PPC
Proven Amazon Listing Optimization Tips From a Selling Pro
There are over 300 million active users on Amazon. As the world’s largest online marketplace, Amazon is an excellent opportunity for people who want to make money (minus the boss). To grow your eCommerce business, you need to understand Amazon Listing Optimization.
By optimizing your listing, you become more visible on the marketplace, this will increase sales and save your advertising budget. To assist you with direct examples, we will be taking the experience of Aftab. Through their understanding of success on Amazon, we will show you real-world examples of how you can boost your sales on the world’s most customer-centric eCommerce marketplace.
About Aftab: A Successful Amazon UK Seller
The lure of eCommerce encouraged Aftab to bring its business online eight years ago. Aftab initially started selling outerwear and home furniture, eventually focusing more on the bedroom furniture side of their business, making what resembles their business today. Eventually, his business grew to incredible sales:
| Years | Number of Sales |
| 2017-2018 | 2,652 |
| 2018-2019 | 4,675 |
| 2019-2020 | 4,566 |
| Over The Last Year | 9,453 |
Like other online sales professionals, success did not happen overnight. Aftab had to overcome many challenges. To start, he found that selling beds was an incredibly competitive business. Existing UK mattress brands outperformed Aftab’s product, causing some initial struggle.
Because Aftab had already started in the retail business, his product research process was more straightforward than most. Aftab learned two lessons: Have some knowledge of what you sell and don’t rely on a single product.
Aftab also learned the importance of listing optimization. Through that, much of his traffic came from organic sources. Below, we will share some of his experience in optimizing product pages.
Advice From Aftab on Listing Creation
If you want to match Aftab’s strategy across any niches, you need to break down your listing optimization process. You need to focus on three areas:
- Keywords
- Content
- Title
- Description
- Bullet points.
- Product Photos
Reviews
1. What You Need To Know About Keywords
When customers look for favorite products, keywords are what they type in the search bar. If you use Amazon, think of what you type in the search box to find what you want. Ranking high for those words is necessary to remain competitive on Amazon.
Source: Screenshot
Understanding what your customers search for, lets you know which keywords to target. Relevancy is your goal, meaning whatever customers search for accurately defines your product.
Finding the best keywords breaks down into two tasks:
- Finding relevant keywords
- Finding keywords your competitors use
You can accomplish both by using keyword research tools. These tools include AMZScout’s keyword search, tracker, and the Reverse ASIN Lookup tool.
To use the AMZScout Keyword Search, follow these steps:
- Step One: Fill in the fields with what your product is (ex. Bed set)
- Step Two: Choose the minimum and maximum number of words
- Step Three: Choose the search volume. (for example, you might want to search for products that get more than five hundred searches per month)
- Step Four: Select “Find Keywords” and see your results.
Source: Screenshot
Your following method of gaining keywords comes from your competition. The AMZScout ASIN Lookup Tool can help you determine how your competition ranks. Here’s how you can use this tool:
- Step One: Go to your competitor’s product page
- Step Two: Scroll down until you find the ASIN (found under product details)
- Step Three: Copy the ASIN into the lookup tool.
- Step Four: Choose your keyword criteria (like the number of keywords and search volume)
- Step Five: Click “Find Keywords” for your results
Source: Screenshot
Once you have a complete list, ask yourself about the best way to describe your product. The best way to describe your product is the most relevant keyword, which should be your primary keyword. Focus on keywords you can easily rank for but will still give you enough sales to meet your budget goals.
These keywords fall into three categories and should be used like this:
- Secondary keywords are found throughout the description and bullet points.
- Backend keywords are built into the product listing as you create it, but you will not see them in the description or bullet points.
- Primary keywords are included in your title and description.
For example, “memory foam pillow” will bring up pillows made using memory foam but won’t bring pillows full of cotton or goose down. Placing these keywords in your title and throughout your product listing tells Amazon your product is relevant for that search.
It isn’t enough to cram keywords into your listing. It would help if you also found out how to create engaging content. Find out how (by example) below.
2. Content for Product Listing
Optimizing for content boils down to creating a copy that will most likely convert visitors and increase your exposure on Amazon search results. This involves making the most engaging sales copy that people who buy your product will appreciate.
For example, creating content about how more people report a restful night’s sleep with your brand over others would be compelling. Getting off-topic by talking about how you also need a reasonable frame might be distracting.
Most sellers start by taking a look at competitor content. How do other people write in a way that engages customers? Look for popular listings that have a high number of positive customer reviews. You can also see the type of pictures they use to attract sales.
For a direct example of how content works, we will look at the description, photos, and titles of Aftab’s products:
Product Titles
Your Amazon product titles should meet these criteria:
- Less than 200 characters
- No promotional phrases
- No special characters
- Have product identifying information (e.g., bed set, jogging shoes, etc.)
Here are two title examples from Aftab’s experience:
The title offers excellent detail about the item. Given the liberal use of more information, people with specific searches will find what they want. Also, take note of the formula, which you will find used across Amazon:
- Brand + Item + Item Details
While its form changes depending on the listing, follow it until you reach 150 characters (minimum). People are more likely to find this if they live in the UK and want a bed with a matching headboard.
Both the “item” section and the “item details” section have great potential to contain keywords. For example, let’s take a look at the Divian Bed Set’s primary keywords:
Source: Screenshot
The example above shows two keywords, both of them focusing on relevance:
- “Divian bed”
- “Divian bed with mattress”
The score on the far-right enables this bed to rank high (despite it being a new product on Amazon).
Given the relatively low searches (600 and 200), you won’t see any significant brands targeting this keyword. This gives new sellers an excellent opportunity to rank.
As the product gets more popular, your keyword turrets should look like this:
Source: Screenshot
These screenshots are from the AMZScout Reverse ASIN Lookup tool, showing one of Aftab’s more popular products. Notice how they target a wide range of keywords, focusing on maintaining relevance in multiple searches.
By starting small and focusing on a small number of keywords, you can eventually expand to target multiple keywords spread throughout your product title, description, and bullets.
Bulleted Lists
Bulleted lists on Amazon should meet the following requirements:
- Under one thousand characters
- Usage of no more than five bullets
- Naturally contain your target keywords
- Start with a feature and end with the benefits
The bullet points (found between the images and descriptions) highlight the features and benefits that are the most important. You can see from Aftab’s listing that they make a comprehensive list but are missing benefits.
Source: Screenshot
Benefits translate features into reasons a person should buy (what problems they solve). For example, why would someone want a thick memory foam layer? Because memory foam adjusts to the contours of the person resting on it.
Regardless, people looking for these features in their mattresses won’t look far. The bulleted list should contain the most common things people look for in the product you list.
Product Description
To write good product descriptions, you will need to meet the following requirements:
- Describe your products accurately
- No duplicate pages for the same product
- Do not use HTML
- Avoid inappropriate content
- No usage of reviews or testimonials
- No request for positive customer reviews
- Do not advertise more than one product
The description of Aftab’s products makes ample use of limited space, enabling a simple list of critical features people will look for. It mentions how these features translate into benefits in the opening section.
Source: Screenshot
There isn’t too much information; it is easy to read. The drawback of this strategy is that there isn’t a lot of detail here to counteract some common doubts.
From our earlier section on keywords, there are a few product keywords in the description. Ideally, having more content would solve this problem while giving people more reasons to buy the product.
Also, the addition of images could help this description. Overall, it does do the job and keeps things simple.
Product Photos
Before submitting images, here are Amazon’s minimum requirements:
- Stick with TIFF, JPEG, GIF, and PNG formats
- Dimensions of 1000 pixels (or larger) for height and width. (for quality)
- RGB color mode is your best option (CMYK works as well)
- File names need to include the ASIN, a period, and the file extension
- Images must be professional looking
- They should not include secondary items (unless included with the product)
- The primary image must have a pure, white background (RGB 255,255,255)
Both products use photos and have multiple variants, each with a primary image depicting the change. It can be expensive given the numerous listings, but these listings meet the bare minimum requirements.
Source: Screenshot
Images are high-quality but could be improved with infographic-based pictures and pictures of people sitting/sleeping on the bed. Seeing the product in use enables the users to see themselves using it, increasing your likelihood of a conversion.
It’s best to consider photos part of your quality-driven content strategy. Without them, people aren’t able to see how high-quality the product is.
Some product categories (smaller products) also require white backgrounds. Keep that in mind when creating your product listings.
3. How To Encourage Positive Customer Reviews
Reviews are an automatic source of social proof that impacts whether a customer purchases an item. When your product has a high amount of customer reviews, it is more likely to make a sale.
More reviews mean that both Amazon and buyers enjoy your product. When getting into a new niche, it’s also a sign of competitiveness.
Here are some ways that you can obtain more positive customer reviews:
- Use Amazon’s Request a Review button to send your buyer a pre-built request.
- Enroll your product in the Amazon Vine program (found under the advertising tab) to have it gain more attention
- Use product inserts to encourage customers to leave a review. Also, take the opportunity to plug your social media pages.
- Respond quickly to customer messages requesting help or product returns
- Grow an email list and social media presence for your business so you can have more flexibility
Amazon’s Terms of Service clarify that you shouldn’t harass customers with review requests. So you can only click the “request a review” button and send them a message once before you get in trouble.
To gain social traction from Amazon, the best way to do this is through product inserts. These inserts are little cards requesting people to follow you on Facebook and leave feedback.
Don’t include them with feedback requests if you want to provide discounts. Even if the two cards are unrelated, Amazon might view these as trading discounts for reviews (against the TOS).
Your most powerful tool is to gain a presence where you have more flexibility in advertising. Creating email lists and growing your social pages are essential. With a Brand, you can do this with greater ease, as you give people something to connect with.
An Example of How Positive Customer Reviews Work
The customer reviews for this product are about four stars, one star away from the best result. You will also find that the review count among both products is below 50. However, given these are new listings, these are likely getting a boost from PPC campaigns.
Having four-star results is still an excellent rating, indicating good things about the quality of both products. Overall, reviews are paramount to gaining exposure, so this is a step in the right direction.
Ideally, you’ll want to use negative reviews as a tool for which to improve your product. Avoid taking things personally at all costs, as that will distract you.
Results
Aftab’s improved product listing optimization took first through the tenth place for main keywords. The focus is on a single small keyword to expand to multiple keywords. This leads to thousands of exposures, eventually resulting in more sales. The total optimization effort saw an overall sales increase of nearly 360%. This meant nearly seven thousand additional sales over the last year (almost ten thousand sales!).
Tips Roundup for Amazon Newbies
To review here’s a quick list of newbie tips for Amazon sellers:
- Perform keyword research based on the most relevant words customers need to find you.
- Encourage customer reviews by selling high-quality products.
- Focus on benefits and features when writing content for your listings.
- Have high-quality images that include pictures of people using your products.
- Research using third-party tools (like AmzScout).
- Use all of the character space in your title to be detailed.
Aftab’s example provides you with an excellent real-world example to base off of. Try not to overthink it, but focus on delivering a good product in an area you have some knowledge of. Thanks for reading, and best of luck with your future store!
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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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