Spending on social media advertising is on the rise, according to a new survey from Emplifi, an autonomous customer experience (CX) platform. The company’s “Q2 2026 Social Ads Benchmark Report” found strong year-over-year growth in paid social investment across regions and industries, based on data from Meta ad accounts.
Based on anonymized data from more than 7,700 Meta ad accounts, the report found that median monthly social ad spend increased 13 percent year over year across all benchmarks. E-commerce led industry growth, with median monthly spend rising 70 percent, from $16,426 in Q2 2025 to $27,966 in Q2 2026.
The increase was accompanied by stronger performance. E-commerce click-through rates rose 29 percent, while cost per click declined 18 percent to $0.133, the lowest of any industry tracked. Across the worldwide benchmark, click-through rates increased 18 percent year over year, while cost per click declined 9 percent.
“The brands seeing the biggest efficiency gains on paid social aren’t just increasing budgets; they’re investing in what happens after the click,” said Susan Ganeshan, chief marketing officer at Emplifi. “When the ad lands on relevant content, real customer reviews and a seamless purchase experience, performance improves. That’s what this data is showing us: spend and efficiency moving in the same direction across the full customer journey.”
North America recorded one of the largest regional increases, with median monthly social ad spend rising 61 percent year over year, from $8,277 to $13,308, according to the survey. In the United States, median monthly spend increased 57 percent to $15,111. Click-through rate rose 22 percent to 1.78 percent, the highest of any region tracked, while cost per click declined 3 percent to $0.483.
The United Kingdom also posted strong growth, with median monthly spend increasing 54 percent, from $5,257 to $8,074. Click-through rate rose 20 percent, while cost per click declined 9 percent. Across Europe, median monthly social ad spend increased 14 percent year over year to $7,037. Cost per click declined 16 percent, the largest decrease of any region analyzed, while click-through rate rose 20 percent. The data shows that advertisers across the region increased investment while improving both engagement and cost efficiency.
Direct-to-consumer brands posted the strongest spend growth of any industry analyzed. Fashion also saw substantial increases, with median monthly spend rising 37 percent year over year to $18,787. Click-through rate increased 13 percent, while cost per click declined 17 percent. Retail spending increased 14 percent, accompanied by an 11 percent increase in click-through rate and a 7 percent decline in cost per click.
Automotive saw a 24 percent increase in click-through rate, the strongest engagement gain of any industry in the report. The results point to growing consumer interest in social media as a vehicle research and consideration channel, even as overall spending growth remained modest at 9 percent.
