which ones to keep, Bestever can break it down for you. It compares headline styles, ad formats, and messaging angles based on real data from your account. You’ll see which versions are driving higher CTR or lower CPC, and which ones are falling flat. That way, you’re not just testing at random. 

Optimize landing pages and conversion path

Sometimes your ad does everything right. It grabs attention and earns the click. But if conversions aren’t happening, the issue likely lives on the landing page or somewhere in your funnel.

Here’s what you can try: 

Landing page match

Your landing page needs to follow through on what your ad promised. If the ad says “20% Off All Running Shoes,” but sends users to a generic homepage, most of them won’t stick around to search. 

A better approach is to send them straight to the sale page with that discount clearly visible. When people land exactly where they expect to, they’re more likely to follow through.

Page speed and mobile performance

Slow load times are conversion killers. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load on mobile, a large chunk of users will back out before they even see your content. 

Tools like PageSpeed Insights or WebPageTest can help you find the slowdown. Compress large images, remove unnecessary scripts, and check that your mobile layout is clean and easy to scroll. 

Friction points in your funnel

Extra steps can quietly ruin your conversion rate. If someone clicks your ad and hits a long form, account signup, or multi-step checkout, there’s a good chance they’ll drop off. Try replacing complex flows with autofill, guest checkout, or native lead forms like Facebook Instant Forms. Making it easier to act means more people will follow through.

Optimize landing pages with Bestever

Bestever connects your ad performance with what happens after the click. If your CTR is high but conversions are low, it flags which landing pages are underperforming. It shows where users drop off and why, whether it’s a slow load time, weak offer match, or confusing layout.

Frequently asked questions

Which industries have the lowest CPM on Facebook?

Industries like retail, education, and local services tend to have the lowest cost per mille (CPM) on Facebook. These sectors usually reach broader audiences with less competition, which keeps costs down. CPMs in these categories often fall under $8, especially during off-peak seasons. If you're running top-of-funnel ads, these industries are often easier to scale without overspending.

Why is my Facebook ad CTR below average?

Your Facebook ad CTR is probably below average because your creative or targeting isn’t resonating. Ads that look tired or repeat too often can lead to creative fatigue. People stop noticing them, and engagement drops. Try updating your headline, using stronger visuals, or narrowing your audience to improve click-through rates. Creative analysis tools can help you test new ideas quickly and track what’s working.

How can I reduce my CPC on Facebook?

You can reduce your CPC on Facebook by improving creative performance and targeting. Ads that get higher engagement often cost less because Facebook rewards relevance. Start by testing different ad types, rewriting your CTA, or tightening your audience. You can also use creative design tools to explore layout and copy changes that help drive more clicks for less money.

Do Facebook ad benchmarks change by placement?

Yes, Facebook ad benchmarks shift based on where your ad shows up. Reels and Stories usually get better engagement on mobile and can offer lower CPM. News Feed placements often have higher CTR, but they also cost more. If you’re using automatic placements, review the breakdown and shift spend to where your metrics look strongest. It’s a good idea to adjust your creative based on each placement so it fits the format.

What’s the most cost-effective Facebook ad format?

Carousel ads are often the most cost-effective for conversions. They let you showcase multiple products or steps, which encourages interaction and helps lower your cost per result. Video ads are great for awareness, while Reels can help reach mobile users at a lower CPM. The right format depends on your goal. Aligning format with intent is more important than defaulting to what’s trending.

How do I know if my CPM is too high?

You know your CPM is too high when it climbs while your engagement drops. In 2025, many campaigns average between $10 and $18 CPM, depending on the industry. If your CPM is above that range and conversions are low, you might have an issue with audience fit or creative fatigue.

What’s the average ROAS for Facebook ads?

The average ROAS for Facebook ads ranges from 2.5x to 4x across industries. Ecommerce campaigns often aim for higher, like 3x to 5x, while lead generation may accept lower returns if quality stays high. To get better ROAS, make sure your landing page matches the ad and remove any friction in your funnel. Use benchmarks from both Facebook and Google Ads benchmarks to decide where your ad spend gets better results.

Are Facebook ad benchmarks different for Reels?

Yes, Facebook ad benchmarks for Reels are different from other formats. Reels usually come with lower CPM and better engagement, but only if your creative is built for short-form video. You need vertical format, motion, and sound within the first few seconds. Reels ads often work best for awareness and early-stage engagement. 

How often should I refresh my Facebook ad creatives?

You should refresh your Facebook ad creatives every 7 to 14 days if you’re running a daily spend above $100, or as soon as you see engagement metrics drop. A sudden dip in CTR or a spike in CPC can signal creative fatigue. Use creative analysis tools to monitor performance over time and spot when your audience starts tuning out.

Can I use the same creative across multiple placements?

Yes, but it usually performs better when tailored. A static image might look fine in Feed but get cropped awkwardly in Stories or Reels. Video with text overlays might not work well without sound. To improve creative performance, adjust your layout and aspect ratio for each placement.

Do Facebook Ads benchmarks change during the holidays?

Yes, benchmarks often shift during peak seasons. CPM and CPC usually increase due to higher competition, especially around Q4. Keep an eye on your metrics and rotate creatives faster to avoid fatigue.

How Bestever helps you improve your FB ads 

Facebook Ads benchmarks show how your campaigns stack up, but they don’t explain why your CTR is low or which creatives are falling flat. Campaign-level data helps you figure out what’s working and what’s holding you back, and Bestever can help.

Bestever allows you to understand your creative performance with real insights from your own ad account. It flags weak headlines, cluttered visuals, and signs of creative fatigue before they drag down your results. You’ll know what to fix and what to test without wasting another week trying to figure it out manually.

Here’s how:

• Quickly analyze ad performance instantly: Bestever’s Ad Analysis tool provides real-time feedback on your ads' engagement, conversion potential, budget efficiency, and creative impact. You’ll get a clear breakdown of what’s holding it back, whether it’s weak visuals, poor targeting, or budget misalignment.
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• Optimize your ads before you burn budget: Instead of waiting 7+ days and spending thousands to see if an ad works, Bestever pinpoints weaknesses before you waste ad spend. Our AI highlights underperforming elements and suggests improvements, so you can pivot your strategy early and avoid a never-ending learning phase.
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• Review your old ads and get ideas: Bestever can look at historical data in your ad manager accounts and make suggestions based on past performance results. You’ll be able to see the patterns in high-performing ads, whether it’s a carousel format that drove 30% more engagement or a headline variation that boosted CTR by 20%. Use these insights to refine your next campaign and use what drove clicks last time.
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• Know who to target: Not sure if your audience is too broad or too niche? Bestever’s audience analysis tools go beyond basic demographics to uncover key insights. Just enter your website URL and Bestever will analyze your existing traffic to suggest how to refine your ad targeting for higher conversion rates.
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• Generate high-converting ad creatives: Need fresh creatives without hiring a big team? Bestever can look at your site and generate creatives in large volumes. Pull stock images and video clips that fit your brand voice, so you can launch more ad variations quickly.

If your Facebook Ads benchmarks aren’t where they should be, Bestever gives you the tools to improve what matters. Let our team show you how.

Try a demo of Bestever for free.