The benchmarks the platforms won't publish.
Illustrative working ranges for planning and diagnosis, not client-approved results. Validate every range against your market, account history and measurement setup before using it as a target.
Meta
Meta: Advantage+ CPMs, CTRs and blended MER by vertical.
Meta's auction now handles most of what agencies used to manage by hand. What still makes a difference is creative volume, clean Conversions API data and a consolidated ad set structure. These are the ranges we see when the plumbing is right.
- CPM · DTC skincare/beauty · US
- $28–$46
- CPM · DTC apparel · US
- $22–$38
- CPM · B2B SaaS · US
- $52–$95
- CTR · Advantage+ Shopping · DTC
- 1.4%–2.3%
- Blended MER · scaled DTC (>$100K/mo)
- 2.1×–3.4×
- Winner rate · new creative concepts
- 1 in 7 to 1 in 12
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Higher due to targeting compression
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Google - Search CPCs, PMax ROAS, and Shopping CTRs.
Google Search still captures the sharpest intent in the funnel. PMax still hides where the money went. These ranges assume enhanced conversions are live, server-side tagging is in place and asset groups are structured by margin.
- Search CPC · ecommerce non-brand
- $0.85–$2.40
- Search CPC · B2B SaaS non-brand
- $6–$22
- Search CPC · finance / insurance
- $12–$55
- PMax ROAS · DTC (blended, feed-hygiene tier A)
- 3.8×–6.2×
- Shopping CTR · DTC
- 0.9%–1.6%
- YouTube CPM · in-stream skippable
- $8–$18
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
LinkedIn - CPCs, CPLs, and pipeline economics.
On LinkedIn, the cost that matters is the CPL of a qualified account, measured through offline conversion imports. The CPC and the platform's lead-form count tell you little.
- Sponsored Content CPC · ABM
- $9–$16
- Sponsored Content CPC · broad B2B
- $5–$11
- Lead Gen Form CPL · raw
- $65–$180
- Qualified pipeline CPL · via CRM sync
- $380–$1,200
- Meeting → SQO conversion
- 22%–38%
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
TikTok
TikTok - CPMs, hook rate, and creative fatigue.
TikTok's economics depend more on hook rate than on any bid or targeting decision. Creative fatigues faster here than anywhere else in paid media.
- CPM · DTC · US
- $8–$16
- 3-sec hook rate · winning creative
- 24%–38%
- Creative half-life · winners
- 9–18 days
- App install CPI · gaming · US
- $2.10–$5.40
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Apple Search Ads
Apple Search Ads - TTR, CPT, and post-install economics.
Apple Search Ads is still the highest-intent place to acquire app users. Brand and category keywords set the floor; discovery campaigns and Search Match set the ceiling.
- TTR · brand keywords
- 48%–72%
- TTR · category keywords
- 6%–14%
- CPT · category keywords · US
- $0.90–$3.20
- Install → paid conversion · SaaS apps
- 3.2%–8.1%
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Programmatic
Programmatic - CTV CPMs, viewability, and lift.
CTV is the most measurable upper-funnel channel we have run. Its value shows up in geo-holdout tests and MMM readouts.
- CTV CPM · premium AVOD inventory
- $28–$52
- OLV CPM · programmatic (open exchange)
- $6–$14
- Viewability · CTV
- 94%–99%
- Incremental lift · CTV on brand search (geo-holdout)
- +8%–+22%
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Creative
Creative - what a healthy pipeline looks like.
Creative velocity is the strongest single predictor of scaled account performance we have measured. Volume without a clear set of archetypes burns budget; with one, each round of testing builds on the last.
- Weekly new concepts · scaled DTC
- 8–14
- Weekly new concepts · scaled B2B
- 3–6
- Winner rate · testing → scaling
- 8%–14%
- Iterations per winner
- 3–7
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Measurement
Measurement: the gap between platform ROAS and the truth.
Every scaled account we have measured shows a gap between the platforms' summed ROAS and the real incremental contribution. That gap is why we treat MMM and geo-holdout tests as the source of truth.
- Summed platform ROAS overstatement · Meta
- +18%–+42%
- Summed platform ROAS overstatement · Google PMax
- +22%–+55%
- Brand search cannibalised by paid · avg
- 31%
- MMM confidence interval · at $50K+/mo spend
- ±8%–±14%
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Illustrative working range
Want to see where you sit against these ranges?
Book a 30-minute working session. We will compare a live sample from your accounts with these ranges. No deck, no pitch and no sales rep.