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Must-know CPC and CTR benchmarks for app marketers
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Prashansa Shrestha, Content Writer, Adjust, Sep 19, 2024.
In today's fiercely competitive mobile market, getting the most out of your ad budget requires mastering analysis of key metrics like effective cost per click (eCPC) and click-through rate (CTR). These metrics offer crucial insights into how well your ads engage users and how efficiently your budget is being spent.
In this latest entry of our metrics series, we break down eCPC and CTR, explore their impact, and compare industry benchmarks across regions and verticals. We also offer actionable insights and strategies for reducing eCPC and boosting CTR to maximize your mobile ad campaigns.
Definition
What is effective cost per click (eCPC)?
Cost per click (CPC) is both a pricing model and a performance metric. As a pricing model, CPC charges advertisers only when users interact with their ads by clicking on them, making it an attractive option as you're paying for direct engagement, not just impressions.
As a performance metric, CPC helps advertisers measure the cost-efficiency of their ad campaigns. With interactive mobile ads like videos, interstitials, or playable ads, CPC captures a broader range of user actions. It enables advertisers to assess the effectiveness of their ad creatives, placements, and targeting strategies.
Effective cost per click (eCPC) builds on this by showing your cost under a CPC model, regardless of your bidding strategy. eCPC helps advertisers assess performance consistently across different campaign types and allocate their budgets more effectively, ensuring the best return on investment (ROI).
What is click-through rate (CTR)?
Click-through rate (CTR) measures how well your ads engage users by calculating the percentage of impressions that result in clicks. A high CTR means your ad resonates with users and has stronger user intent. Additionally, it can help lower your eCPC by spreading out your budget over more clicks, but only if those clicks result in valuable conversions. If you’re paying too much per click, but not getting enough engagement, it’s a signal to adjust your creatives, messaging, and targeting.
Calculation
How to calculate eCPC
eCPC helps determine the cost of each click, even when using different bidding models like cost per impression or cost per action. The calculation is simple:
eCPC = total ad spend / total clicks
For example, if you spend $500 on a campaign and receive 1,000 clicks, your eCPC would be:
eCPC = $500 / 1,000 clicks = $0.50
How to calculate CTR
CTR measures the percentage of users who click on your ad after seeing it.
CTR = (total clicks / total impressions) x 100
For instance, if your ad gets 1,000 impressions and 100 clicks, your CTR would be:
CTR = (100 clicks / 1,000 impressions) x 100 = 10%
This means 10% of users who saw your ad clicked on it.
The Benchmarks
What is a good eCPC?
We’ve crunched the latest numbers on eCPC and CTR data across verticals and regions to help you assess your campaign performance compared to high level benchmarks.
The global median eCPC across verticals decreased from $0.04 in 2023 to $0.03 in H1 2024. North America remains at the higher end at $0.09 (down from $0.10), but still offers substantial value for marketers targeting high-value mobile users. Europe dropped from $0.03 to $0.02, while APAC declined from $0.02 to $0.01. LATAM and MENA remained consistent at $0.01.
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What is a good CTR?
The global median CTR across verticals increased from 10.4% in 2023 to 11.3% in H1 2024. North America saw a slight decrease from 16.5% to 16.1% but still leads. Europe saw a notable jump from 12.8% to 14.4%, while APAC held steady at around 10.9%. LATAM improved from 8.5% to 9.2%, and despite dropping from 14.1% to 12.5%, MENA still shows strong engagement.
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Vertical data
eCPC by vertical
In H1 2024, finance apps had the highest eCPC at $0.24, followed by health and fitness at $0.20. Utility and social apps came in at $0.13 and $0.11, respectively.
Shopping apps had a lower eCPC of $0.07, which is advantageous in this high-transaction vertical. Entertainment and games had the lowest eCPCs at $0.04 and $0.02, reflecting the nature of these high-volume categories, particularly games’ hyper casual ($0.02), casual ($0.03), and hybrid casual ($0.02) subgenres.
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CTR by vertical
Globally, games led with a 14.8% CTR, followed by entertainment at 7.3%. With a combination of high CTR and low eCPC, these app categories provide solid opportunities for advertisers seeking high ad engagement at lower costs.
Health and fitness saw a CTR of 6.9%, while utility apps followed with 6.2%. Shopping apps had a CTR of 3%. Social apps reported 2.3%, while finance had the lowest CTR at 1.8%, which is in line with the competitive and specialized nature of the vertical.
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Region & vertical
eCPC by region and vertical
Entertainment had higher costs in North America at $0.10, while APAC and LATAM came in at $0.01. Europe was in the middle at $0.04.
For mobile gaming, North America had an eCPC of $0.07, while APAC, Europe, and LATAM all maintained $0.01.
In the utility vertical, North America had an eCPC of $0.27, LATAM $0.08, Europe $0.07, MENA $0.05, and APAC $0.04.
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CTR by region and vertical
In entertainment, APAC led with the highest CTR at 13.8%, followed by Europe at 9.9% and North America at 7.9%.
Mobile gaming showed strong ad engagement across regions: North America at 19.8%, Europe at 18%, APAC at 13%, and LATAM at 11.1%.
Utility apps showed more consistency: Europe topped with 6.6%, followed by North America at 6.3% and APAC at 6.1%. LATAM and MENA were lower at 4.9% and 5.9%, respectively.
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Tips
How to reduce eCPC and improve CTR?
To maximize your mobile ad performance, you need to balance eCPC and CTR effectively. Here are some key strategies to help you achieve both, optimizing your campaigns for cost efficiency and impact:
Refine audience targeting and implement re-engagement strategies
Effective targeting is key to improving CTR and managing eCPC. Adjust Audiences allows you to segment users based on real-time behavior, helping you focus on the most relevant audiences and reducing wasted spend. For users who have already interacted with your app, retargeting is a powerful tool to boost engagement.
A/B test ad creatives and optimize placement and frequency
Testing variations in your ad creatives—whether it’s the visuals, messaging, or call-to-action—helps identify what resonates best with your audience. Testing different placements, such as in-app ads, social media feeds, or interstitials, also helps identify where your ads perform best. Finding the optimal ad frequency and placements increases ad engagement and ensures cost efficiency.
Adjust bids strategically
Optimizing bids based on location, time of day, and device type allows you to focus your budget where it matters most. Adjust Datascape provides real-time insights into—and beautiful visualizations of—your campaign performance, empowering you with the information needed to make smart decisions about where to shift resources to high-performing areas.
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Leverage dynamic ads
Dynamic ads adapt to user behavior and can significantly enhance ad engagement. Personalized ads based on individual user interests improve CTR and reduce eCPC. With Adjust, you can measure the success of dynamic ad campaigns, track key touchpoints in the marketing funnel, and optimize your ad spend for better returns.
Schedule a demo with Adjust today and discover how to measure, analyze, and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact.
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