Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
December 2024 - December 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
Nonprofit CPCs in South Africa ran dramatically below the global benchmark, with costs living in the low cents for most of the year. The main story is a pronounced Q4 spike followed by a steep reset: December 2024 peaked at 24¢, then CPCs deflated into early 2025, hit a late‑Q3 trough, and ended the year with only a modest Q4 lift. Movements were choppy in percentage terms but tiny in absolute dollars. 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 Nonprofit in South Africa compared to the global benchmark.
Seasonality shows through clearly. Costs firmed into Q4, with December 2024 the clear outlier relative to the rest of the year. Early Q1 softened further, reaching a local low in March before a partial April rebound. Mid-year stabilized at very low levels (roughly one to two cents), followed by a late‑Q3 dip to the annual floor in September and a modest recovery into October–November. This rhythm aligns with familiar Facebook Ads benchmarks: Q4 tends to carry higher auction pressure, while Q1 often resets lower.
Against the global baseline, South Africa’s Nonprofit CPCs were consistently below market:
In short, CPC trends for Nonprofit advertisers in South Africa show ultra-low, highly economical country-specific ad costs with clear seasonal contours and a persistent gap versus the global benchmark. Understanding Facebook Ads benchmarks for CPC — and how Nonprofit industry ad performance in South Africa compares to global patterns — helps contextualize media efficiency and year-round auction dynamics.
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 Nonprofit industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. For campaigns targeting South Africa, advertisers should consider local market factors and user behavior. 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.
Improve your Facebook ad performance
• Instant performance insights – See which ads, audiences, and creatives drive results.
• Data-driven creative decisions – Spot patterns to improve ROAS.
• Effortless reporting – No spreadsheets, just clear insights.
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.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
Late November (Black Friday/Cyber Monday), December (Christmas & Day of Goodwill), Mid-year retail (June Youth Day promotions)
CPM and CPC might rise during long weekends like Human Rights Day, Freedom Day, and Heritage Day as leisure and travel-related media consumption increases. Retail CPMs may spike in late November–December for holiday shopping. Youth Day and National Women's Day might drive regional campaigns. Weekend extensions across public holidays may benefit weekend campaigns.
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.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
See how much it costs to get users to install an app