Data: October 2025–January 2026 · Large US Meta ad accounts · About $6.9M a month in ad spend
Part of our Meta Ads Statistics 2026 report.
The Short Answer
Here's what happened to Meta ad costs around Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025, compared to the same accounts in October:
- CPMs were 57% higher on Black Friday. Across all accounts, the median CPM went from about $16 in October to about $32 on Black Friday.
- But cost per purchase fell 42%. Consumer brands' conversion rates were more than 3x their October level, which more than covered the higher CPMs.
- Order values held up. Average order value was 11% higher on Black Friday, so ROAS rose 82%.
- The worst week was the second week of December. CPMs were still high, but shoppers had already bought. Cost per purchase was 39% above October.
- The cheapest stretch was late December to early January. CPMs fell about 24% below October, and so did cost per purchase.
So higher CPMs during BFCM aren't a reason to pull back. For most consumer brands, Black Friday weekend was the most efficient time of the year to spend.
The Data
We pulled October 2025 to January 2026 data from the large US Meta ad accounts we have visibility into, keeping accounts that spent at least $30,000 in October 2025. Together they spent about $6.9M a month.
Every account is compared to its own October 2025 numbers, and we report the median across accounts. That way one very large account can't skew the results.
The accounts fall into two groups:
- Consumer brands: food, supplements, pet, beauty, home and baby products
- Apps and services: software, streaming, telecom, finance and health
Cost per purchase, conversion rate and ROAS only include consumer brands that optimize for purchases. Brand names are anonymized.
Week by Week: Consumer Brands
Change vs. each brand's October 2025 average:
| Week | CPM | Cost per purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 6–12 | −2% | +4% |
| Oct 13–19 | 0% | −3% |
| Oct 20–26 | +3% | −3% |
| Oct 27–Nov 2 | −2% | −1% |
| Nov 3–9 | −4% | −6% |
| Nov 10–16 | +1% | −7% |
| Nov 17–23 | +9% | −16% |
| Nov 24–30 (BFCM week) | +35% | −20% |
| Dec 1–7 | +27% | −8% |
| Dec 8–14 | +6% | +39% |
| Dec 15–21 | +3% | +8% |
| Dec 22–28 | −8% | −26% |
| Dec 29–Jan 4 | −24% | −24% |
| January (Jan 5–Feb 1) | −17% | −7% |
October and early November were flat. Costs started climbing the week of November 17, peaked over Thanksgiving weekend, and stayed high into early December. By the last week of the year, CPMs were well below October.
Black Friday Weekend, Day by Day
Change vs. each consumer brand's October 2025 average:
| Day | CPM | Conversion rate | Cost per purchase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving (Nov 27) | +30% | +87% | −10% |
| Black Friday (Nov 28) | +57% | +226% | −42% |
| Saturday (Nov 29) | +57% | +88% | −16% |
| Sunday (Nov 30) | +45% | +71% | −22% |
| Cyber Monday (Dec 1) | +41% | +153% | −32% |
Black Friday itself was the best day of the season. CPMs were at their highest, but conversion rates more than tripled. Cyber Monday was the second best.
Brands spent accordingly. Consumer brands' daily spend was about 54% higher than October during BFCM week, and 60% to 84% higher from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
Almost every consumer brand got a cheaper cost per purchase during BFCM week than in October. On Black Friday, average order value was 11% higher than October, and ROAS was 82% higher. So the cheaper purchases weren't just smaller orders.
The Week to Watch: December 8–14
The week after Cyber Monday is where things went wrong.
CPMs were still about 6% above October, but conversion rates fell 13% below it. People who planned to buy had already bought. Cost per purchase was 39% above October and ROAS was 27% below, making it the least efficient week of the season.
Fewer than half of consumer brands had a cost per purchase below their October level that week, compared to almost all of them during BFCM week.
The Cheap Stretch: Late December to Early January
After December 21, CPMs dropped fast as other advertisers pulled back. From December 29 to January 4, CPMs were 24% below October and cost per purchase was 24% lower.
January as a whole was cheaper to reach people (CPMs −17%), and cost per purchase came in a little below October too.
What About Apps and Services?
Apps and service businesses saw smaller increases, and at different times:
- BFCM week: CPMs were up 16%, less than half the jump consumer brands saw.
- Black Friday: CPMs were up 60% for the day, then came back down faster.
- Peak week: the most expensive week was December 15–21, with CPMs up 35%.
- January: CPMs were 11% below October.
These businesses don't run Black Friday sales the way retailers do, so they pay the higher CPMs without the jump in buyers. Few of them track purchases, so we only report their CPMs.
How to Plan for BFCM 2026
In 2026, Thanksgiving is November 26, Black Friday is November 27 and Cyber Monday is November 30.
- Don't judge BFCM by CPM. It will be high. Judge it by cost per purchase and ROAS. In 2025, both were at their best of the year.
- Have holiday creative ready by early November. Costs started rising the week of November 17. Offer-led ads, gift angles and holiday versions of your best ads need to be live and learning before then. See our holiday and Black Friday ad examples for ideas.
- Spend into Black Friday weekend. Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday was the most efficient stretch of the year for consumer brands, and most raised their daily budgets to match.
- Plan for the second week of December. Switch to gift and shipping-deadline messaging, or ease off budgets, instead of running BFCM ads at BFCM spend.
- Use the cheap window after Christmas. Late December and early January are a good time to prospect, test new creative and run New Year angles while CPMs are low.
- For apps and services, be careful in mid-December. That's when CPMs peaked for these accounts, without a matching rise in sign-ups.
Plan Your Q4 Creative Early
The calendar sets the creative mix: offer-heavy ads for BFCM, gift and deadline messaging for December, and new prospecting ads for the cheap weeks after Christmas. At Biddyco, new files land every 2 to 4 weeks, so for most brands that means holiday creative belongs in the September or October batch, ready before CPMs climb.
We work across 100+ accounts spending $20M+ a month on Meta. If you want help planning Q4 creative, book an intro call.
For more data like this, see our Meta ads benchmarks for CPM, frequency and conversion rate by industry, and the full Meta Ads Statistics hub.
FAQ
How much do Meta CPMs go up on Black Friday?
In our 2025 data, the median CPM on Black Friday was 57% higher than the same accounts' October average. Across the full BFCM week (November 24–30), CPMs were up 35% for consumer brands. Costs started rising about 10 days before Thanksgiving.
Is it worth advertising on Meta during Black Friday?
For most consumer brands, yes. Conversion rates more than tripled on Black Friday 2025, so cost per purchase was 42% lower than October and ROAS was 82% higher, even with much higher CPMs.
When do Meta ad costs go back down after BFCM?
CPMs stayed high through the first week of December, then eased. They dropped below October levels in the week of December 22 and were about 24% lower from December 29 to January 4.
What is the most expensive week for Meta ads in Q4?
For consumer brands, the week of December 8–14 had the worst cost per purchase, 39% above October. CPMs were still high but most shoppers had already bought. For apps and services, CPMs peaked the week of December 15–21.
Are Meta ads cheaper in January?
Yes. In January 2026, CPMs were 17% below October 2025 for the median consumer brand, and the last week of December and first week of January were cheaper still.
When should I launch Black Friday ads on Meta?
Have them live by early November. CPMs started rising the week of November 17, 2025, and new ads need time to get spend before the most competitive days.
