Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026 (LocaliQ) — Meta ad performance by industry

Summary:

This report benchmarks Facebook ads by industry, split into traffic vs. lead-generation campaigns. It gives typical CTR, CPC, conversion rate, and CPL, with year-over-year comparisons.

Published by LocaliQ (a USA TODAY marketing/advertising vendor), it’s meant to help advertisers gauge performance and also promotes LocaliQ’s services.

LocaliQ says it analyzed 1,892 US social ad campaigns from Apr 1, 2025–Jun 30, 2026. Reported “averages” are medians to limit outlier effects. Results are broken out by industry and objective (traffic, leads).

Key findings:

Traffic campaigns
• CTR: 1.93% (up from 1.71%)
• CPC: $0.60 (down from $0.70)
• Highest CTR: Beauty & Personal Care, Arts & Entertainment, Restaurants & Food
• Lowest CTR: Finance & Insurance, Automotive—For Sale, Education & Instruction
• Cheapest CPC: Arts & Entertainment, Travel, Restaurants & Food
• Most expensive CPC: Finance & Insurance

Lead campaigns
• CTR: 2.70% (vs. 2.58%)
• CPC: $1.80 (down 6.25%)
• Conversion rate: 8.54% (up 10.62%)
• CPL: $27.39 (down 0.98%, basically flat)
• High CTR: Physicians & Surgeons, Real Estate
• Best conversion rates: Education & Instruction, Arts & Entertainment
• Lowest CPL: Career & Employment; highest: Dentists & Dental Services

Across industries (lead campaigns): CTR rose in 9/14, CPC improved or held in 86%, conversion rate rose in 10/14, and CPL fell in 12/14 — though some categories swung negative, notably Automotive — For Sale and Industrial & Commercial on conversion rate.

Caveats: methodology is disclosed, but campaign selection isn’t, so results may reflect LocaliQ’s client mix. As a service seller, LocaliQ has an incentive to present Meta ads positively, and the report blends benchmark data with commentary.