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What is the Average CTR for Display Ads in 2025? [Updated Benchmarks by Industry]
- March 27, 2025
- 2:20 pm
Display advertising continues to be a cornerstone of digital marketing strategies worldwide, but understanding the average CTR (click-through rate) is essential for benchmarking and optimizing your campaigns. Whether you’re a digital advertiser, media buyer, or brand manager, knowing what to expect—and what to aim for—can make or break your ROI.
So… what is a “good” CTR for display ads in 2025? Let’s dive deep.
Table of Contents
What is CTR in Display Advertising?
Why CTR Still Matters (Even in a Multi-Touch Attribution World)
What is the Average CTR for Display Ads in 2025?
What Factors Influence CTR in Display Ads?
How to Improve Your Display Ad CTR (Proven Tactics)
Real-World Case Study: Retail Brand Boosts CTR from 0.29% to 0.81%
What is CTR in Display Advertising?
CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the percentage of users who click on your display ad after seeing it. It’s calculated as:
CTR (%) = (Number of Clicks / Number of Impressions) x 100
A high CTR typically indicates that your ad is relevant, visually compelling, and placed in the right context. A low CTR may suggest issues with your targeting, creative, or platform choice.
Why CTR Still Matters (Even in a Multi-Touch Attribution World)
You may be asking: “Is CTR still relevant in 2025, with programmatic buying, AI-driven targeting, and multi-touch attribution?”
Yes—absolutely.
CTR is not just a vanity metric. It provides:
- A direct measure of ad engagement
- Quality Score signals for Google Display Network
- Data for optimizing A/B tests
- A proxy for ad relevance and targeting accuracy
And while display ads are often used for awareness, a low CTR can still indicate wasted spend—especially in CPM-based campaigns.
What is the Average CTR for Display Ads in 2025?
Based on aggregated data from over 2,300 campaigns across industries run by Marketing LTB and partner networks, here’s what we found:
Industry | Average CTR (%) |
Retail & eCommerce | 0.43% |
Finance & Insurance | 0.26% |
Technology & SaaS | 0.34% |
Healthcare | 0.31% |
Travel & Hospitality | 0.52% |
Education & eLearning | 0.38% |
B2B Services | 0.22% |
Real Estate | 0.47% |
💡 Pro tip: While global benchmarks hover around 0.35%, the top-performing campaigns we manage regularly exceed 0.7%+ through better targeting, creative testing, and landing page optimization.
What Factors Influence CTR in Display Ads?
To truly improve your CTR, you need to know what moves the needle. Here are 6 key factors that impact your display ad CTR:
- Ad Creative Quality – Is your design thumb-stopping? Does it evoke curiosity or urgency?
- Audience Targeting – Are you reaching the right people at the right time?
- Platform & Placement – GDN vs. Programmatic? Mobile vs. Desktop? Context matters.
- Ad Format – Responsive, static, animated, native—some perform better depending on your industry.
- Call-to-Action (CTA) – Is your CTA strong, clear, and action-oriented?
- Frequency & Fatigue – Showing the same ad too often can cause banner blindness.
How to Improve Your Display Ad CTR (Proven Tactics)
If your display ad CTR is below average, don’t worry—you can improve it significantly by applying proven strategies. At Marketing LTB, we’ve tested hundreds of variations across verticals. Here are the methods that consistently deliver results:
1. A/B Test Creative Elements Continuously
Don’t rely on assumptions. Test:
- Headlines vs. visual focus
- CTA text (“Get a Quote” vs. “See My Options”)
- Color contrast and animation
📌 Insight: One of our B2B clients increased CTR by 43% just by switching from a static ad to a subtle motion banner with a stronger value prop.
2. Use Dynamic Retargeting
Static retargeting is out. With dynamic ads, you can show users exactly what they’ve viewed or abandoned—leading to CTRs of 1.2% or higher.
3. Optimize for Context & Device
Your ad shouldn’t look the same on all placements. Mobile ads need:
- Bigger CTAs
- Less text
- Touch-friendly layouts
✅ Pro Tip: Placements on niche websites with aligned content often outperform high-traffic generic sites.
4. Geo and Time-Based Scheduling
Run ads when your audience is most active. For example, display campaigns for financial services perform best between Tuesday–Thursday, 9am–3pm, local time.
Real-World Case Study: Retail Brand Boosts CTR from 0.29% to 0.81%
One of our clients, a growing DTC fashion brand, was struggling with a below-average CTR of 0.29% on Google Display Network. Here’s how we turned things around:
- Problem: Generic creatives, no segmentation, unclear CTA
- Solution: Segmented campaigns by gender & product category, added urgency copy (“Only 2 Left!”)
- Result: CTR increased to 0.81%, and ROAS improved by 2.5x
Don’t Chase CTR—Optimize for Relevance
While increasing CTR is important, it should never come at the cost of relevance or quality traffic. A 2% CTR that brings low-converting traffic is worse than a 0.4% CTR from a hyper-targeted audience that converts.
Focus on aligning:
- Ad creative
- Audience intent
- Landing page experience
And you’ll not only boost CTR—you’ll improve your entire marketing funnel.
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Book a free consultation & strategy call with our experts and start driving results today.
About Marketing LTB
Marketing LTB is a full-service marketing agency offering over 50 specialized services across 100+ industries. Our seasoned team leverages data-driven strategies and a full-funnel approach to maximize your ROI and fuel business growth. Discover how our expertise can drive revenue for your business>
About the author, Bill Nash
Bill Nash is the CMO of Marketing LTB with over a decade of experience, he has driven growth for Fortune 500 companies and startups through data-driven campaigns and advanced marketing technologies. He has written over 400 pieces of content about marketing, covering topics like marketing tips, guides, AI in advertising, advanced PPC strategies, conversion optimization, and others.
