Facebook Ads CTR Benchmarks for Marketing & Advertising

Introduction

Marketing & Advertising stood out in global Facebook Ads benchmarks for click‑through rate in 2025–early 2026. Across all available countries, CTR for the category ran consistently above the all‑industry baseline, with a pronounced Q4 surge and a strong carryover into January 2026. Momentum was not linear: the market saw a soft February, a mid‑summer dip in August, and an outsized December spike that set the annual high. Volatility was higher than the global norm, but so were the highs.

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 Marketing & Advertising across all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Marketing & Advertising opened 2025 at 2.07% CTR and closed January 2026 at 3.56%—a 1.49‑point lift (+72%). The full‑period average was 2.30%, well above the 1.86% global average for all industries. The category’s high was 3.82% in December; the low was 1.74% in February, creating a wide 2.08‑point annual range.

Month to month, the narrative had clear chapters:

• Early dip: February slid to 1.74% (the low).
• Spring stabilization: March–June climbed gradually from 1.82% to 1.96%.
• Mid‑year swing: July lifted to 2.22%, August fell back to 1.80%, and September rebounded to 2.22%.
• Q4 acceleration: October reached 2.57%, November eased to 2.39%, and December jumped to 3.82%—the biggest single‑month increase of the year (+1.43 points vs. November).
• New‑year cooldown: January 2026 settled at a still‑elevated 3.56%.

Volatility averaged 0.34 points per month for the category, versus just 0.06 points for the global benchmark—sharper swings, especially around the holidays.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

Seasonality showed a familiar rhythm. CTR softened through February, then recovered steadily into early summer. A classic mid‑summer wobble appeared: July’s lift, an August trough, and a September rebound. The strongest engagement arrived in Q4, peaking in December and remaining elevated into January, even as the post‑holiday cooldown began. Put simply, the category’s CTR performance crested in the holiday window after a year of gradual gains punctuated by short‑term dips.

Category vs. Global

Against the all‑industry global benchmark, Marketing & Advertising outperformed for nearly every month. On average, CTR ran about 24% higher than global levels (2.30% vs. 1.86%). The gap fluctuated:

• Narrowest positive gap: May, when the category was only 3% above global (1.80% vs. 1.76%).
• One month below market: August, when CTR fell 6% under the global median (1.80% vs. 1.90%).
• Widest gap: December, with CTR 82% above global (3.82% vs. 2.10%).

Growth momentum also diverged: the category climbed 72% from January 2025 to January 2026, while the global benchmark rose 23%. Q4 magnified the difference—Marketing & Advertising averaged 2.93% in October–December versus 2.02% globally, a 45% premium. The December leap was especially stark: a +1.43‑point month‑over‑month increase for the category versus +0.16 points globally.

Closing

In summary, Facebook Ads CTR performance for the Marketing & Advertising industry across all countries outpaced the global benchmark in both level and momentum, with pronounced Q4 seasonality and higher month‑to‑month variability. Understanding click‑through‑rate benchmarks for Marketing & Advertising globally helps teams evaluate category‑level engagement trends and compare performance to broader market patterns.