Facebook Ads Cost Per Lead Benchmarks for Design

Introduction

The Design industry’s Cost Per Lead (CPL) ran hot across all countries, far above the global all‑industry benchmark for most of the year, with a dramatic surge through early spring, a mid‑year cool‑down, and a one‑month October trough that reset the range before a modest November rebound. 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 Design across all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Design CPL opened at 93 in November 2024 and ended at 147 in November 2025, a 58% lift over the period. The median peaked at 528 in April 2025 and hit a brief low of 5 in October 2025. Excluding that October dip, the early‑year run-up is the defining move: 213 in December, 423 in January, 357 in February, 460 in March, and a crest at 528 in April. Costs then eased to 318 in May and 358 in June, fell to 177 in July and 140 in August, and re‑accelerated to 283 in September before the October break and November partial recovery to 147.

Across the 13 months, Design CPL averaged 269, versus 39.8 for the global all‑industry baseline. Month-to-month volatility was pronounced: absolute changes averaged 133 points in Design, versus just 4.23 globally, underscoring a market that moved in large steps rather than small increments. Notable monthly swings included a +210 jump from February to March, a −211 pullback from April to May, and a −278 slide into October, followed by a +142 rebound in November.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

The seasonal rhythm was led by a powerful Q1–April climb: Design CPL averaged 413 across January–March, then peaked in April. Mid‑year, costs softened meaningfully, with July–August averaging 200 and marking the lowest steady stretch of the year. September renewed some momentum at 283. October stands out as an outlier dip, the only month materially below the broader market, before November returned to a more typical range for the category.

In the global baseline, the pattern was steadier: a gradual rise from 35.7 in January to 47.6 by September, then softer levels into November at 28.6—consistent with late‑year shifts in auction dynamics. The baseline’s highs and lows (48 in September; 28.6 in November) were narrow compared to Design’s wide arc.

Country vs. Global

Design’s CPL sat above the global benchmark in every month except October—often dramatically so. The gap ranged from roughly 2–3x in November 2024 and August 2025, to 7–9x through late Q1 and early summer, and peaked near 14x in April (528 vs. 37.9). Q1 alone averaged 11x above global. In contrast, October’s trough put Design 89% below the global level that month (5 vs. 45.1), before the spread normalized to about 5x in November (147 vs. 28.6). While the global series declined 31% from start to finish, Design ended higher than it began, but with far choppier month-to-month motion.

Closing

Taken together, these Facebook Ads benchmarks show that Cost Per Lead for the Design industry across all countries is structurally higher and more volatile than the global average, with a clear Q1–April surge, mid‑year easing, and an October anomaly. Understanding CPL dynamics—alongside CPC trends, CPM analysis, and CTR performance—helps situate industry ad performance and country‑specific ad costs against global patterns for Design.