Facebook Ads Cost Per Lead Benchmarks for Consulting

Introduction

Consulting lead generation ran markedly cheaper than the market this year, with Cost Per Lead (CPL) staying well below the global Facebook Ads benchmarks while showing a distinct mid‑summer surge and a late‑year cooldown. The series held a steady cadence through winter and spring, spiked in July, then slid to the annual low by October—more volatile than the broader benchmark and marked by sharper month‑to‑month swings.

This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Consulting across all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Across all countries, Consulting CPL averaged about $28 over the period, ranging from a low of $23.64 in October to a high of $39.09 in July. The series opened at $24.67 in November 2024 and closed at $23.64 in October 2025, a modest 4% decline end‑to‑end. Spring stayed compact: January–April clustered between $25 and $28. The standout movement arrived mid‑year—June to July jumped by $11.42, the largest single‑month lift in the set—followed by an $8.39 pullback in August and a continued easing into October.

Month‑to‑month volatility averaged $3.81, and the full range spanned $15.45, roughly 55% of the series mean—signaling choppier dynamics than a smooth, seasonal drift. July’s $39.09 towered about 40% above the average, while October sat ~16% below it, framing a year defined by a mid‑summer price shock and a Q3–Q4 comedown.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

Seasonality showed a familiar winter softness: January–March averaged roughly $26. Q2 kept a narrow band near $27, suggesting stable efficiency before pressure mounted. The inflection point was July, when CPLs jumped to the annual high. Rather than holding into late Q3 and Q4, Consulting costs cooled: August stepped down, September softened again, and October reached the low for the year—an atypical shape compared with the broader market’s Q3–Q4 inflation.

Country vs. Global

Against the global benchmark (all industries), Consulting across all countries was consistently cheaper: $28 vs. a $40.94 global average—about 32% below market levels. The global trend dipped to a March low of $33.35, then climbed steadily to a September peak of $48.29 before easing to $45.08 in October. By contrast, Consulting’s peak came earlier (July) and unwound quickly into fall.

The gap varied through the year. At its closest, July’s Consulting CPL was only 8% below the global level; in March it was 16% below. The spread widened notably in Q4: October’s Consulting CPL was 48% under the benchmark. On volatility, Consulting moved more per month on average ($3.81) than the market ($3.22), underscoring sharper swings around the July spike and subsequent retreat.

Closing

Understanding Facebook Ads Cost Per Lead benchmarks for the Consulting industry across all countries highlights a year of below‑market CPLs, a pronounced July surge, and a late‑year cooldown—distinct from the global benchmark’s steady climb into September. These CPL trends complement broader CPM analysis and CTR performance views, helping situate industry ad performance and country‑specific ad costs within a global context.