The essentials
- How to use it: these benchmarks serve to place an order of magnitude and to spot an anomaly, never to set an objective; the only comparison that counts is a company against itself.
- Variation: within one channel, the sector, the season, the device and the brand share make the values vary threefold.
- The trap: comparing a figure that includes brand queries with an acquisition benchmark distorts every conclusion.
- The method: compare at a comparable time of year, on the same definition, and look at the trend rather than the point value.
Reference values reassure and mislead in equal measure. They help place an order of magnitude when a business is starting, and spot a glaring anomaly; they become harmful as soon as they serve as objectives, because an average rate mixes unrelated situations. This article gathers the 2026 benchmarks for France, by channel, with what makes them vary. The metrics themselves are defined in digital marketing KPIs.
Site and conversion
| Metric | 2026 benchmark | What makes it vary |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce conversion rate | 1 to 3% | Sector, order value, brand recognition, share of brand traffic |
| Lead generation conversion rate | 2 to 5% | The complexity of the offer, the length of the form |
| The mobile / desktop gap | Mobile 30 to 50% lower | The quality of the mobile journey |
| GA4 engagement rate | 55 to 70% | The quality of the traffic, speed |
| Basket abandonment | 65 to 75% | Delivery charges, account creation, payment methods |
| Pages per session | 1.8 to 3 | Internal linking, the type of content |
Organic search and GEO
| Metric | 2026 benchmark | Note |
|---|---|---|
| CTR in position 1 | 25 to 30% | Reduced by 20 to 40% when an AI Overview is present |
| CTR in positions 2 to 3 | 10 to 18% | Depends on the blocks displayed |
| Time for content to take effect | 3 to 6 months | Longer on a young site |
| Share of content that makes the traffic | 15 to 25% of pages make 80% of the visits | The usual concentration |
| Share of citations in AI | 20 to 40% in a small business market | Measured across a fixed set of questions |
| Referral traffic from AI | 1 to 5% of sessions | Rising fast |
Rank tracking is detailed in tracking your SEO rankings, citation tracking in GEO KPIs.
Search advertising
| Metric | 2026 benchmark | The precaution |
|---|---|---|
| Search Network CTR | 4 to 8% | Over 20% on brand queries |
| CPC | €0.50 to €4 depending on the sector | €5 to €15 in legal, insurance and finance |
| Conversion rate | 2 to 6% | Depends on the landing page |
| Cost per lead | €20 to €250 depending on the sector | Cost per qualified lead 2 to 3 times higher |
| Shopping and PMax ROAS | 3 to 8 | 30 to 50% coming from the brand if not excluded |
| Impression share | 60 to 80% targeted on the key queries | The share lost to budget guides the decision |
Social advertising
| Metric | Meta | TikTok | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPM | €4 to €12 | €25 to €60 | €3 to €7 |
| CTR | 0.8 to 1.8% | 0.4 to 2% | 0.5 to 1.2% |
| Cost per lead | €5 to €80 | €100 to €400 | €10 to €60 |
| Acquisition ROAS | 2 to 5 | Rarely measured | 1.5 to 4 |
| Frequency not to exceed | 3 a week | 2 a week | 3 a week |
The benchmarks by objective are in the SMA KPIs and the SMO KPIs.
Email and retention
- Open rate: 25 to 40%, a metric that has become unreliable since the mail providers' protections.
- Click-through rate: 2 to 5% on delivered sends, the real engagement metric.
- Unsubscribes: under 0.5% per send; above that, the frequency or the targeting is at fault.
- Return on investment: 3 to 10, the highest of any channel.
- Repeat purchase at 90 days: 20 to 30% in consumables, 5 to 15% in equipment.
- Monthly churn: 0.5 to 2% in contracted B2B subscriptions, 3 to 7% in self-service.
How to compare yourself without going wrong
- Check the definition: a conversion rate calculated on sessions isn't comparable with one calculated on users.
- Isolate the brand: queries containing the company name inflate every metric and must be removed before comparing.
- Compare at a comparable time of year: the same month the previous year, never the previous month in a seasonal business.
- Look at the trend: a 15% improvement over six months is worth more than a position relative to an average.
- Compare with yourself: the company's own history is the only perfectly relevant benchmark, as the traps of reading metrics.
- Doubt the sources: many benchmarks circulating online come from English-speaking samples or from particular sectors.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's overview brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 2026 digital marketing benchmarks?
A conversion rate of 1 to 3% in e-commerce and 2 to 5% in lead generation, a CTR of 4 to 8% on Google search, a CPM of €4 to €12 on Meta and €25 to €60 on LinkedIn, an email click-through rate of 2 to 5%, a share of citations in AI of 20 to 40% in a small business market.
Can you set an objective from a benchmark?
No. A benchmark mixes unrelated situations: sector, brand recognition, share of brand traffic, season, device. It serves to place an order of magnitude and to spot an anomaly. The objective is set from your own history and from the margin each conversion generates.
Why are my figures so different from the averages?
Most often because the definition differs (sessions or users), because brand queries are included, because the season isn't comparable, or because the benchmark comes from an English-speaking sample or a particular sector.
What is the only truly reliable benchmark?
The company's own history, on the same definition, at a comparable time of year and with the brand isolated. The trend over six to twelve months says more about a setup's health than its position relative to a market average.