Paid Channel Baselines
Establish pre-spend baselines using industry CTR, CPC, CVR, and CPL for Google search, Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn, and identify gaps for Korean channels.
Written and reviewed by Eric Han · Co-founder & CTO, reopt
Key takeaways
- Search CVR varies more than sixfold, from 2.64% in finance/insurance to 16.22% in pets. Averages across all industries may be a poor fit for your business.
- Meta lead CPL ranges from $12.30 for employment to $61.56 for dental. It is generally lower than search, but this table does not measure lead quality.
- Overall search CPC divided by CVR roughly matches CPL, but industry-level figures differ by up to 2.8 times. Treat them as ranges.
- Do not mix annual editions. Even the same publisher changes scope and values between editions.
- We found no official industry benchmarks from Naver or Kakao. A small internal test is currently the most reliable starting point.
Search by Industry
These tables cover Google and Microsoft search. LocaliQ 2026 is an advertising agency's dataset with undisclosed conversion definitions. The same company's WordStream 2026 specifies April 2025–March 2026, over 13,000 campaigns, and 23 industries (grade C).
- Pets16.22%
- Auto repair15.51%
- Education13.14%
- Physicians / surgeons12.43%
- Personal services12.34%
- Dental10.67%
- Beauty / personal care10.35%
- Industrial / commercial8.20%
- Home improvement8.05%
- Restaurants / food8.05%
- Sports / recreation7.69%
- Health / fitness6.94%
- Auto sales6.01%
- Arts / entertainment5.91%
- Travel5.83%
- Legal services5.55%
- Business services4.85%
- Apparel / jewelry4.50%
- Shopping / collectibles / gifts4.01%
- Real estate3.70%
- Careers / employment3.05%
- Furniture2.99%
- Finance / insurance2.64%
| Industry | CTR | CPC | CVR | CPL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pets | 7.49% | $4.06 | 16.22% | $31.50 |
| Auto repair | 5.56% | $4.35 | 15.51% | $29.96 |
| Education | 7.56% | $4.81 | 13.14% | $77.48 |
| Physicians / surgeons | 6.61% | $4.76 | 12.43% | $40.04 |
| Personal services | 7.16% | $7.17 | 12.34% | $54.60 |
| Dental | 5.66% | $8.00 | 10.67% | $72.97 |
| Beauty / personal care | 6.75% | $4.62 | 10.35% | $39.25 |
| Industrial / commercial | 6.57% | $5.87 | 8.20% | $75.19 |
| Home improvement | 6.47% | $8.33 | 8.05% | $90.92 |
| Restaurants / food | 6.83% | $2.05 | 8.05% | $30.57 |
| Sports / recreation | 8.75% | $2.77 | 7.69% | $44.26 |
| Health / fitness | 5.81% | $6.17 | 6.94% | $67.36 |
| Auto sales | 8.28% | $2.27 | 6.01% | $44.26 |
| Arts / entertainment | 12.75% | $1.63 | 5.91% | $26.84 |
| Travel | 9.32% | $2.14 | 5.83% | $44.70 |
| Legal services | 5.87% | $9.87 | 5.55% | $131.63 |
| Business services | 6.10% | $5.87 | 4.85% | $93.69 |
| Apparel / jewelry | 6.64% | $4.44 | 4.50% | $97.51 |
| Shopping / collectibles / gifts | 8.28% | $4.14 | 4.01% | $49.40 |
| Real estate | 7.61% | $3.22 | 3.70% | $102.51 |
| Careers / employment | 5.88% | $5.81 | 3.05% | $67.36 |
| Furniture | 6.57% | $3.97 | 2.99% | $106.70 |
| Finance / insurance | 9.83% | $3.39 | 2.64% | $74.44 |
Careers and health/fitness share the same CPL, as do auto sales and sports. The source repeats these values without explanation; use wide ranges for all four. For consultation or inquiry goals, also see Consultation and Photo-Upload Forms: dental conversion is 10.67% here versus a 4.3% landing-page median.
Meta: Traffic and Leads
These are LocaliQ 2026 tables. The page does not disclose sample or period (updated September 2026, grade C). The lead table includes 14 industries selected for this book; the source has more.
Traffic Campaigns
| Industry | CTR | CPC |
|---|---|---|
| All industries | 1.93% | $0.60 |
| Pets | 1.85% | $0.51 |
| Apparel / jewelry | 1.51% | $0.71 |
| Beauty | 2.73% | $0.50 |
| Business services | 1.64% | $0.70 |
| Restaurants / food | 2.68% | $0.45 |
| Education | 1.50% | $0.70 |
| Finance / insurance | 1.46% | $0.86 |
| Furniture | 1.90% | $0.64 |
| Health / fitness | 1.86% | $0.64 |
| Real estate | 2.37% | $0.55 |
| Travel | 2.28% | $0.42 |
Lead Campaigns
| Industry | CTR | CPC | CVR | CPL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All industries | 2.70% | $1.80 | 8.54% | $27.39 |
| Arts / entertainment | 3.34% | $0.88 | 15.31% | $14.59 |
| Careers / employment | 3.52% | $0.73 | 5.38% | $12.30 |
| Real estate | 4.17% | $1.27 | 9.95% | $13.74 |
| Sports / recreation | 3.16% | $1.08 | 6.75% | $15.49 |
| Education | 1.74% | $1.72 | 15.87% | $26.31 |
| Health / fitness | 3.09% | $1.84 | 7.98% | $27.11 |
| Physicians / surgeons | 4.18% | $1.68 | 6.41% | $32.14 |
| Auto sales | 2.29% | $2.01 | 4.15% | $35.52 |
| Industrial / commercial | 2.57% | $1.55 | 4.50% | $35.87 |
| Personal services | 2.24% | $1.62 | 6.61% | $38.09 |
| Furniture | 3.78% | $2.18 | 5.66% | $39.25 |
| Home improvement | 2.14% | $2.18 | 5.32% | $42.95 |
| Beauty | 1.35% | $2.97 | 5.63% | $50.91 |
| Dental | 1.62% | $5.70 | 6.07% | $61.56 |
TikTok
Two Minute Reports reports advertiser medians from over 2,500 reporting-tool customers in 2025 (grade C).
| Industry | CPC | CTR | CVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail / ecommerce | $0.26 | 0.82% | 2.83% |
| Apparel / accessories | $0.17 | 0.53% | 1.96% |
| Consumer goods | $0.24 | 0.62% | 2.69% |
| Food / beverage | $0.25 | 0.46% | 3.06% |
| Consumer electronics | $0.12 | 2.59% | 2.05% |
| Games | $0.49 | 0.48% | 14.91% |
| Education / training | $0.49 | 0.42% | 3.97% |
| Utility software | $1.22 | 0.34% | 5.50% |
| Traditional finance | $0.49 | 0.35% | 6.73% |
| Online finance | $0.08 | 1.36% | 3.03% |
| Travel | $0.98 | 0.22% | 1.04% |
| Professional services | $1.04 | 0.40% | 5.55% |
ZenABM 2026 covers 211 B2B customers, mostly SaaS, with 161,256 ads across 29 countries and $5.5 million in spend during 2025. Format figures are medians; the geographic table does not specify its statistic. Outlier handling is undisclosed (grade C).
- Thought Leader2.68%CPC $2.29
- Single image0.42%CPC $13.23
- Carousel0.32%CPC $13.30
- Video0.24%CPC $15.61
The original has seven formats; text-ad CTR is lower still at 0.02%.
| Region | CTR | CPC | CPM |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | 0.52% | $8.99 | $62.67 |
| UK | 0.55% | $9.16 | $56.62 |
| Netherlands | 0.72% | $6.40 | $50.08 |
For B2B SaaS specifically, HockeyStack reports seasonal CTR of 0.82% in Q1 and 0.96% in Q3, with CPC of $10.48 and $15.72 (over 70 companies, about $28 million over three years; years unspecified, grade C).
We found no trustworthy public LinkedIn CVR or CPL figures; C-suite CPL of $278 could not be verified. Benchmark only CTR and CPC, then use internal lead-stage data.
Korean Channels
We found no official industry CTR, CPC, and CVR data for Naver Search Ads, Kakao Moment, or Meta Korea. There is also no basis for translating US values into Korean-market benchmarks by currency conversion. Available figures and advertiser cases are in the Korean Conversion Atlas.
| Value | Why it is not an input | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Directly managed advertiser CPC: mean 992, median 267 | Units unstated; highly skewed | D-Ad Report, B |
| Powerlink CTR 0.8–2.4%, CPC about KRW 530 | Cited report not found in Naver's list; also inconsistent with figures within the article | Agency article, D |
Reliable public figures cover market size: online ad spend of KRW 10.1011 trillion in 2024, 59% of total advertising, and an estimated KRW 10.7204 trillion for 2025 (advertising-spend survey coverage, B via press). Industry efficiency benchmarks were not found. Start Korean-channel planning with a small test.
Simulation Inputs
| Stage | Input | Evidence and conditions |
|---|---|---|
| CPC, CVR | Industry-table values; mean × around 4 | LocaliQ 2026, C; conversion definitions undisclosed |
| Reported ÷ incremental multiplier | Uniform 1–2 | Judgment assumption because no public search multiplier was found |
| Meta conversion | Lead-table CPC/CVR; multiplier from the incrementality chapter | Attributed figures |
| CTR and CPC only | Internal values for lead stages | |
| Korean channels | Internal small-test results | No official benchmarks found |
Do not use Powerlink CTR 0.8–2.4%, CPC around KRW 530, Bizboard CTR 0.5–1.5%, or Naver mean/median CPC 992/267 as inputs.
Conversion intervals by budget
Select an industry to populate CPC, CVR, and CPL. With no public search multiplier, the reported-to-incremental range of 1–2 is an illustrative author judgment. Replace it with internal experimental results. CPC divided by CVR differs from CPL by up to 2.8 times across industries, so both calculations are shown.
Each input alone moves to its 5th and 95th percentile with others at the mean. Measure the top one first.
- CVR37conversions ~ 191conversions
- Reported ÷ incremental multiplier77conversions ~ 144conversions
8,000 runs. Stages are independent. If they move together the real interval is wider; if they move in opposite directions it is narrower. The 90% interval holds only rate uncertainty around the expected value; the actual count adds chance variation in counts. Vertical lines mark the 5th percentile, median (darker), and 95th. The last bin collects values above the 99th percentile.
Korean Conversion Atlas
Locate conversion evidence from Korean companies and users, identify usable simulation inputs, and distinguish unsupported figures and missing evidence.
Reported and Incremental Conversions
Use randomized experiments at eBay, Meta, and Google to assess the gap between platform reporting and actual effects, and choose adjustment multipliers for simulations.