Facebook ads benchmarks: what's good and how to check yours

Before you compare anything to a benchmark, you need your own CTR, CPM and CPC in one view. Meta's help page Customize Columns in Ads Manager says that by customizing columns you can view specific data and learn if your campaigns are helping you meet your business goals. Meta renames menus often, so if a label differs, search the Business Help Center for the page title.

Set up a benchmark view

1. In Ads Manager, click Campaigns, Ad Sets or Ads, depending on the level you want to check.
2. Click the Columns dropdown, then select Customize Columns.
3. Tick the metrics you want: results, cost per result, CPM, CPC and CTR (link click-through rate). Meta defines CPM as cost divided by impressions, multiplied by 1,000. It defines link CTR as link clicks divided by impressions.
4. Tick Save as preset so you can reuse the view, then click Apply.
5. Read the numbers at the same level (campaign, ad set or ad) you are comparing against, so you are not mixing totals with single ads.

If you are still setting up your first campaign, start with how to run Facebook ads.

ALM Corp reports WordStream's 2026 figures from 1,377 traffic campaigns and 452 leads campaigns, run April 2025 to June 2026, using medians. Those are the numbers most small advertisers quote.

• Traffic campaigns: 1.93% CTR and $0.60 CPC.
• Leads campaigns: 2.70% CTR, $1.80 CPC, 8.54% conversion rate and $27.39 cost per lead.
• Ecommerce: a Coupler roundup lists a $15.06 CPM, 2.39% CTR, 1.88 ROAS and $38.99 CPA.

Industry matters. In the traffic data, Restaurants & Food shows 2.68% CTR at $0.45 CPC, and Beauty shows 2.73% at $0.50. ALM Corp's own example is that Finance & Insurance traffic campaigns average $0.86 CPC while Arts & Entertainment average $0.34.

The ROAS figure is a reported average, not a target for your store. For your own break-even, see what a good ROAS for Facebook ads is.

A benchmark only helps if you compare like with like. Work through these checks before deciding anything is wrong.

1. Match the objective. A traffic benchmark ($0.60 CPC) says little about a leads campaign, where the same source shows $1.80.
2. Match the metric. Meta lists separate definitions for CTR (all) and CTR (link click-through rate). Benchmarks for traffic campaigns are about link clicks, so use the link CTR column.
3. Wait for enough data. Meta says an ad set is learning limited when it is unlikely to get around 50 optimisation events in the week after your last significant edit. Early numbers on a new ad set are noisy.
4. Check the budget. Meta's suggested fixes for learning limited include combining ad sets and choosing an optimisation event that happens more often, such as add to basket instead of purchase. If your budget is too low to reach that volume, read how much to budget for Facebook ads.
5. Change one thing at a time. Edits can reset learning, so swap one ad or one audience, not five.

Read the metrics in order. A low CTR points at the ad itself: the image, the first line or the video hook. A high CPM points at the audience or the competition for it. A good CTR with few sales points past the ad, to your page, price or tracking.

Creative is the cheapest thing to change, and it is where small shops run out of options. We built ScaleShot for that gap: it learns your store from its link, makes image and short video ads, and launches them to your Meta account, asking before it changes anything (our own data). Our plans start at $19.95 for the first 2 weeks, with a 14-day money-back guarantee, and Meta bills ad spend separately. Image ads cost 10 to 20 credits each and video costs 10 credits per second. ScaleShot does not guarantee sales and runs Meta ads only.

To see what your spend should look like first, read how much Facebook ads cost.

• Treating an average as a goal. The figures above are medians from sampled campaigns. Your product, price and audience can sit well above or below them.
• Judging an ad after a day. An ad set with too few optimisation events stays learning limited, and its numbers move a lot.
• Comparing across objectives. Traffic CPC and leads CPC are different campaigns, not a sign that one failed.
• Trusting one source. Two roundups can report different CTRs for the same year because they sample different advertisers. Use a range.
• Skipping the saved view. Without a preset you will rebuild your columns every visit, and compare different metrics each time.