PPC
Google Ads Automation: When (& When Not) to Use It
Over the years, Google has made a clear effort to automate as much of its advertising platform as possible. There are a number of reasons for this, from increased competition from alternative platforms to the less obvious advantage of increasing advertiser spending without their awareness.
That isn’t the whole story, however, because many of the automated features Google has launched over this time period have improved the overall experience for advertisers.
The way I look at Google and its push for automated ad features is that there is a plethora of value that can be derived; however, you have to know where to pick and choose.
So in this post, I am going to walk through which features I believe are worth using, which ones you should take with a grain of salt, and which ones you should stay away from entirely.
Automated bidding
Many moons ago, Google Ads bidding was entirely manual with everyone jumping at the opportunity to espouse the “best” strategies to win auctions, get high Quality Scores, and “hack” the system for your own benefit.
When to use it
Google Ads’ automated bidding strategies have proven themselves to be fairly efficient for me over the years, having used a variety of them depending on the goal. I typically categorize the goal into either lead generation, direct sales, visibility, or website traffic:
- Lead generation: When it comes to generating leads for any campaign, your best bet is to use a conversion-focused bid strategy. There are a few exceptions to this, however, and most of those have to do with very specific keywords in highly competitive verticals (more on that in a bit).
- Direct sales: If you’re a business whose conversion action is either directly tied to a dollar amount or at least has a dollar value tied to it, I like to start with Max Conversion Value, let the campaign play out for a bit, and then depending on the intent of the keywords and the structure of the ad groups, switch over to Target ROAS. From there you will be able to fine-tune your campaigns to a point where Google Ads is a consistently profitable marketing platform for your business.
- Visibility/brand recognition: If your primary goal is to be seen on the search results page or consistently rank at the top for specific terms, then your best bet would likely be Target Impression Share. In some cases, Max Clicks or Manual CPC would be viable alternatives.
- Website traffic/SEO assistance: If you’re concerned with driving traffic to your website or looking to show within the search results page for terms you are not currently ranking for organically, your best bet would be Maximize Clicks or Target Impression Share depending on the terms and the competition involved.
Take into consideration your general strategy before using Google’s automated bidding strategies and keep in mind that there is a learning period for these to collect data, particularly when you change bidding strategies.
When not to use it
You can still bid manually in Google Ads, but I would advise doing so only in certain situations.
For example, I had a client that was targeting the keyword “SOC 2.” This term is extremely competitive and the business not only wanted to drive conversions for that keyword, but they also wanted their brand to be consistently visible in the search results for it.
In this case, where there is a blending of goals, we opted to use Manual CPC bidding and eventually shifted to Target Impression Share for terms like this within the account. The conversion volume was still there despite not optimizing for conversions.
Automated ad creation
Smart creative is the aspect of Google Ads that attempts to automate the creation of the ads themselves. These features are a bit tricky in the sense that I recommend using them to some degree but not completely.
When to use it
Responsive search ads: With RSAs you have the ability to construct text search ads with a variety of headlines and descriptions that Google mixes and matches within the auction to determine the “best” combination for your desired goal.
RSAs are fantastic but I advise you put the work in to write the best, most relevant headlines possible on your own and let the automation (in conjunction with your bidding strategy) do the rest. I do not advise allowing Google to generate these for you as that is an option within the “Recommendations” tab.
Responsive display ads: Display ads can be tough for a lot of advertisers, primarily due to the fact that many either lack the design skills or resources necessary to create them. Responsive display ads are generated by Google using assets that you provide and automatically adjusted to fit the available placement on the Google Display Network. They tend to resemble a Facebook ad more so than a traditional static display ad. Like RSAs I suggest using base assets that are of high quality and relevance to your audiences.
When not to use it
Aside from not letting Google recommend headlines and descriptions for you, here are some other instances of when not to use automation.
Smart campaigns: Smart campaigns are essentially what became of AdWords Express—the idea being to automate and simplify everything so novice users can jump in and launch campaigns without having to worry about all of the complex components.
I will go into more detail when discussing Performance Max but my main takeaway here is to stay clear of Smart campaigns or anything that essentially fully automates targeting. You are much better off learning to create a manual campaign yourself or hiring a professional than trusting the overly broad targeting.
Successful marketing oftentimes comes down to the details and you would much rather have control over those than give them to an automated system that is simultaneously taking your money.
Smart display: I call out smart display ads here specifically because unlike search, there isn’t a guaranteed semblance of intent. Google claims, “On average, advertisers who use Smart Display campaigns have seen 20% more conversions at the same cost per action (CPA) when compared to their other display campaigns.”
This is a deceptive and misleading statement because anyone who has run successful digital marketing campaigns knows that CPA means nothing if you’re driving junk unqualified leads, something that the Display Network has done consistently for years. Have a tight leash on your targeting on the GDN.
Performance Max: There is a mixed bag of opinions on PMax. While some praise it for its effectiveness, both myself and others I know have found them to be less than ideal. This campaign type essentially combines the features of responsive ads and Smart campaigns in one place. You provide your marketing objectives, budget, assets, and audience information, and Google generates ads across all its properties.
In my experience, Performance Max requires solid offline tracking, high volume, and a rather large amount of budget in order to be effective. These requirements exclude most novice to intermediate advertisers. You can find more PMax watchouts and workaround here.
The bottom line
My take is that automation with the guidance of human control is the best combination for Google Ads, or any platform, at this point in time. We are not at a place where “set it and forget it” is entirely possible, at least not with the efficiency that can be attained through human intervention. Plus, remember that with paid platforms, you are indeed “paying” to be there. So the machine that is promoting automation is also billing you.
That’s why I recommend taking the traditional approach in setting up campaigns but then leveraging features like automated bidding and responsive ad creative. At the end of the day, it is up to the individual running the ads to discern which features are advantageous to them and which are not—just be opportunistic with a healthy level of skepticism.
PPC
5 Quick & Easy Ways to Get More Referral Traffic (+Examples)
Search engines (mostly Google) are still the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to generating clicks to your website. But ignoring referral traffic from other sources like directories, social media, and other websites would be a huge mistake.
This is especially true as younger audiences increasingly search for businesses on social media and as referral traffic increased from 3% to over 10% of total traffic for the average website in 2022.
In this guide, you’ll learn the most popular sources of referral traffic, how it helps your business grow, and what you can do to get more clicks from places outside of search engines.
Table of contents
What is referral traffic?
Referral traffic refers to traffic coming from a link on a site that’s not your own. If you clicked the link we added to the introduction of this guide, the website you landed on would count your visit as referral traffic.
By comparison, the other common website traffic sources are search and direct traffic. Search traffic comes from visitors clicking on search engine results. Direct traffic is from visitors that go directly to your website, like if they type your URL into their browser.
Examples of referral traffic sources can include:
- Social media apps like Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)
- Online directories like Yelp or Angi
- Just about any non-search engine website like a blog post
👋 Need to get more website visitors? These 25 ways to increase traffic to your website will help you attract interested buyers in droves!
Why is referral traffic beneficial?
If you want to grow your business, attracting more referral traffic is an important step. Here are three reasons why.
Generate more potential leads
At the most basic level, increasing referral traffic means increasing the number of potential customers who visit your website.
But it’s not just more people coming in through your virtual door. It’s people that found you by actively clicking a link that interested them. So if the backlink they clicked is relevant to your website, those visitors have a high intent to learn about, and maybe purchase, what you sell.
Get more traffic from search engines
Backlinks from high-quality websites are a signal to search engines that your website is trustworthy.
Backlinks are still an influential search engine ranking factor, as shown in this graph from FirstPageSage.
As your backlink profile and referral traffic grow, you’ll land on more search engine results pages and generate more traffic from them.
Reduce your reliance on Google
Google is a fantastic source of traffic. But relying too much on a single source is dangerous—especially as Google’s constant updates can greatly affect your traffic overnight.
Headlines like this one from Search Engine Journal show why it’s important to diversify your website traffic sources.
As you diversify your sources of referral traffic, you gain more control over the success of your site. If one source, like search, takes a hit, you can buffer the dip with more traffic from another source like directories.
5 ways to get more referral traffic
So generating more referral traffic is important. But how do we go about getting more of it? Let’s dive in.
1. Get listed in online directories
Online directories are like the phonebooks of the digital age. People look to websites like Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, and Angi (formerly Angi’s List) to find the services and business they need.
Yelp is one of the most popular business directories, but there are dozens of others that will help increase your online footprint.
Ideally, you want exposure on as many directories as possible. But you also want to make sure that your information is current, so no one gets frustrated trying to reach you. You can even optimize your listings with things like images, service descriptions, and reviews.
🚨 Not sure if your directory listings are up to par? Use our free Listings Grader to instantly check your listing information across 20+ top online directories.
2. Submit guest posts
Guest posts are a great way to build up referral traffic. The idea is to reach out to websites that want content, and offer to write a blog post in exchange for the backlinks they provide.
It’s best to focus your guest posting efforts on sites that are related to your business, which means your content will be in front of a relevant audience providing top-notch referral traffic. If you can set up a regular guest posting schedule, all the better, because that allows you to keep your referral traffic from those sources steady over time and increase traffic to your website.
3. Write press releases
Press releases are a quick and easy way to get a wave of fresh traffic from referring URLs. It’s a great idea to do a press release for an event you’ll be hosting or to announce milestones like executive changes, earnings releases, acquisitions, and product launches.
A press release is great for promoting new products or events while generating valuable referral traffic from the publications that pick it up.
But to be honest, if you are paying for a press release, you can write about pretty much anything and pretend it’s newsworthy. Some businesses even send out press releases whenever they get a new client.
4. Get active on social media
Social media sites are also natural contenders for bringing in referral traffic. Plus, there are several options to fit your brand and audience.
Facebook, for example, is fantastic for an older audience and organizing events. TikTok caters to a younger crowd and lets you show off your video flair. And of course, there’s LinkedIn, if your target customer is of a professional mindset.
No matter which social media platforms you choose, make sure your posts have a clear call to action that leads people to your website. That’s how you drive referral traffic from social media apps.
Depending on the platform, you can add CTA links, buttons, or text in the caption.
5. Create link-worthy content
If you want to catch backlinks and increase the traffic you get from other websites, you need the right bait. In this case, we’re talking about content that other websites want to link to.
Here are a few types of content that writers and marketers love to link to:
- Original data: Statistics from a survey or data your app captures
- Infographics: A roundup of statistics or a visual presentation of a process
- Opinionated blog posts: A fresh take on a common question in your industry
Once you’ve created your backlink magnet, share it with publications and thought leaders in your industry so they can link back to your site.
Referral traffic the easy way
Referral traffic is an important source of new potential customers. As search engines get more finicky, and more people search social media platforms, referrals will be an even bigger factor in your success online.
As you think about how to get more website visitors from more places, remember these five quick and easy ways to get more referral traffic:
- Get listed in online directories
- Submit guest posts
- Write press releases
- Get active on social media
- Create link-worthy content
PPC
5 Quick Tips to Increase Referral Traffic
Search engines (mostly Google) are still the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to generating clicks to your website. But ignoring referral traffic from other sources like directories, social media, and other websites would be a huge mistake.
This is especially true as younger audiences increasingly search for businesses on social media and as referral traffic increased from 3% to over 10% of total traffic for the average website in 2022.
In this guide, you’ll learn the most popular sources of referral traffic, how it helps your business grow, and what you can do to get more clicks from places outside of search engines.
Table of contents
What is referral traffic?
Referral traffic refers to traffic coming from a link on a site that’s not your own. If you clicked the link we added to the introduction of this guide, the website you landed on would count your visit as referral traffic.
By comparison, the other common website traffic sources are search and direct traffic. Search traffic comes from visitors clicking on search engine results. Direct traffic is from visitors that go directly to your website, like if they type your URL into their browser.
Examples of referral traffic sources can include:
- Social media apps like Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)
- Online directories like Yelp or Angi
- Just about any non-search engine website like a blog post
👋 Need to get more website visitors? These 25 ways to increase traffic to your website will help you attract interested buyers in droves!
Why is referral traffic beneficial?
If you want to grow your business, attracting more referral traffic is an important step. Here are three reasons why.
Generate more potential leads
At the most basic level, increasing referral traffic means increasing the number of potential customers who visit your website.
But it’s not just more people coming in through your virtual door. It’s people that found you by actively clicking a link that interested them. So if the backlink they clicked is relevant to your website, those visitors have a high intent to learn about, and maybe purchase, what you sell.
Get more traffic from search engines
Backlinks from high-quality websites are a signal to search engines that your website is trustworthy.
Backlinks are still an influential search engine ranking factor, as shown in this graph from FirstPageSage.
As your backlink profile and referral traffic grow, you’ll land on more search engine results pages and generate more traffic from them.
Reduce your reliance on Google
Google is a fantastic source of traffic. But relying too much on a single source is dangerous—especially as Google’s constant updates can greatly affect your traffic overnight.
Headlines like this one from Search Engine Journal show why it’s important to diversify your website traffic sources.
As you diversify your sources of referral traffic, you gain more control over the success of your site. If one source, like search, takes a hit, you can buffer the dip with more traffic from another source like directories.
5 ways to get more referral traffic
So generating more referral traffic is important. But how do we go about getting more of it? Let’s dive in.
1. Get listed in online directories
Online directories are like the phonebooks of the digital age. People look to websites like Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, and Angi (formerly Angi’s List) to find the services and business they need.
Yelp is one of the most popular business directories, but there are dozens of others that will help increase your online footprint.
Ideally, you want exposure on as many directories as possible. But you also want to make sure that your information is current, so no one gets frustrated trying to reach you. You can even optimize your listings with things like images, service descriptions, and reviews.
🚨 Not sure if your directory listings are up to par? Use our free Listings Grader to instantly check your listing information across 20+ top online directories.
2. Submit guest posts
Guest posts are a great way to build up referral traffic. The idea is to reach out to websites that want content, and offer to write a blog post in exchange for the backlinks they provide.
It’s best to focus your guest posting efforts on sites that are related to your business, which means your content will be in front of a relevant audience providing top-notch referral traffic. If you can set up a regular guest posting schedule, all the better, because that allows you to keep your referral traffic from those sources steady over time and increase traffic to your website.
3. Write press releases
Press releases are a quick and easy way to get a wave of fresh traffic from referring URLs. It’s a great idea to do a press release for an event you’ll be hosting or to announce milestones like executive changes, earnings releases, acquisitions, and product launches.
A press release is great for promoting new products or events while generating valuable referral traffic from the publications that pick it up.
But to be honest, if you are paying for a press release, you can write about pretty much anything and pretend it’s newsworthy. Some businesses even send out press releases whenever they get a new client.
4. Get active on social media
Social media sites are also natural contenders for bringing in referral traffic. Plus, there are several options to fit your brand and audience.
Facebook, for example, is fantastic for an older audience and organizing events. TikTok caters to a younger crowd and lets you show off your video flair. And of course, there’s LinkedIn, if your target customer is of a professional mindset.
No matter which social media platforms you choose, make sure your posts have a clear call to action that leads people to your website. That’s how you drive referral traffic from social media apps.
Depending on the platform, you can add CTA links, buttons, or text in the caption.
5. Create link-worthy content
If you want to catch backlinks and increase the traffic you get from other websites, you need the right bait. In this case, we’re talking about content that other websites want to link to.
Here are a few types of content that writers and marketers love to link to:
- Original data: Statistics from a survey or data your app captures
- Infographics: A roundup of statistics or a visual presentation of a process
- Opinionated blog posts: A fresh take on a common question in your industry
Once you’ve created your backlink magnet, share it with publications and thought leaders in your industry so they can link back to your site.
Referral traffic the easy way
Referral traffic is an important source of new potential customers. As search engines get more finicky, and more people search social media platforms, referrals will be an even bigger factor in your success online.
As you think about how to get more website visitors from more places, remember these five quick and easy ways to get more referral traffic:
- Get listed in online directories
- Submit guest posts
- Write press releases
- Get active on social media
- Create link-worthy content
PPC
Facebook Ads Benchmarks for 2024: NEW Data + Insights for Your Industry
With over 2 billion daily active users, Facebook still reigns supreme as the most popular social media platform. And that’s part of the reason that Facebook ads continue to be an extremely popular solution for businesses looking to raise brand awareness, connect with prospects, and get new customers.
So how do you know if your Facebook ads are really working? We’ve got the data to answer your questions!
Just in time to inform your 2024 planning and help you better understand how your Facebook advertising campaigns are performing now, we’re sharing Facebook ads benchmarks across 20 industries, including benchmarks for click-through rate, cost per click, conversion rate, and more for two popular Facebook ads campaign objectives.
Table of contents
Key trends: The big picture
Over the last year, most businesses have seen their Facebook ads results improve, meaning their engagement metrics are going up and their advertising costs are going down. Here’s a deeper look:
- Click-through rate (CTR) increased year over year for 9 out of 19 industries using Facebook Lead Ads. Some of those increases were fairly significant, especially for Arts & Entertainment and Education & Instruction. CTR decreased YOY for 15 out of 23 industries in the traffic objective, but average CTR still remains higher than other available data shows (1.51% vs. 0.9%).
- Cost per click (CPC) largely decreased year over year. 9 industries saw a decrease in CPC YOY for the leads objective, while 14 saw a decrease YOY for the traffic objective. And for each objective, the increases weren’t drastic. This is interesting given the drastic increase in CPC across most (91%) industries for search advertising.
- For the leads objective, 13 out of 19 industries saw conversion rate (CVR) increase year over year. The economy could play a role in the industries that saw decreases YOY. For example, with a volatile housing market, fewer people may have been looking to buy or sell, leading to a decrease in CVR for real estate businesses.
- For the leads objective, cost per lead (CPL) stayed the same or decreased for 12 out of 19 industries. Again, it’s interesting to see this trend given the drastic increase in CPL on the search ads side, where 91% of industries saw increases in CPL in 2023.
The overall key takeaway? Facebook advertising continues to offer complementary advantages to search ads because of lower and more stable costs.
“One of the biggest things I’m always impressed with on Facebook is that, although advertising CPCs generally fluctuate across the board, Facebook ads CPCs differ so much less than what you might see on Google Ads or other search networks,” said Mark Irvine, Director of Paid Media at Search Labs.
Facebook ads benchmarks for traffic campaigns by industry
Facebook advertising allows you to choose specific ad objectives for each campaign. It then optimizes your campaigns against that objective, which helps you reach specific goals with your Facebook ads.
The traffic objective in Facebook ads optimizes your campaign to drive clicks from your ads to your landing page, app, or event. Traffic campaigns are popular among many small business advertisers because they help to drive more visitors (and potential customers!) to your website.
| Business category | Avg. click-through rate | Avg. cost per click |
| Animals & Pets | 1.63% | $0.76 |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | 1.13% | $1.11 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 2.55% | $0.44 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 0.99% | $1.15 |
| Automotive — For Sale | 1.18% | $0.70 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 0.99% | $0.99 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 1.34% | $0.88 |
| Business Services | 1.37% | $0.84 |
| Career & Employment | 1.31% | $0.70 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 0.81% | $1.27 |
| Education & Instruction | 1.20% | $0.79 |
| Finance & Insurance | 0.88% | $1.11 |
| Furniture | 1.15% | $1.19 |
| Health & Fitness | 1.68% | $0.90 |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.23% | $0.95 |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.03% | $0.80 |
| Personal Services | 1.28% | $0.87 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 1.02% | $1.08 |
| Real Estate | 2.45% | $0.65 |
| Restaurants & Food | 2.29% | $0.52 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | 1.82% | $0.65 |
| Sports & Recreation | 1.30% | $0.77 |
| Travel | 2.06% | $0.43 |
Note: Since this campaign objective is specifically designed to drive traffic, cost per lead and conversion rate metrics tend to be on the higher side. It’s important to focus on the metrics that matter most for your ad objective, so we’ve omitted those metrics here.
Average click-through rate in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns
CTR or click-through rate is a measure of how frequently viewers click on your ad. Essentially, your campaign’s CTR indicates how compelling and click-worthy viewers deem your Facebook ads. For this reason, higher CTRs are a sign of strong Facebook ad copy and creative.
The average click-through rate in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns across all industries is 1.51%.
|
Business category |
Avg. click-through rate |
| Animals & Pets | 1.63% |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | 1.13% |
| Arts & Entertainment | 2.55% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 0.99% |
| Automotive — For Sale | 1.18% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 0.99% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 1.34% |
| Business Services | 1.37% |
| Career & Employment | 1.31% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 0.81% |
| Education & Instruction | 1.20% |
| Finance & Insurance | 0.88% |
| Furniture | 1.15% |
| Health & Fitness | 1.68% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.23% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.03% |
| Personal Services | 1.28% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 1.02% |
| Real Estate | 2.45% |
| Restaurants & Food | 2.29% |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | 1.82% |
| Sports & Recreation | 1.30% |
| Travel | 2.06% |
The industries with the highest CTR were Arts & Entertainment at 2.55%, Real Estate at 2.45%, and Restaurants & Food at 2.29%.
The industries with lower average CTR were Dentists & Dental Services at 0.81%, Finance & Insurance at 0.88%, and Attorneys & Legal Services at 0.99%.
“CTRs differ strongly between different business types across Facebook, even more so than on Google Ads. Successful Facebook Ads require impressive, visual proof to attract attention from the scrolling audience—and that’s why you see some of the best Facebook ads CTRs from those industries that can wow us with the promise of a good time, like Travel, Arts & Entertainment, and Sports,” said Irvine.
“These industries both fit in with the content we’re used to seeing on our feeds from our friends,” he added. “A night out or tropical getaway can be far more attractive than a visual portrayal of an automotive repair or a visit to the dentist. We see those strong divides in the Facebook ads CTR performance in these types of industries.”
Average cost per click in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns
Cost per click or CPC is a calculation of your total spend divided by your total number of clicks. Maintaining a lower average CPC on your traffic campaign means you can catch and convert website visitors at an overall cheaper cost.
For the traffic objective, a click would be a click from your ad to your website or whatever destination you set for your ad.
The average cost per click in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns across all industries is $0.83. This is much lower than the average cost per click in Google Ads of $4.22.
| Business category | Avg. cost per click |
| Animals & Pets | $0.76 |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $1.11 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $0.44 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $1.15 |
| Automotive — For Sale | $0.70 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $0.99 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $0.88 |
| Business Services | $0.84 |
| Career & Employment | $0.70 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $1.27 |
| Education & Instruction | $0.79 |
| Finance & Insurance | $1.11 |
| Furniture | $1.19 |
| Health & Fitness | $0.90 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $0.95 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $0.80 |
| Personal Services | $0.87 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $1.08 |
| Real Estate | $0.65 |
| Restaurants & Food | $0.52 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $0.65 |
| Sports & Recreation | $0.77 |
| Travel | $0.43 |
The industries that saw the lowest cost per click were Travel at $0.43, Arts & Entertainment at $0.44, and Restaurants & Food at $0.52.
The industries that saw higher-than-average costs per click were Dentists & Dental Services at $1.27, Furniture at $1.19, and Attorneys & Legal Services at $1.15. Again, these CPCs are still lower than the average CPC for Google Ads at over $4. Plus, these industries have fairly high lifetime average customer costs, so it makes sense that their advertising costs would be higher than a restaurant or entertainment venue.
“The biggest trend I am seeing with this Facebook ads CPC data is that consumer demand remains strong despite the uncertain economy. Cost per click is well within range of what we’ve been quoting advertisers for years now, while click-through rate also remains strong,” said Tyler Mask, Senior Manager of Custom Solutions at LocaliQ.
Facebook ads benchmarks for lead generation campaigns by industry
Facebook ads running with the leads objective are meant to drive leads through form fills, messages, calls, and conversions.
In a leads objective campaign, you’ll be running Facebook Lead Ads, which include prompts directly within the ad to help you collect lead information.
An example of the Facebook Lead Ad form creation process.
We’ve included conversion rate and cost per lead as part of these benchmarks since this objective is optimized to drive leads and conversions.
| Business category | Avg. click-through rate | Avg. cost per click | Avg. conversion rate | Avg. cost per lead |
| Arts & Entertainment | 3.70% | $0.87 | 9.77% | $13.46 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 1.79% | $5.42 | 5.92% | $78.26 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 1.38% | $2.86 | 5.35% | $58.56 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 2.46% | $2.16 | 4.61% | $52.46 |
| Business Services | 2.70% | $1.73 | 7.57% | $22.65 |
| Career & Employment | 2.37% | $1.34 | 7.02% | $18.17 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 1.80% | $3.82 | 11.34% | $29.08 |
| Education & Instruction | 2.44% | $1.80 | 8.05% | $27.94 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1.98% | $2.94 | 5.62% | $30.88 |
| Furniture | 2.55% | $1.58 | 7.29% | $29.08 |
| Health & Fitness | 1.66% | $3.60 | 5.76% | $60.95 |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.80% | $2.08 | 8.90% | $20.49 |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.50% | $2.69 | 10.13% | $37.71 |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | 2.72% | $1.88 | 8.76% | $19.49 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 3.17% | $3.63 | 4.99% | $60.95 |
| Real Estate | 3.69% | $1.22 | 9.58% | $12.43 |
| Restaurants & Food | 1.85% | $2.61 | 5.63% | $45.15 |
| Sports & Recreation | 3.29% | $1.11 | 8.24% | $15.33 |
| Travel | 6.62% | $0.96 | 3.95% | $26.05 |
Average click-through rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Although Facebook lead ads don’t necessarily require users to click to your website, they’ll have to click on the ad to become a lead. Plus, the option to click to your website still exists on the ad. You should prioritize a high click-through rate for your Facebook leads objective campaigns because it signals that your ad is attracting users to take action.
The average click-through rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns across all industries is 2.50%.
| Business category | Avg. click-through rate |
| Arts & Entertainment | 3.70% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 1.79% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 1.38% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 2.46% |
| Business Services | 2.70% |
| Career & Employment | 2.37% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 1.80% |
| Education & Instruction | 2.44% |
| Finance & Insurance | 1.98% |
| Furniture | 2.55% |
| Health & Fitness | 1.66% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.80% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.50% |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | 2.72% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 3.17% |
| Real Estate | 3.69% |
| Restaurants & Food | 1.85% |
| Sports & Recreation | 3.29% |
| Travel | 6.62% |
The industries that saw the best CTRs on their Facebook ads running with the leads objective were Travel at 6.62%, Arts & Entertainment at 3.70%, and Real Estate at 3.69%.
The industries with the lowest CTRs were Automotive – Repair, Service & Parts at 1.38%, Industrial & Commercial at 1.50%, and Health & Fitness at 1.66%.
Average cost per click in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Every time a user clicks on your Facebook lead ads, you get charged—so trying to keep your average CPC as low as possible is a no-brainer. That said, you’ll also want to take your lead quality into consideration when evaluating your CPC. If your priority is to get the highest quality leads possible, then they may be worth the slightly higher CPC.
The average cost per click in Facebook ads for the leads gen campaign across all industries is $1.92.
| Business category | Avg. cost per click |
| Arts & Entertainment | $0.87 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $5.42 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $2.86 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $2.16 |
| Business Services | $1.73 |
| Career & Employment | $1.34 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $3.82 |
| Education & Instruction | $1.80 |
| Finance & Insurance | $2.94 |
| Furniture | $1.58 |
| Health & Fitness | $3.60 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $2.08 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $2.69 |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | $1.88 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $3.63 |
| Real Estate | $1.22 |
| Restaurants & Food | $2.61 |
| Sports & Recreation | $1.11 |
| Travel | $0.96 |
The industries with the lowest CPCs were Arts & Entertainment at $0.87, Travel at $0.96, and Sports & Recreation at $1.11.
The industries that saw the highest CPCs for the leads objective were Attorneys & Legal Services at $5.42, Dentists & Dental Services at $3.82, and Physicians & Surgeons at $3.63. While these were higher compared to the average, they’re still fairly low cost for clicks in these industries.
“The difference in CTR and CPC between the two objectives stands out to me the most. The average CPC is 56% lower for the traffic objective campaigns than that of the leads objective, which, in some ways, makes sense,” said Michelle Morgan, co-founder of Paid Media Pros.
“Facebook is trying to get the lowest cost clicks it can, but I’m a little surprised to see the CTR being 66% higher for the leads objective campaigns. That indicates to me that although they’re more expensive, the users Facebook targets with a leads objective campaign might actually be a better fit for companies (on average) than the traffic objective,” said Morgan.
Average conversion rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Conversion rate measures the rate at which your Facebook ads are driving conversions. It’s calculated by dividing the total number of leads by the total number of clicks. A high conversion rate signals that your Facebook ad is compelling users to take the next step to potentially become your customer. A lower conversion rate signals you may need to adjust your ad targeting, copy, or landing page to drive better results.
The average conversion rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns across industries is 8.25%.
| Business category | Avg. conversion rate |
| Arts & Entertainment | 9.77% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 5.92% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 5.35% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 4.61% |
| Business Services | 7.57% |
| Career & Employment | 7.02% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 11.34% |
| Education & Instruction | 8.05% |
| Finance & Insurance | 5.62% |
| Furniture | 7.29% |
| Health & Fitness | 5.76% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 8.90% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 10.13% |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | 8.76% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 4.99% |
| Real Estate | 9.58% |
| Restaurants & Food | 5.63% |
| Sports & Recreation | 8.24% |
| Travel | 3.95% |
The industries with the highest CVRs for Facebook ads running the leads objective were Dentists & Dental Services at 11.34%, Industrial & Commercial at 10.13%, and Arts & Entertainment at 9.77%.
The industries that saw lower-than-average conversion rates were Travel at 3.95%, Beauty & Personal Care at 4.61%, and Physicians & Surgeons at 4.99%.
Facebook ads conversion rates are usually dependent on the quality of the ads being put in front of users. “All industries can benefit from taking the time to message map in a meaningful way. Honoring the way your consumers want to be spoken to will increase conversion rates as well as mitigate ‘wasted success.’ Wasted success is when the lead is good but not quite ready or doesn’t qualify,” said Navah Hopkins, Evangelist at Optmyzer. “I strongly recommend building in a creative audit, as well as exploring new audience targeting to make sure your campaigns are set up for success,” said Hopkins.
Average cost per lead in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Cost per lead tells you how much you’re paying to secure a new lead. It’s calculated by dividing your total spend by your total conversions.
The average cost per lead in Facebook ads for the leads objective across industries is $23.10.
| Business category | Avg. cost per lead |
| Arts & Entertainment | $13.46 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $78.26 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $58.56 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $52.46 |
| Business Services | $22.65 |
| Career & Employment | $18.17 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $29.08 |
| Education & Instruction | $27.94 |
| Finance & Insurance | $30.88 |
| Furniture | $29.08 |
| Health & Fitness | $60.95 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $20.49 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $37.71 |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | $19.49 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $60.95 |
| Real Estate | $12.43 |
| Restaurants & Food | $45.15 |
| Sports & Recreation | $15.33 |
| Travel | $26.05 |
The industries with the lowest CPLs in the Facebook leads objective were Real Estate at $12.43, Arts & Entertainment at $13.46, and Sports & Recreation at $15.33.
The industries that saw the highest CPLs for the leads objective were Attorneys & Legal Services at $78.26, Health & Fitness at $60.95, and Physicians & Surgeons at $60.95. These industries typically have higher costs for advertising, in general, but also have higher customer values. So a $60 CPL can still have a great return on investment when you look at how much revenue a new customer can bring your business.
While CPL is a critical metric for many Facebook advertisers, there are other factors you’ll want to consider when measuring your Facebook ads progress.
“The most important metric on Facebook for seeing success is…the metric you define as success. If you’re trying to drive engagement, that’s your metric. If you’re trying to drive leads, then some combination of lead volume and CPL is going to be your success metric,” said Morgan.
How to improve your Facebook ads performance
While these benchmarks can serve as a helpful guidepost to compare your results against, they shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all for measuring your Facebook advertising success. Every business is different, and what defines success for your campaigns will be unique to your business needs, budget, and other factors.
However, if you feel like your Facebook ads are not converting or driving traffic as much as they should when compared to industry averages, you’re not alone. There’s always room to improve—especially by following these tips and best practices.
How to use Facebook ads to drive traffic
Here are some tips on how to increase traffic to your website via your Facebook ads:
- Choose the traffic objective. The traffic objective is the clear choice to encourage Facebook’s ad algorithm to strategically show your ad to get the most clicks possible.
- A/B test CTA buttons. A powerful call to action can entice users to click on your Facebook ad—increasing your click-through rate. Luckily, Facebook gives you plenty of options to play around with when it comes to choosing an effective CTA button for your ad. Your best bet is to A/B test a few different CTA buttons to see what works. Additionally, you should include popular call-to-action phrases in your ad copy.
- Use compelling creative. People will form an opinion on your Facebook ad instantly—just a few seconds after seeing it, in fact. Be sure your ads stand out and attract clicks with eye-catching creative. To start, check out these Facebook ad examples and learn why they work.
An example of the CTA button options within Facebook ads.
How to use Facebook ads to drive leads
Follow these Facebook ads tips to get more leads:
- Choose the leads objective. While other Facebook ads campaign objectives may end up capturing leads, it’s best to source your leads directly from Facebook with Facebook lead ads.
- Perfect your form fields. You may need to test to see what form style works best to maximize both lead quality and quantity. For example, this year Meta announced that it added conditional logic to the Facebook lead generation form setup. Leveraging conditional logic in your forms can help you pre-qualify your leads.
- Ensure users know they are clicking on a lead ad. Be clear about the action you want viewers to take. That way, those who click know what to expect and genuinely want to work with your business.
An example of conditional logic settings within a Facebook Lead Ad.
How to improve your Facebook ads CTR
Here are a few ways to improve your Facebook ads CTR:
- Pay attention to the right metrics. CTR may not always be the “end all be all” Facebook ads metric for your business. “Consider CTR a helpful guide, but not the only source of truth for success,” said Mask. “Also, you might find other metrics impact the root causes of poor CTR health. Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and CPC correlate closely to this metric; sometimes one has to be sacrificed for another.”
- Use power words in your copy. Emotional marketing copy can set your business’s Facebook ads apart from the competition. Focusing on compelling ad copy helps to persuade users to click on your ad—increasing your CTR.
A reporting dashboard like this can help you measure the Facebook ad metrics that matter most to your business.
How to lower your Facebook ads costs
Here are some practical ways to lower your costs in Facebook Ads:
- Get strategic with your audience targeting. You may want to target different Facebook audiences for different objectives. For example, you may target a Facebook lookalike audience with a traffic objective, so you can educate a new crop of potential customers about who you are and what you do. Alternatively, you may target specific email addresses or retarget users while using the leads objective because these audiences are already aware of your business and may be more likely to convert.
- Broaden your audience as needed. A broader audience reach has been found to lower your overall cost per thousand impressions (CPM), since you’re casting a wider net.
- Try ad scheduling with a lifetime budget. Ad scheduling is another option that can help limit your costs, since you’re deciding what days or times your ad will show rather than 24/7 coverage.
- Consider all your campaign objective options. If you have experience with Google Ads, you can think of your Facebook campaign objectives like how you would your Google campaign goals and bidding strategies. “The best part about advertising on Facebook is that Facebook has tons of campaign objectives and further customizations for you to choose from to ensure your campaigns are optimizing for exactly the success metric you want to focus on,” said Morgan.
Here’s a breakdown of the Facebook ad objectives you can choose from:
-
- Leads
- Traffic
- Awareness
- Engagement
- App promotion
- Sales
How to increase your Facebook ads conversion rate
Use these tips to optimize your Facebook ads for more conversions and a higher CVR:
- Iron out your tracking with Facebook pixel. Your Facebook ads conversion tracking relies on your Facebook pixel—which connects to your website. Get clear on the conversion actions you want to track to stop conversion data from slipping through the cracks.
- Optimize your landing page. A high conversion rate starts with an optimized landing page. Check that your Facebook ads landing page provides a seamless experience for users.
- Complement your strategy with other channels. Your Facebook ads should play a role in a larger marketing and advertising strategy for your business. Be sure to regularly share organic posts to Facebook to fill any gaps in your paid Facebook ad performance. You’ll likely want to also leverage other social media platforms, as well as channels like SEO and search ads, to supplement your Facebook Ads. For example, your audience members are probably using TikTok and Snapchat in addition to Facebook or Instagram. You could promote your business across these platforms to grow your overall social following. In fact, many marketing channels provide similar benefits to businesses, so it’s best to use as many as possible in tandem for a holistic marketing approach.
A cross-channel marketing campaign that includes social ads, search, and other channels helps you reach your audience no matter where they’re spending time online. But it can be a very manual and challenging process to truly optimize across those channels to yield the desired results and lowest cost,” said Stephanie Asrymbetov, Director of Product at LocaliQ. “LocaliQ’s cross-media optimization (XMO) technology simplifies this approach by leveraging AI and automation to optimize your campaigns across channels based on what’s driving the best performance to your business’s goals—and your budget.”
Put these Facebook ads benchmarks to work in 2024
Tracking your Facebook ad performance against these industry benchmarks can help you gauge how your business is pacing compared to the competition. This can be especially helpful when you don’t have a ton of data or you’re unsure of how to best measure your Facebook ads ROI.
However, every business is unique, and no two Facebook ad accounts are the same. So, be sure to align your advertising expectations with what’s achievable for your business. That said, if you tried our suggested tips above and still find your business’s performance isn’t up to the industry standards outlined here, that’s okay! See how our solutions can help you improve your Facebook ads strategy.
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