The Short Answer
Across $26 million in US Meta ad spend from July 21 to October 20, 2026:
- The median account had a 1.00% link click-through rate. About one link click per 100 impressions. The middle half of accounts landed between 0.85% and 1.26%.
- The median ad had a 0.93% link CTR. The top quarter of ads hit 1.4% or higher, and the top 10% hit 2.2% or higher.
- Consumer brands and apps had almost the same CTR, around 1%. Apps just paid about twice as much per click.
- Video ads had 1.4x the CTR of static ads in the median brand, but also paid about 1.3x the CPM.
And the finding that matters most: a higher CTR didn't mean a better ad. Within each account, the ads Meta spent the most on had the same CTR as the rest, and high-CTR ads didn't convert any cheaper.
So a good CTR on Facebook is roughly 1% or better for a cold, prospecting account. But judge your ads on cost per purchase or lead, and use CTR to explain why, not to pick winners.
The Data
We pulled data for the US Meta ad accounts we have visibility into as a creative agency, keeping every brand that spent at least $100,000 between July 21 and October 20, 2026. Together they spent $26.1 million. They fall into two groups:
- Consumer brands: food, beverage, supplement, pet, home and beauty products
- Apps and services: software, streaming, telecom, finance, health and lead-generation businesses
For the ad-level numbers, we looked at each brand's top 50 ads by spend and kept those that spent at least $1,000. That left 1,122 ads with $17.7 million in spend.
We report medians, so one large account can't skew the results. Brand names are anonymized. Part of our Meta Ads Statistics report.
Link CTR vs. CTR (All)
Meta shows two click-through rates, and they're very different:
- Link CTR counts clicks that take someone to your website or app. This is the one that matters.
- CTR (all) also counts likes, comments, profile clicks, "see more" taps and video expands. It's always higher, often by a lot.
Every number in this post is link CTR: link clicks ÷ impressions. If you're comparing your account to a benchmark, make sure you're comparing the same metric.
Facebook Ads CTR Benchmarks by Account
| All accounts | Consumer brands | Apps and services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median link CTR | 1.00% | 0.97% | 1.00% |
| Middle 50% | 0.85% to 1.26% | 0.79% to 1.48% | 0.90% to 1.19% |
| Median CPM | $18.07 | $17.47 | $32.56 |
| Median cost per link click | $2.06 | $1.94 | $3.33 |
CTR was nearly identical across the two groups. What changed was the price of attention. Apps and services paid almost twice the CPM, so the same CTR turned into a much more expensive click. More on prices in how much Facebook ads cost.
Facebook Ads CTR Benchmarks by Ad
Account averages hide a wide spread between individual ads:
| Link CTR | All ads | Consumer | Apps and services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | under 0.39% | under 0.38% | under 0.43% |
| Bottom 25% | under 0.60% | under 0.57% | under 0.65% |
| Median | 0.93% | 0.93% | 0.93% |
| Top 25% | 1.40%+ | 1.45%+ | 1.33%+ |
| Top 10% | 2.23%+ | 2.33%+ | 2.06%+ |
What Counts as a Good CTR on Facebook?
Based on this data:
- Under 0.6%: bottom quarter. The ad may not be giving people a reason to click.
- About 0.9% to 1%: typical for a large account's prospecting ads.
- 1.4% or higher: top quarter.
- 2.2% or higher: top 10%.
Two caveats. Retargeting ads and traffic campaigns usually run higher, sometimes well above 3%. And CTR varies a lot by account, so compare an ad to your own account's median before you compare it to anyone else's.
Video vs. Static CTR
Comparing ads within the same brand, then taking the median across 21 brands:
- Video ads had 1.4x the link CTR of static ads. Video came out ahead in 17 of 21 brands.
- Video ads also paid 1.3x the CPM.
So video tends to earn more clicks per impression, but those impressions cost more. That's one reason the cost per result often ends up close. We found the same pattern in our static vs. video ads data. Run both.
The Surprising Part: CTR Doesn't Pick Winners
If CTR were the key to a winning ad, the ads Meta spends the most on would have the highest CTRs. They don't.
- Spend and CTR were unrelated. Ranking each brand's ads by spend and by CTR, the median correlation was +0.04, basically zero. It was positive in 13 brands and negative in 10.
- The top 5 ads by spend had the same CTR as the rest. Exactly 1.00x in the median brand. They were higher in only 10 of 23 brands.
- CTR and cost per purchase were unrelated. The median correlation was 0.00 across the 18 brands with usable conversion data.
- High-CTR ads paid more for impressions. In the median brand, the quarter of ads with the highest CTR paid 1.78x the CPM of the lowest quarter. That was true in all 23 brands. Their cost per purchase or lead was the same, 1.00x.
Part of this is how Meta delivers ads. It optimizes for the result you ask for, usually a purchase or a lead, and it shows each ad to the people most likely to take that action. An ad that gets lots of curious clicks from people who don't buy will see Meta pull back its budget, no matter how good its CTR looks.
We found the same thing with hook rate: a useful diagnostic, but not a predictor of which ads win.
What this means
- Use CTR to diagnose, not to decide. A CTR far below your account median usually means the ad isn't giving people a reason to click.
- Don't kill an ad for an average CTR. If its cost per purchase is good, it's working.
- Don't chase CTR with clickbait. Curiosity clicks raise CTR and CPM without raising sales.
- Judge ads on the result you pay for. Cost per purchase, lead or trial should decide winners.
Does CTR Drop as Frequency Rises?
A little. Comparing each ad to its own brand's typical CTR:
| 30-day frequency | CTR vs. brand median |
|---|---|
| Under 2 | about 10% higher |
| 2 to 2.5 | about 6% lower |
| 2.5 to 4 | about 15% lower |
Frequency and CTR moved in opposite directions in 22 of 23 brands. But there's no cliff, and some high-frequency ads are retargeting, which behaves differently. Treat a frequency of 2.5 as a point to start watching, not a rule. More in our post on creative fatigue.
How to Improve Facebook Ad CTR
When an ad's CTR is well below your account median, these are the fixes we reach for first:
- Make the reason to click obvious. Name the offer, the result or the problem the product solves. Vague brand messages get looks, not clicks.
- Show the product early. People click when they understand what they'd be clicking to.
- Match the ad to the landing page. If the page doesn't deliver what the ad promised, you'll pay for clicks that don't convert.
- Test different angles, not just new thumbnails. A new reason to buy for a new kind of buyer moves CTR more than a new color. See creative diversity on Meta.
- Mix formats. Video tended to earn a higher CTR, and statics a lower CPM. A mix of UGC, motion and static ads covers both.
- Refresh before ads wear out. Winners lose spend over time. See how long winning ads last.
Get Ads People Click and Buy From
CTR is one of the easiest numbers to raise and one of the easiest to raise the wrong way. Biddyco is a creative agency for Meta ads for brands spending $100K to $5M+/month. Our US-based senior team makes UGC, motion, hybrid and static ads built around real reasons to buy, judged on cost per purchase, not clicks. Book an intro call to talk through your account.
FAQ
What is a good CTR for Facebook ads?
In our data from $26 million in US Meta spend, the median account had a 1.00% link CTR and the median ad had 0.93%. An ad above 1.4% is in the top quarter, and above 2.2% is in the top 10%. Retargeting and traffic campaigns usually run higher.
What is the average CTR for Facebook ads in 2026?
The median link CTR was 1.00% across brands spending $100,000 or more on Meta from July to October 2026. Consumer brands had 0.97% and apps and services 1.00%.
What is the difference between link CTR and CTR (all)?
Link CTR counts only clicks to your website or app. CTR (all) also counts likes, comments, profile clicks and other interactions, so it's always higher. Use link CTR when comparing to benchmarks.
Is a high CTR good on Facebook ads?
Not necessarily. In our data, the ads Meta spent the most on didn't have higher CTRs than the rest, and high-CTR ads paid 1.78x the CPM without a lower cost per purchase. Use CTR to diagnose weak ads, but judge them on cost per result.
Do video ads get a higher CTR than image ads?
Yes, in most brands. Video had 1.4x the link CTR of static ads in the median brand, and came out ahead in 17 of 21 brands. But video also paid about 1.3x the CPM, so the cost per result is often similar.
Is Instagram CTR different from Facebook CTR?
Facebook and Instagram ads are bought together in the same auction, and most accounts let Meta choose placements, so these benchmarks cover both. Placement-level CTR varies, but most advertisers should judge the campaign as a whole.
Where does this data come from?
US Meta ad accounts we have visibility into as a creative agency, covering every brand that spent at least $100,000 from July 21 to October 20, 2026. That's $26.1 million in total spend, plus 1,122 individual ads that each spent at least $1,000. Brand names are anonymized.
