Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
December 2024 - December 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
Recreation and Travel advertisers in South Africa ran on markedly lower Facebook Ads costs than the global market, but with far sharper month-to-month swings. The year told a story of deep mid-year softness, a dramatic September surge, and a late-year rebound that closed well above where it started. 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 Recreation and Travel in South Africa compared to the global benchmark.
Cost Per Click (CPC) in South Africa started at 0.29 in December 2024 and ended at 0.51 in December 2025, a 76% year-over-year lift. Across the 13-month window, CPC averaged 0.36, versus a 1.14 global average for all industries — roughly 69% below global levels.
The year’s low came in June at 0.12, followed by a brisk climb into July (0.46) and a standout peak in September at 0.88 — the highest point of the year and more than 7x the June trough. After that spike, CPC slid to 0.34 in October, dipped further to 0.14 in November, and then rebounded to 0.51 in December. The range for South Africa was wide (0.12–0.88), reflecting pronounced volatility.
Volatility was a defining feature: month-to-month changes averaged 0.26 points, equal to about 74% of the market’s own mean CPC. By contrast, the global benchmark moved by just 0.06 points on average each month (about 5% of its mean), underscoring how much choppier South Africa’s Recreation and Travel CPC trends were.
Seasonality followed a distinctive rhythm:
Globally, CPCs followed a steadier pattern: a mild slide into Q3 and a predictable Q4 lift, with November marking the global peak.
South Africa’s Recreation and Travel CPCs sat below the global benchmark in every month. The gap typically ranged from 55% to 89% below global levels. The narrowest gap appeared in September, when South Africa’s 0.88 was just 17% below the 1.07 global median. The widest gap arrived in November, with South Africa at 0.14 against the global 1.32 — an 89% delta.
Directionally, the global line was smoother and slightly downward year-over-year in December (−12%), with a notable seasonal swell in November. South Africa’s curve was far more dynamic: a Q2 trough, a pronounced Q3 spike, a November air pocket, and a strong December close.
In short, Facebook Ads benchmarks for Cost Per Click in Recreation and Travel show South Africa combining structurally lower country-specific ad costs with higher volatility than the global average. Understanding CPC trends for Recreation and Travel in South Africa — and how they diverge from the global benchmark — helps frame industry ad performance and year-round dynamics for this market.
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 Recreation and Travel 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.
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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.
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