Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Legal advertisers in Australia saw unusually low Facebook Ads CPCs through 2025, sitting far below the global benchmark and punctuated by a brief mid-year surge. The market’s costs hovered near pennies in March and April, spiked in May, then settled back to low levels by September — a choppy profile against a globally steady year that only briefly tightened in late Q4. 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 Legal in Australia compared to the global benchmark.
Across the four months observed, median CPC for the Legal industry in Australia averaged $0.09, starting at $0.015 in March, dipping to a low of $0.013 in April, jumping to a peak of $0.32 in May, and landing at $0.025 in September. That arc translates to a 68% lift from March to September, driven mainly by the May spike. The range was wide — roughly $0.31 from low to high — indicating sharp, episodic movement rather than a gradual climb.
Month-to-month shifts underline the swing: a mild drop from March to April (−$0.002), a steep lift into May (+$0.309), then a reset by September (−$0.297). Averaged across these observed intervals, volatility measured about 0.20 points per step — an order of magnitude larger than the global pattern over comparable months.
By contrast, global Facebook Ads benchmarks for CPC were stable for most of 2025, averaging about $1.13 for the year and holding in a tight band near $1.10–$1.15 from Q1 through early Q4. The global high arrived in November ($1.32), followed by a December dip ($1.05) and a further easing into January 2026 ($0.85). Typical month-to-month movement across 2025 was modest (~0.06 points), with the sharpest swing concentrated in late Q4.
For Australia’s Legal category, the pattern reads as a low-cost baseline in early autumn (March–April), a transient cost elevation in May, and a reversion to low country-specific ad costs by September. The rhythm differs from the global curve, where costs were mostly steady until a Q4 flare-up and then softened rapidly at the turn of the year. In short: Australia’s Legal CPCs showed a single, mid-year interruption to an otherwise inexpensive environment.
Compared directly to the global benchmark in the same months, Australia’s Legal CPCs were consistently below market:
Across those months, Australia averaged $0.09 versus a global $1.13 — about 92% lower. The gap narrowed sharply in May (72% below the benchmark) but widened again by September (98% below). Even more striking than the level difference was the pattern: Australia’s observed intervals swung by ~0.20 points on average, compared with about ~0.03 across the same global checkpoints.
Taken together, these CPC trends position Facebook Ads benchmarks for the Legal industry in Australia as markedly lower than the global norm, with a brief May surge interrupting an otherwise low-cost run. Understanding CPC trends and country-specific ad costs for Legal in Australia helps frame industry ad performance against the steadier global pattern.
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 Legal industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. For campaigns targeting Australia, advertisers typically see good engagement rates despite moderate costs. 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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Late December (Christmas and Boxing Day), Early December (Cyber Monday), January (Back-to-school), May (Mother's Day)
Ad costs could spike around major holidays, especially Easter, Anzac Day, and Christmas. Increased budgets and earlier scheduling may be necessary. Retailers should consider planning promotions around back-to-school and Mother's Day to maximize campaign effectiveness.
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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