How much does advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram actually cost you? And when do you know whether your advertisement is doing well, or at least better than average? Adstage offers clear answers to this in their advertising benchmark that is released every quarter.

costs for online advertising in Q2 2018 cost per click and click through rate

If we look at the CPC (Cost Per Click) we see that LinkedIn is by far the most expensive platform to advertise on. The simplest explanation is because there is much less “supply” of users on the platform. Fewer people are affiliated with LinkedIn than, for example, Facebook and the platform is also used less intensively. While you sometimes log in every day at Facebook, you may only do so once a week at LinkedIn. The battle for the user's attention then increases, which drives up the price.

The CTR (Click Through Rate) is highest with Google Ads, but with a CPC of $2,84 it is more expensive than Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, for example.

When are you doing it right?

That actually depends on many factors. The above figures are based on billions of views and millions of clicks from Adstage advertisers. There may be large deviations from the above figures within specific target groups or per type of advertisement. These numbers give you a direction, but should not be leading in your advertising strategy.

The best way to look at the success of your online advertisements is to look at the costs you incur on the one hand and the business it brings you on the other. When you put a lot of money into advertisements but also get very profitable customers in return, it can still make sense to pay more than “normal” for your advertisements.