What’s the Average CTR for Facebook Ads in 2024?

Trying to define the average click-through rate for Facebook ads in 2024 can be tricky—it seems everyone has a different take on which Facebook ad benchmarks you should strive for.

Get ready to dive deep into the different types of click-through rates (yes, there's more than one!), benchmarks from over $9B in ad spend, and tips on how to improve your lackluster CTRs in 2024.

What is the CTR for Facebook ads?

Click-through rates are everywhere in digital marketing—emails, ads, social posts, you name it. But what does it actually mean?

Easily enough, the definition is all in the name. Click-through rate (or CTR for short) is a calculation of people who click through to your link in any of your online campaigns. In our case, we'll be focusing on people who click on your Facebook ads.

With a name that easy, you'd think the calculations would be simple as well. However, there are actually several different types of clicks that Facebook defines, and each has its own unique CTR.

Facebook link clicks

‍This is the typical metric most marketers tend to look at when viewing their Facebook ads. Link clicks are clicks from users who take them on or off Facebook. This includes things like:

• A user clicking call-to-action buttons or images in your ad
• Clicks that lead to a user opening a lead generation form or Instant Experience ad
• A click from a link in the copy of your ad

Facebook clicks (all)

‍This one trips up quite a few people. Clicks (all) represents any click on any part of your Facebook ad. In addition to all of the actions under link clicks, it adds on the following actions:

• Clicks on your Facebook or Instagram page name
• Social proof (likes, comments, shares)
• Clicks that expand photos or videos

Facebook outbound clicks

‍While often ignored (or unheard-of), outbound clicks only take into consideration clicks that take someone off of Facebook entirely. Some examples are:

• Clicks on call-to-action buttons or links on ads that take someone to an external website
• Clicks from links on lead generation forms, Instant Experience, or collection ads that take the user off of Facebook

Here's a quick comparison of them altogether:

Each of these metrics has its specific uses. However, for those who want to focus solely on clicks that lead to their website, outbound clicks will be the best choice.

Other important clicks

If you've ever wondered, "What does 'other clicks' mean on Facebook?" and questioned whether they even matter, this section is for you. 

These metrics are equally vital for evaluating the effectiveness of your Facebook advertising. They include clicks that don’t fit into the categories of link clicks, photo clicks, or URL clicks. Essentially, any other click beyond likes, comments, and shares.

Why do they matter? Because each click represents the time users are investing to interact with your ad. This information offers a holistic view of how users are engaging with your ad, allowing you to fine-tune your ad strategy.

 Let’s break down the types of other clicks:

• Clicks to call: This enables users to call your business directly.
• Clicks to the app: This engages people to download or interact with your app.
• Clicks to Messenger: Encourages users to interact with your brand by prompting them to engage via Messenger.‍
• Clicks for directions: This click feature offers users directions to your physical location. It’s particularly beneficial for brick-and-mortar businesses.

How do I calculate my CTR on Facebook?

Now that we've learned what the different types of clicks are, it's time to dig a bit deeper into how they come up with that metric in the first place.

Click-through rates are typically calculated as the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions, expressed as a percentage.

Each type of click is calculated using the same formula, the difference lies in what is considered a click as we explained above.

What is the average click through rate for Facebook ads?

Asking “What is a good CTR for Facebook ads?” is like asking “How long is a piece of string?” The best thing to do is to compare your CTR on Facebook against benchmarks according to different industries, ad placements, and ad formats. This will help put your campaign’s performance into perspective so you can aim for better results in the future. 

Average CTR for Facebook ads by industry

Take a look at these percentages to determine what a good click through rate is on average on Facebook for your industry 👇

The legal industry boasts a solid average CTR on Facebook, standing at ​​1.61%. This could be attributed to the relatively low competition on social media platforms, allowing their ads, including their high-value offers and calls to action, to stand out effectively.

In second place, we have the retail industry with a 1.59% CTR, followed by the apparel industry in third place with a CTR of 1.24%. The beauty industry takes the fourth spot with a CTR of 1.16%. 

This comes as no surprise, given that these sectors frequently employ high-quality images and videos, feature well-known models and celebrities in their ads, and frequently offer sales, discounts, and giveaways to attract clicks.

The employment and job training industry maintains the lowest CTR at 0.47%. This could be because Facebook is not the primary platform for job hunting, as people tend to find more value in sites like LinkedIn, Google, and Indeed. 

The finance and insurance industry follows closely behind with a CTR of only 0.56%. This could be attributed to Facebook's Newsfeed being saturated with ads from similar industries, along with various other content types vying for users' attention. 

If the ads from the finance and insurance industry are not as engaging or eye-catching as the surrounding content, they might get overlooked.

Average CTR for Facebook ads by platform position

Now, let’s examine Facebook ad click-through rates by platform positions, as they differ based on where they are placed.

Right off the bat, we can see that FB Feed and FB Instream Video have the highest CTRs by far.

The Instream Video CTR stands at approximately 0.33% which could be attributed to their contextual relevance. Since they appear during video content, viewers tend to be more engaged and willing to interact with the ad.

FB Feed has a slightly lower click-through rate of 0.24% which could be due to ad fatigue or high competition for attention. The third-highest CTR is observed on IG Stories and FB Video Feeds with an equal CTR of 0.10%, while the lowest is on IG Feed with only 0.03%. 

The IG Feed’s low CTR could be because users are scrolling through their feeds quickly, potentially skipping more ads.

Average CTR for Facebook ads by format

If you want to get more granular, take a look at these Facebook ad CTRs by format:

Unsurprisingly, interactive ads boast the highest CTR, starting at 1.25% and reaching up to 1.33%. Video ads have the second highest CTR, starting at 0.50% to 0.73%, while carousel ads have an even higher potential, reaching up to 0.85% despite starting lower at 0.30%.

Interactive ads prompt users to engage actively, whether through polls, quizzes, or online games. Especially notable are video ads and carousel ads featuring video. These ads showcase highly stimulating visuals, while carousel ads add an engaging swiping motion that encourages users to explore and interact with multiple slides.

How to improve your Facebook ads CTR

If your click-through rates aren’t matching up to the industry, platform, and format averages,  don’t worry! There are some small changes you can make that can lead to big improvements. 

Create eye-catching visual content

There's no escaping it. The power of social media rests in visuals, and your competition is fiercer than ever. It's not enough to keep up with your competitors; you need to surpass them. 

Now, you might be thinking, "I don't have the resources to churn out fresh content every week or month." But here's the kicker: you don't even need a fancy design team nowadays. 

With Madgicx's Sparkle, a dedicated design team is at your fingertips, ready when you need them. Enjoy unlimited ad designs and revisions, all delivered within 48 hours. You can even try it for free.

Use value-centric copy

Good design thrives on great supporting copy and copy serves as that extra nudge to make them click (quite literally). 

Killer copywriting requires hyper-personalization tailored to your intended audience. Who are they? How do you want them to feel or react? What actions do you want them to take? Be specific. This isn't the time to be vague. 

Additionally, ensure you touch on a pain point or offer a solution to a problem they may have. Get to the point by quickly explaining what they can expect to learn or gain by clicking on your ad.

Optimize your audiences

At this stage, you’ve matched the perfect creative to the perfect copy. But what’s the point if the people your ad is meant for aren’t going to see it? This is why you must optimize your Facebook ad audiences and work within the sales funnel.

Different funnel stages will have different click-through rates. A warm audience (those who already know you) has a higher chance of clicking on your ads and getting you a higher CTR.

Here's an example of a Facebook ad funnel:

As you can see, the messaging and offers need to vary depending on each audience segment you're targeting. Taking the funnel into consideration ensures that the messaging and offer you have is highly relevant to your target audience, resulting in more actions (clicks) being taken.

Madgicx also has an answer for this.

With Audience Launcher, you’ve got over 100+ pre-built audiences to choose from that cover every step of your sales funnel and you can launch them with a click of a button. You’ll also have access to information to help you determine your best-performing ad placements, demographics, and even regions in one dashboard.

Combine that with Sparkle’s design capability and specially crafted ad copy, and your campaign is set to blast off 🚀💨

How to monitor your Facebook ad CTR

Keeping up with all these rates and numbers doesn’t have to be a chore. To find your Facebook ad click-through rate, CPA, conversion rate, CPM, and other metrics using Meta, open your Meta Ads Manager.

Facebook tells you how many unique clicks you received (that's the number of people who clicked on your ad). But what we're really interested in is the click-through rate, not just the click count.

To find this information, select ‘Performance and Clicks’ in the ‘Columns’ dropdown menu:

You can now view both the click-through rates for link clicks and all clicks, including your average Facebook ads cost per link click and other metrics.

Outbound clicks aren't covered in the standard views, so there are a few extra steps to find those. Under the same ‘Columns’ tab, select ‘Customize Columns’ toward the bottom of the list.

Type 'Outbound' in the search bar and select the outbound clicks and outbound click-through rate boxes to add them to your view.

Monitor your Facebook ad CTR via One-Click Report

Here’s an even easier way to stay on top of your Facebook ad CTR and other VIP metrics: Madgicx’s One-Click Report.

One-Click Report stands out from others for several reasons:

• You get a snapshot view of your day-to-day performance across all your ad channels (Facebook, Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, TikTok, and Shopify).
• Monitor all your metrics in real time so you can make quicker business decisions as needed.
• Even if you're a small business, you can effortlessly create professional-looking and informative reports without needing to hire fancy data analysts.
• Access pre-loaded Facebook ad-specific templates that mirror industry leaders' report formats and organization.
• Easily share your data with your teams or external stakeholders, even if they don't have a Madgicx account.

To get started, connect the data source (in this case, your Facebook ad channel) to Madgicx during your free 7-day trial so you can create your 5 free reports.

Next, head over to the One-Click Report on the left-side menu.

Click “Create New Report,” and you'll find 19 unique templates to choose from. You can focus on just Facebook or create a multi-channel report for a comprehensive overview of your ad accounts. 

Once you've picked a template you like, you can add all the ad accounts you'd like to report on.

If you want to customize the report and add metrics of your own, you can easily do that inside by clicking on the plus icon on a blank square and then dragging and dropping your widget where you want it to appear on the report.

Conclusion

We've covered everything you need to know about CTR for your Facebook ads, including how to determine if your ads match up and tips on increasing your click-through rates across the board.

The key to a high CTR? Killer ads, plain and simple. Yet, killer ads alone won't cut it if you're not constantly keeping a close eye on your VIP metrics. With Madgicx’s One-Click Report live dashboard, monitoring ALL your metrics in real time is effortless.