Australian Benchmark Conversion Rates

One of the main reasons we love digital marketing is that it’s easy to measure success.  You can measure page views, click-through rates, impressions,  conversion rates, the list is endless!

The objective of this blog is to understand advertising benchmark conversion rates so you can compare your results against others.  However, please bear in mind, there are many factors to consider when comparing your results to others.  For example, your country, your target audience, your industry vertical, your call to action, your value proposition etc.  We will try to include as many industry-specific statistics as possible so you can accurately compare your results within your industry. We will also endeavour to focus on Australian rates.  Although tracking down country-specific rates is becoming increasingly difficult.

We will cover the following ad platforms

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Google Ads

If you are interested in email benchmarks, please refer to How to Optimise your Email Marketing blog.

If you’re not happy with your conversion results, contact Results 2Day.  Getting the results you want from digital marketing is what we do!  That’s why we’re called Results 2Day!

Now for the benchmarks…

Let’s first take a look at general conversion rates.

The following chart from Compass indicates average website benchmark conversion rates by industry by varying sources:

This graph demonstrates that industry and channel have a significant bearing on conversion rates.

There are so many variables that affect conversion rate performance among the different industries, including customer motivation, value proposition, promotional budgets and many others.

We also need to consider the very definition of a conversion. A conversion can refer to any goal a marketer has, from the sale of a product to a lead form fill, newsletter subscription or free-trial software download.

How do you define conversion? What are your conversion goals for your website, and how do they affect your conversion rates? Do you adjust your conversion rate expectations based on the objective that you wish to achieve?  A conversion rate for a click-through from an ad may be very different from an email download.

We also need to understand the device your audience is utilising. Which device has the best conversion rate?

The following Statista chart represents global e-commerce conversion rates by device.

The results vary dramatically from 0.44% to 4.33%.

Smart Insights suggests that the desktop has the best conversion rate.

Smart Insights investigate why consumers find it difficult to convert on mobiles

When we compare Australia to other countries, our retail mobile conversion rate is better than the US and Netherlands but worse than Japan and the UK and marginally worse than South Korea and Germany

Facebook

Let’s now take a look at Facebook advertising.

Australian Facebook Conversion Rates

Let’s review Australian specific figures, starting with click-through rates

The following data was obtained by Marketing Mag in Q1 2018:

Australian click through rates are very similar to other parts of the globe. Specifically the US.

However, here comes the shocker. When we look at how much we are paying, the story changes.  Marketing Mag indicates that Australia has the most expensive Facebook ads in the world

Spanning a year since February 2017, Facebook’s CPM for Australian marketers has risen from US$3.90 (AU$5.00) to US$6.10 (AU$7.82), while the global average stands at US$1.70 (AU$2.18).

The one time when you don’t want to see Australia at the top of the chart, there we are!  Interestingly it is increasingly difficult to track the average CPC by country, thank you AdNews for publishing these figures.

The last breakdown we had by the Australian industry was Salesforce Q2 2016 benchmark report. We recommend that you use the industry figures below to benchmark your results against since we believe that your industry is most likely to determine your conversion rate.

Nanigans also produce Facebook conversion benchmark reports. Unfortunately, figures for Australia and New Zealand are now combined into APAC figures. In the Nanigans Q2 2018 Facebook report, Australia is grouped into the APAC figures.

The Australian figures change dramatically when grouped in all of APAC:

Global Facebook conversion rates

Now let’s review Facebook statistics by industry. Data was supplied by WordStream and updated on August 13, 2018 and is US centric.

Let’s start with click-through rate by industry:

The average Facebook ad click-through rate by industry is 0.9%

The US Facebook average cost per click rate:

The average Facebook cost per click by industry is $1.72

Wordstream  indicates the following US conversion rates for Facebook Ads by industry.

The average Facebook ad conversion rate by industry is 9.21%

LinkedIn

LinkedIn costs have been increasing as B2B organisations see the value in this platform. LinkedIn enables excellent targeting for B2B organisations. For example, you can target based on roles, seniority, company as well as much other company specific information. However, the cost per click can be expensive.

AdStage Q2 2018 data indicates that LinkedIn median click-through rates have increased by 50% year on year over 2017. However, the cost per click has decreased by 22% year on year and cost per impression (CPM) increased by 20% year on year.

Specific LinkedIn Australia statistics are no longer available.

LinkedIn Australia states that a good benchmark click-through rate for Sponsored Ads is between 0.3% and 0.5%

Google AdWords

Let’s review both Display and Search Network Ads.

Display Ads

Google Display  Ads are typically an image or video ad that is placed on the outer edges of your screen on a variety of news sites, blogs and other niche sites across the internet to reach more potential customers.

Search Ads

Search Ads appear when you are searching in Google

WordStream conducted research to understand the conversion rates of Google Ads both Display and Search.  The latest results were published on February 18, 2019.

Let’s first look at overall Google Ads search conversion rates:

Average Click-through rates for both Search and Display Ads:

The average click-through rate in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for search and 0.46% for display.

Average Benchmark Conversion Rates for both Display and Search Ads:

The average benchmark conversion rate in AdWords across all industries is 3.75% for search and 0.77% for display.

Average cost per click for Google search ads is $2.69 and display ads is $0.63

Unfortunately, worldwide Google AdWords CPM rates were not available through Wordstream nor anywhere else that we could find.  Please let us know if you are able to source them.

Summary – Benchmark Conversion Rates

Specific Australian figures are becoming increasingly difficult to find. The sceptic in me is concerned that this may be because we are paying more for online advertising than other countries. Over the years, producing these figures I have seen this trend.

There may be good reasons for this. For example, we have a technologically mature industry and a low population. Therefore we may have more demand to advertise to a smaller audience.

The statistics are summarised in the table below.  Figures are broken down into Australian and worldwide averages:

I have included the table from two years ago (when more Australian-specific information was available)

Conclusion

We have attempted to answer a few questions however, information is becoming more limited as time goes on.

The purpose of this blog was to provide benchmark conversion rates for you to measure your digital marketing success.  There are many factors determining KPI success including your value proposition, call to action, competition, campaigns and more.  However, it is important to constantly measure, test and ensure you are improving.  At the end of the day, it’s all about achieving your goals. Whether your goals are customer acquisition, retention or brand awareness as long as you are improving and attaining your goals you’re winning!

Results 2Day is a results-focused digital marketing company that can help you over-achieve your digital marketing goals with a constant focus on your business objectives.  We’re keen to work with you to achieve your business goals and outperform your industry ad benchmarks.  If you are too, contact us here: