Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Arts advertisers in the United States ran markedly lower cost-per-clicks than the global market through 2025, with a clear mid-year lift and a soft, choppy finish into Q4 before a sharp reset in January 2026. While the global benchmark climbed into November, United States CPCs for Arts fell through autumn, widening the gap at year-end. 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 Arts in the United States compared to the global benchmark.
Across January–December 2025, Facebook Ads CPC for the Arts industry in the United States averaged about $0.60, ending the year near $0.53 after starting at $0.56 (roughly a 5% decline). The year’s high came in May at $0.92, more than double the low of $0.42 set in November. December saw a modest rebound to $0.53 before CPC reset sharply to $0.22 in January 2026, a 58% drop from December and down about 60% versus January 2025.
Momentum through the year was uneven. Early gains from January ($0.56) to March ($0.75) gave way to a dip in April ($0.61) and then the May spike ($0.92). From June ($0.55) through November ($0.42), CPCs generally drifted lower with small interruptions: modest lift in July ($0.69), then a steady slide across late summer and fall. December’s uptick ($0.53) was short-lived; January 2026 fell to the series low ($0.22).
Volatility averaged $0.16 in month-to-month absolute change—pronounced swings for CPC trends—compared with the global benchmark’s $0.07 average shift.
The United States Arts category showed a spring-to-early-summer swell, peaking in May, followed by softer pricing through late Q3 and into Q4. Unlike many categories that tighten in November, this segment posted its lowest CPC in November, with only a mild December lift and then an unusually steep January reset. The rhythm suggests a mid-year crest, a late-year trough, and a sharper-than-typical post-holiday comedown.
Relative to the global Facebook Ads benchmarks, United States Arts CPCs were consistently below market throughout the period. In 2025, the global average CPC was about $1.13, nearly double the United States Arts average of $0.60 (roughly 47% below). The narrowest monthly gap appeared in May, when United States Arts CPC ($0.92) sat just 20% below the global level ($1.15). The widest gap emerged in November: $0.42 versus $1.32—about 68% below market. While the global trend rose into November (+19% from October to November) before easing in December and dropping again in January 2026 ($0.85), the United States Arts series moved in the opposite direction in Q4, falling through November and only partially rebounding in December before a much steeper January decline.
In sum, Facebook Ads CPC benchmarks for the Arts industry in the United States averaged around $0.60 in 2025, peaking at $0.92 in May and bottoming at $0.42 in November—consistently below the global benchmark and more volatile month to month. Understanding CPC trends and country-specific ad costs for Arts in the United States helps contextualize industry ad performance against global patterns.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the Arts industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. For campaigns targeting United States, advertisers often face higher costs due to high competition and purchasing power. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
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Late November (Thanksgiving & Black Friday weekend), December (Christmas), Back-to-school (July–September), Summer travel season (Memorial Day onwards)
CPM and CPC might rise around major holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, especially in travel and entertainment. Black Friday/Thanksgiving weekend triggers massive spikes in retail ad competition. December ad demand typically peaks—retail campaigns require significantly higher budgets. Back-to-school promotions drive increased competition. Juneteenth may see regional engagement rise.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
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