Meta advertising has gotten harder and more expensive. iOS 14.5 in 2021 removed signals. iOS 17 added more restrictions. CPMs that were $6-8 in 2019 are now $12-18 on average — and higher in competitive categories.
Here's the full current benchmark data and where advertisers are still finding efficiency.
2025 Facebook/Instagram Ad Benchmarks
Average CPM by Industry
| Industry | Facebook CPM | Instagram CPM |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce (fashion) | $14.20 | $18.40 |
| E-commerce (home goods) | $11.50 | $14.80 |
| Financial services | $18.70 | $22.30 |
| SaaS / Tech | $16.40 | $20.10 |
| Health & wellness | $12.80 | $15.60 |
| Real estate | $13.90 | $17.20 |
| Food & beverage | $9.80 | $12.40 |
| Entertainment | $8.50 | $10.90 |
Instagram costs 20-35% more than Facebook across all categories. The reach is often younger and more engaged — whether the premium is justified depends entirely on your product.
Average CPC by Ad Type
| Ad format | Avg CPC |
|---|---|
| Feed image | $0.94 |
| Feed video | $0.72 |
| Story | $0.58 |
| Reels | $0.42 |
| Carousel | $0.61 |
Reels ads are currently the most cost-efficient format by CPC — a trend Meta is actively incentivizing.
Average Cost Per Lead by Industry
| Industry | Avg CPL (Facebook) |
|---|---|
| Healthcare | $31.50 |
| Legal | $42.80 |
| Real estate | $29.10 |
| Financial services | $48.20 |
| Fitness | $16.40 |
| Education | $22.70 |
| Home services | $24.90 |
| SaaS | $55.80 |
SaaS has the highest CPL but also typically the highest LTV. A $55 CPL with a 10% trial-to-paid conversion and $150/month ARPU = $150 CAC vs. $1,800 LTV = 12x LTV:CAC.
What Works in 2025
UGC (User-Generated Content) still significantly outperforms: UGC creative averages 40-60% lower CPM than polished production content. The algorithm interprets native-looking content as organic and rewards it.
Advantage+ Shopping campaigns for e-commerce: Meta's AI-driven campaign type consistently outperforms manual targeting for e-commerce retailers with clean product catalogs. Average improvement: 15-30% better ROAS vs. manual.
Broad targeting with strong creative: Since iOS 14.5 removed demographic signal accuracy, targeting has gotten less precise. Counterintuitively, broad targeting with stronger creative outperforms narrow targeting with average creative. The algorithm finds your audience better than you can with the audience selector.
Retargeting still works — but the window shrunk: Facebook's 30-day retargeting audience performs similarly to 7-day post-iOS (because many signals within 30 days aren't available). Prioritize 7-day windows for retargeting.
The Attribution Challenge
Facebook's reported ROAS overstates actual performance in most accounts post-iOS 14.5:
- Facebook claims 3.2x ROAS
- Backend Shopify/website data shows 1.8x
The discrepancy comes from Facebook attributing view-through conversions (someone saw an ad but didn't click) as conversions. Industry rule of thumb: discount Facebook's reported ROAS by 30-40% when comparing to backend data.
Still Worth It?
For most consumer e-commerce brands, Meta ads are still the most scalable paid channel — even at higher CPMs. The reach (3 billion users, sophisticated targeting even with reduced signals) is unmatched.
The metric to watch: MER (Media Efficiency Ratio = Total revenue ÷ Total ad spend). Blended across all channels. When MER drops below 3x for most DTC brands, it's time to reassess channel mix.
Use the Facebook Ads ROI Calculator to model your expected ROAS at different spend levels.