These are guide ranges, not rules. Your category, stage, market and timing will move them, so use them to work out where to look, not to mark yourself pass or fail.
| Metric | Benchmark | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meta link CTR | 2%+ strong, 0.9-1.5% average on cold Feed | Link click-through rate on the feed. Static creative: 1.5%+ on cold Feed is strong, 0.9%+ acceptable. Below 0.9% on cold Feed the creative is usually weak. |
| Hook rate (thumbstop) | 25%+ | The share of impressions that watch past the first three seconds (3-second views / impressions). The clearest early signal that a creative is working; 15-24% is acceptable, below 15% fix the hook. |
| Blended ROAS | Stage-banded: ~1.5-2.5x at $1-5M rising to 3.5-6x+ at $25M+; 3x+ once past ~$10M, 4x+ strong | Total revenue divided by total ad spend. The media buyer's term for what a CMO calls MER - the same number, different seat. The full bands: 1.5-2.5x at $1-5M, 2.5-3.5x at $5-10M, 3.0-4.5x at $10-25M, 3.5-6.0x+ past $25M. |
| Platform ROAS | Channel- and margin-specific | Do not set one ROAS goal across channels. Optimise each channel's ROAS toward your blended ROAS target. |
| CAPI setup | Non-optional | Server-side tracking restores conversion signal the browser pixel now misses. Without it, targeting and reported ROAS both degrade. |
How to use these benchmarks
These ranges are guides, not guarantees or rules. They are drawn from The DTC Playbook and Rob Ward's experience taking Quad Lock from $0 to a $500M exit, cross-checked against widely cited DTC data. The point is not the exact number - it is whether you sit well above or below it, and what to do about the gap. Your category, stage, market and timing all move them, so judge yourself against your own trend as well.
Last reviewed: October 2026. Benchmarks are refreshed as the playbook is updated.
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