This report provides a detailed breakdown of current Facebook advertising metrics and trends for 2025 and 2026, specifically focusing on messaging objectives, overall cost benchmarks, and optimization factors.
Campaign Performance Detail
Based on recent data, messaging-focused campaigns are among the most cost-efficient strategies for direct customer interaction.
| Metric | Your Recent Peak Performance | 2025 Peer Median |
| Messaging Conversations Started | 96 | Varies by Budget |
| Cost Per Conversation Started | $0.07 | $0.10 |
| Average Engagement Rate | N/A | 1.3% – 1.7% |
| Average CPC (Traffic) | N/A | $0.70 |
Key Result Definitions
- Messaging Conversations Started: This tracks the number of times a new, two-way conversation began in a messaging app (Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp) after a user clicked an ad button.
- Historical Edits: These represent a log of all modifications made to your campaigns, such as changes to targeting, creative, or budget. Analyzing these against your performance charts helps identify which specific change led to a drop or spike in results.
- Ad Relevance Diagnostics: Meta uses three rankings—Quality, Engagement Rate, and Conversion Rate—to determine how relevant your ad is compared to others competing for the same audience. High rankings directly lead to lower costs.
2026 Industry Benchmarks
Standard performance ranges for 2026 across various objectives include:
- Cost Per Click (CPC): The average for traffic campaigns has decreased slightly to roughly $0.70, though highly competitive sectors like Finance can reach $3.77.
- Cost Per Lead (CPL): Average lead generation costs are approximately $27.66.
- CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions): Average rates hover around $8.19 to $8.96, with significant spikes during the Q4 holiday season.
- Engagement Rates: Standard Facebook engagement typically sits at 1% to 1.3%, though video formats like Reels often see higher rates around 0.23% compared to standard posts.
Critical Optimization Factors
- Seasonality: Costs typically reach their lowest in January and peak in December.
- Creative Format: Using vertical video with audio (such as Reels) has been shown to result in 12% higher conversions on average.
- Campaign Objective: Awareness and Engagement campaigns require much lower minimum daily budgets (starting around $1.00 – $7.00 for 7 days) than high-intent objectives like Sales or Leads.
