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 - Advantage+ CPMs, CTRs, and blended MER by vertical.
Meta's auction absorbed most of what agencies used to manually manage. What still moves the needle is creative volume, CAPI signal quality, and consolidated ad set architecture. 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 |
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 live, server-side tagging in place, and margin-aware asset group architecture.
| 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 |
LinkedIn - CPCs, CPLs, and pipeline economics.
LinkedIn's true cost isn't the CPC - it's the CPL of a qualified account, measured through offline conversion imports rather than platform lead-form volume.
| 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% |
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 |
Apple Search Ads - TTR, CPT, and post-install economics.
ASA remains the highest-intent app acquisition surface. Brand and category keywords define the floor; discovery + Search Match define 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% |
Programmatic - CTV CPMs, viewability, and lift.
CTV is the most measurable upper-funnel channel we've operated. Its value comes from geo-holdout and MMM readouts, not in-platform reporting.
| 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% |
Creative - what a healthy pipeline looks like.
Creative velocity is the single strongest predictor we've measured of scaled account performance. Volume without archetype discipline burns budget; volume with archetype discipline compounds.
| 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 |
Measurement - the gap between platform ROAS and truth.
Every scaled account we've measured shows a delta between summed platform ROAS and actual incremental contribution. The delta is the case for MMM + geo-holdout as the source of truth.
| Summed platform ROAS overstatement · Meta | +18%–+42% |
| Summed platform ROAS overstatement · Google PMax | +22%–+55% |
| Brand search cannibalized by paid · avg | 31% |
| MMM confidence interval · at $50K+/mo spend | ±8%–±14% |
Want to see where you sit against these ranges?
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