Meta Advertising Trends Q1 2025: Key Insights & Performance Shifts
A new year brings new opportunities in the advertising landscape, both exciting and challenging for brands on Meta platforms. With fresh trends emerging and others fading into the past, Q1 is a crucial period for businesses to recalibrate, sharpen their targeting, and make strategic, data-driven decisions that will define their road to success for the rest of the year.
At GeistM, we’re always tracking these shifts in ad performance, ensuring our clients have the latest insights to stay ahead of the curve. From the dynamics of key metrics like CTR, CPC, and CPM to the impact of new algorithm updates, our expert team is dedicated to identifying the trends that truly move the needle.
Here’s a look at the key Period-Over-Period (PoP) Meta trends our analysts have been tracking in Q1 of 2025:
Mid-January 2025 (1st to 15th)
Meta CPMs
Key Takeaways:
- CPMs decreased by -36% during the first half of January 2025
- The Sports & Supplements vertical noticed the largest decrease of -50%
- None of our accounts noticed a rise in CPMs.
Meta CPCs
Key Takeaways:
- Our analysts noticed a -6% decrease in CPCs during this time
- The Fashion & Beauty vertical saw the most significant drop in CPCs of -18%
- The largest jump of +14% came from the Sports & Supplements vertical.
Meta CTRs
Key Takeaways:
- A -30% decrease in CTRs was noticed during the first half of January
- The Sports & Supplements vertical saw a substantial decrease of -57%
- Unfortunately, none of our accounts saw a rise in CTRs.
Here’s what our Senior Growth Analysts had to say about these changes:
“There were decreases in CPMs, CPCs, and CTRs. In fact, all verticals saw drops for CPMs and CTRs. We also noted that our Health & Wellness vertical needs to closely monitor campaigns as Meta is tightening restrictions, particularly around lower-funnel metrics.
As these changes roll out, brands in this space will need to be more strategic than ever in how they structure campaigns, optimize targeting, and navigate the evolving ad policies to maintain performance and efficiency.”
End January 2025 (16th -31st)
Meta CPMs
Key Takeaways:
- Our analysts noticed a +16% increase in CPMs during this period
- The biggest decrease in CPMs came from the Food & Beverage vertical at -5%
- On the other hand, the Sports & Supplements vertical noticed massive rise in CPMs at +33%.
Meta CPCs
Key Takeaways:
- There was a +9% increase in CPCs during this period
- The Health & Wellness vertical saw a 3% drop in CPCs.
- A significant jump of +42% was noted in the Sports & Supplements vertical.
Meta CTRs
Key Takeaways:
- Analysts saw a +9% increase in CTRs during the second half of January
- The Health & Wellness vertical experienced an increase of +23%
- The most notable decrease (-7%) was in the Food & Beverage vertical.
Mid-February 2025 (1st -15th)
Meta CPMs
Key Takeaways:
- Our analysts noticed a +4% increase in CPMs during the first half of February.
- The most significant decrease of -3% came from the Health & Wellness vertical.
- The Sports & Supplements vertical noticed the largest increase of +15%.
Meta CPCs
Key Takeaways:
- A decrease of -5% was noticed during the first half of February.
- The Sports & Supplements vertical saw the largest drop in CPCs of -35%.
- A noticeable increase of +24% came from the Health & Wellness vertical.
Meta CTRs
Key Takeaways:
- During the first half of February, our analysts noticed an +8% increase in CTRs.
- An incredible jump of +78% was seen by the Sports & Supplements vertical.
- A noticeable decrease of -21% was seen by the Health & Wellness vertical.
End February 2025 (16th – 28th)
Meta CPMs
Key Takeaways:
- Our analysts noticed a -3% decrease in CPMs during the second half of February.
- The Sports & Supplements vertical noticed the most significant decrease of -14%.
- The biggest rise of +55% came from the Health & Wellness vertical.
Meta CPCs
Key Takeaways:
- There was a +4% increase in CPCs during this period.
- The Health & Wellness vertical saw the largest drop of -11% in CPCs.
- A substantial jump of +19% came from the Fashion & Beauty vertical.
Meta CTRs
Key Takeaways:
- We noticed a -7% decrease in CTRs during the second half of February.
- An immense increase of +73% came from the Health & Wellness vertical.
- The most notable decrease of -19% came from the Fashion & Beauty vertical.
Here’s what Matthew, our Senior Analyst had to say about these shifts and what we need to look out for in the next few months…
“There were slight decreases in CPMs and CTRs but a slight increase in CPCs PoP (period-over-period). The first day of Spring (March 20th) marks the beginning of seasonal messaging & content. And Easter Sunday Weekend (April 18-21st) is a time to spend time at home with family for over 30% of Americans, so make sure you manage your promotions and budget accordingly”
Mid March (1st-15th)
Meta CPMs
Key Takeaways:
- We noticed a +6% increase in CPMs during the 1st half of March.
- A large decrease of -15% came from the Health & Wellness vertical.
- A large increase of +21% came from the Sports & Supplements vertical.
Meta CPCs
Key Takeaways:
- Our analysts saw CPCs fall by 5% during this period.
- A notable drop of -17% was seen by the Home & Family vertical.
- A jump of +5% was noticed by the International vertical (clients outside the US).
Meta CTRs
Key Takeaways:
- During this period, our analysts noticed a +10% increase in CTRs.
- The Sports & Supplements vertical saw the largest increase of +21%.
- The most notable decrease of -7% came from the Health & Wellness vertical.
How GeistM Can Help
At GeistM, we don’t just track industry trends—we anticipate them. Our analysts continuously track shifts in Meta’s ad landscape, ensuring your brand’s objectives align with the latest trends. By making real-time adjustments, we keep your campaigns optimized, effective, and ahead of the competition.
What sets us apart is our in-house content and creative team, which is always one step ahead in leveraging the latest 2025 trends. From innovative User-generated content (UGC) ad formats to data-driven storytelling, we craft compelling, high-performing creatives that align with Meta’s evolving best practices.
With the new year in full swing, now is the time to partner with a performance marketing agency that thrives on agility and innovation. Let’s turn these insights into results—contact us today!
