Whether you’re new to running Facebook ads, or you’re about to start targeting a new industry, it’s always helpful to know where you stand.
How does your Facebook ad performance compare to the rest of your industry?
To find out, Mark Irvine of WordStream recently crunched some numbers, examining 256 WordStream client accounts based in the U.S. (representing $553,000 in aggregate Facebook spend).
Ultimately, the research sought to establish the average click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), and conversion rate (CVR) businesses are seeing through their Facebook ads.
The study lead to the creation of these Facebook Industry Benchmarks across 18 industries (Apparel, Auto, B2B, Beauty, Consumer Services, Education, Employment & Job Training, Finance & Insurance, Fitness, Home Improvement, Healthcare, Industrial Services, Legal, Real Estate, Retail, Technology, and Travel & Hospitality).
If you’re looking to get a better understanding of how your Facebook ads are performing, this data will give you some perspective.
Average Click-Through Rate
The average CTR across all industries is .90 percent.
But your ads aren’t competing against every business on Facebook – really, you need to worry more about competing with businesses in your own industry. To this end, the chart below outlines the average Facebook ad click-through rate across each sector in the study.
You’ll notice that only five industries (Legal, Retail, Apparel, Beauty, and Fitness) had an average CTR above 1 percent. Employment & Job Training had the lowest average CTR (0.47 percent) of the 18 industries we looked at.
Facebook rewards advertisers who create ads with above average CTRs. Ads that have high CTRs get a discount, which means you pay less for ads – the lower your CTR is, the more you’ll pay.
And speaking of costs…
Average Cost Per Click
Finance & Insurance companies are spending the most for each click they get – $3.77. However, these Facebook CPCs probably seem like a steal when you consider Google AdWords keywords like “insurance,” “loans,” and “mortgage” are ridiculously expensive, going for around $50 per click.
The cheapest Facebook ad clicks are in the Apparel ($0.45), Travel & Hospitality ($0.63) and Retail ($0.70) industries.
The average CPC for Facebook ads across all industries is $1.72.
Average Conversion Rate
Clicks are important, but for many businesses it’s the almighty conversion that matters.
Fittingly enough, the Fitness industry has the healthiest Facebook conversion rates (14.29 percent). Other industries with Facebook conversion rates above 10 percent are Education (13.58 percent), Employment & Job Training (11.73 percent), Healthcare (11 percent) real estate (10.68 percent), and B2B (10.63 percent).
Technology had the worst conversion rate, just 2.31 percent. Travel & Hospitality and Retail also had conversion rates around 3 percent (2.82 percent and 3.26 percent, respectively).
The average CVR for Facebook ads across all industries is 9.21 percent.
You can check out the full WordStream Facebook advertising benchmarks report here, which includes additional data on the average cost per action.
Originally published in: Inc.com
A version of this post was first published on Inc.com.