27

CONVERSION RATE
BENCHMARKS
for 2020 (and Beyond)

By Daniel Threlfall for Chili Piper

©Chili Piper 2020

Introduction
It’s no secret that businesses today are expected to Oh, and don’t forget the fact that conversion rates
monitor metrics and data points to figure out what’s are tied directly to revenue. Converting more customers
working and what’s not. goes hand in hand with the longevity of your business.

And while there’s plenty of debate over which KPI is the The purpose of this e-book is to give you a
most important for the average company, conversion comprehensive understanding of the good, the bad,
rates are definitely a top priority. and the flat-out “average” when it comes to conversion
rates.
Because let’s be honest: what good is your traffic
or click-throughs if you aren’t actually converting The benchmarks and statistics highlighted below will
customers? ultimately help you understand where your business
stands and where there’s room for improvement.
Digging into conversion rates can clue you in on
where your business is winning (or losing). By having a
pulse on conversion rate benchmarks, you can assess With that, let’s dive right in!
what’s actionable in terms of your company goals.

2
Section I:
SaaS Conversion
Rate Benchmarks

If you’re in SaaS, you’re more than likely

obsessed with metrics (and rightfully so).

Conversions obviously matter when your

company’s survival depends on converting
customers and boosting your MRR.

That said, it’s important for SaaS

companies to keep themselves grounded
and understand what’s realistic in terms of
conversions for a growing company.

3
1 What is considered a “good”
freemium conversion rate for SaaS?

Based on available data, the average conversion rate for

3%-4%
freemium SaaS tools is between 3% and 4% (with some outliers
such as Slack boasting a 30% CVR).1 To be clear, this refers to
free sign-ups that convert to paid customers. For tools that
don’t require a credit card, that rate rises between 8% and 10%.2

Keep in mind that data is somewhat scarce regarding specific

SaaS conversion benchmarks. Also, factors such as your
subscription plan (freemium versus a free trial versus paid-only)
will also have a significant impact on your conversion rate.

2 What is the average SaaS free/

freemum trial conversion rate?

A conversion rate of 25% is considered average for a trial

subscription.3 This is further backed up by data that’s publicly
available from major SaaS companies like Salesforce.4 Some
experts argue that up to 50% should be the goal for companies
25%
with significant time in-market that are actively qualifying leads.5

1
https://adachen.com/freemium-and-free-trial-conversion-benchmarks-9fab38d096da
2
https://blog.useproof.com/saas-conversion-rate
3
https://sixteenventures.com/average-free-trial-conversion-rate
4
https://www.nickelled.com/blog/is-your-trial-to-paid-conversion-rate-too-low/
5
https://sixteenventures.com/free-trial-conversion-rate
4
Section II:
Ecommerce Conversion
Rate Benchmarks

Modern ecommerce often feels like a

numbers game.

If you can move the needle on your

conversion rate even slightly, that’s
obviously more money in your pocket.
Merchants today are spoiled for choice in
terms of lead generation, advertising, and
potential traffic sources.

That said, conversions aren’t guaranteed.

Our data illustrates the uphill battle that
ecommerce brands face (and how much
conversions can vary from storefront to
storefront).

5
3 What is considered a “good”
ecommerce conversion rate?

Zeroing in on a target conversion rate is tough for ecommerce. This is especially true when factors
such as pricing and your industry come into play.

1.3%
A recent survey cites the average ecommerce rate as 1.3%6, which may be a
low or otherwise conservative benchmark versus other studies. The same data
states that a conversion rate of 3.3% would put your storefront in the top 20% of
stores (and anything over 5% would put you in the top 10%).

Contrast that with 2020 data from Adobe which puts the average ecommerce
conversion rate at 3%, with a range between 1.4% and 5%.7

The takeaway here is that anything above 3% is a solid target, meanwhile anything above 4% is superb.
3%

4 What is considered a “poor”

ecommerce conversion rate? 0.2%
Research says that a conversion rate of 0.2% (which is obviously bad news) represents the bottom
20% of ecommerce stores. Sitting below 1% is going to be a red flag for most storefronts spending any
significant amount of money on marketing or upkeep.

6
https://www.littledata.io/average/ecommerce-conversion-rate-(all-devices)
7
https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/adi-consumer-electronics-report-2020
6
 5 Which ecommerce industries have the
highest (and lowest) conversion rates?

According to a recent UK survey, arts and crafts

(4.01%), commercial equipment (2.7%), pet care
(2.51%), and health products (2.02%) boast the
highest ecommerce conversion rates.8 On the flip
1.3%
side, children’s goods (0.7%) and food and drink
(0.90%) are low-performers.
Meanwhile, the previous Adobe data9 states that gifts (4.9%),
This particular study also highlights an average health (4.6%), and apparel (4.2%) as the winners and consumer
conversion rate hovering between 1.5% and 2%. electronics (1.4%) represent ecommerce’s biggest loser.

8
https://www.irpcommerce.com/en/gb/ecommercemarketdata.aspx?Market=3
9
https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/adi-consumer-electronics-report-2020 7
6 What is the average ecommerce
conversion rate by traffic source?

1.3%
Referrals (3.0%), paid search (2.6%), and organic
(2.5%) are among the top-converting types of traffic to
ecommerce stores on average10. Meanwhile, social media
(1.19%) and display ads (0.39%) are on the low-end.

10
https://www.episerver.com/globalassets/03.-global-documents/reports/b2c-retail-benchmark-report-q1-2020.pdf 8
Section III:
Conversion Rate
Benchmarks for Paid Ads

Companies rightfully want the most bang for

their buck when it comes to their ad budget.

The problem? With more ad channels

available than ever, businesses have to
choose wisely and focus on platforms that’ll
actually result in a positive ROI.

Doing so often requires some trial and

error. The benchmarks below can shed light
on what businesses can expect from the
various ad types out there (and which ones
make sense). These numbers represent
the rate of people who eventually became
customers upon clicking through an ad.

9
7 What is the average conversion
rate for a Facebook ad? 9.21%
For Facebook ads, the average conversion rate is 9.21%11 across all industries. This represents
the highest conversion rate of all the major social media platforms, perhaps explaining why
Facebook is so popular among ecommerce merchants and service businesses alike.

Note that there is quite a range between industries when it comes to conversions. For example, fitness
(14.29%) and education (13.58%) represent exceptional conversion rates, while retail (3.26%) and
technology (2.82%) are on the low-end.

4.71%
There have been numerous studies conducted regarding Facebook’s ad
platform, but contrast 2020’s numbers with data from 2018 which saw
conversion rates sitting at 4.71%. To say that Facebook has stepped it up
for businesses would be an understatement.

11
https://instapage.com/blog/facebook-advertising-benchmarks 10
 8 What is the average conversion 10 What is the average conversion
rate for an Instagram ad? rate of an Amazon ad?

The average Instagram ad boasts The average Amazon ad

9.55%
a 3.1% conversion rate12. Although conversion rate is 9.55%, although

3.1%
there are plenty of ad formats to this fluctuates based on factors
choose from, marketers should such as ad placement, products,
note that ads containing user- and price point. In fact, 85% of
generated content (such as conversions from Amazon ads
customer photos) produce a come from first page placements.
4.5% increase in conversions.

9 What is the average conversion

rate for a LinkedIn ad?

Increasingly popular for B2B

companies, the average
conversion rate for a LinkedIn ad is

6.1%
6.1%13. For additional context, this
study was based on companies
with a ~$1,000 campaign budget.
This percentage refers to traffic
that converted via a landing page
after coming from a LinkedIn ad. Amazon’s conversion
rate has been relatively
steady since the
beginning of 2020,
signaling both the
platform’s staying power
12
https://heap.io/blog/data-stories/4-key-facts-you-should-know-before-allocating-ad-spend
and Amazon’s resilience
13
https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/content-marketing-events/2016/5- in the wake of COVID-19.
things-we-ve-learned-after-a-year-with-linkedin-ads

11
 11 12 13

What is the average conversion What is the average conversion What is the average conversion
rate of a Google Shopping ad? rate of a Google search ad? rate of a YouTube ad?

1.91% 4.40% 0.5%

Tailor-made for ecommerce, the average The average conversion rate for a Google Despite the popularity of YouTube and the
conversion rate across all industries for a search ad is 4.40%15 as of 2020. This is boom of video marketing, YouTube ads
Google Shopping ad is 1.91%.14 notably up from 3.48%16 in 2018 , although have a paltry conversion rate of 0.5%18.
competing industry reports cite search This makes YouTube the least effective ad
ads converting at a 3.75%17 rate. platform when paired against major social
networks and search engines.

That said, organic video still has a role

to play in boosting conversions (with
some companies citing an 80% lift19 in
conversions after implementing video on a
landing page).

14
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-shopping-ads-industry-benchmarks-wordstream/302375/
15
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/08/19/conversion-rate-benchmarks
16
https://www.smartinsights.com/paid-search-marketing-ppc/paid-search-display-network/google-adwords-conversion-rate-averages-by-industry-infographic/
17
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords-industry-benchmarks 12
18
https://www.forbes.com/sites/priceonomics/2018/03/09/the-advertising-conversion-rates-for-every-major-tech-platform/
19
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/03/08/video-marketing-statistics
Section IV:
Marketing Campaign
Conversion Rate
Benchmarks

Exploring and optimizing your

marketing tactics is a smart move
regardless of your business or industry.

To wrap things up, we’ll break down

conversion benchmarks for general
marketing campaigns. This includes
completed actions including email
sign-ups, demos, or free trials.

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14 What is the average conversion
rate for a Facebook ad?

4.02%
The average conversion rate for traffic sent to a specific, sales-related
landing page is 4.02%. Conversions range between 2.6% and 6.1%
depending on your industry, with B2B companies sitting at 3.5%.20

Food for thought, though: sites with more name recognition and higher traffic typically have highly effective landing pages.

In fact, studies show that the top 25% of sites convert at 5.31% or higher (meanwhile the top 10% of sites convert at 11.45%
and above).21

And if this seems high for a SaaS company, you’re right: SaaS sites typically convert 10% less than the baseline landing
page rate.22

20
https://unbounce.com/average-conversion-rates-landing-pages/
21
https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/what-is-a-good-landing-page-conversion-rate
22
https://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/the-state-of-saas-landing-pages/
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 15 What is a “good” conversion 17 What is the typical conversion
rate for organic traffic? rate from an email capture form?

For companies focused on SEO

10% 0.5%-25%
and targeted search traffic, a good
conversion rate from search engines
sits just above 10%23 for a completed
action such as an email sign-up.
Based on placement, email opt-in conversions on a company
blog can vary from 0.5% to 25%.26

Here’s a quick breakdown of the placements and their

respective performance, for reference:
16 What is the typical conversion
rate for a marketing video? • Sidebar calls-to-action: 0.5% to 1.5%
• In-text calls-to-action in a blog post: 0.5% to 1.5%
• Pop-ups: 1% to 8%
Websites and product pages • Sliders and bars: 1% to 5%
with video boast an average • Welcome gates: 10% to 25%
conversion rate of 4.8%24 versus

4.8%
pages without them (2.9%). To
drive this point home, 41% of B2B
and B2C companies cite video at
the top-performing content for What is a “good” form
converting leads.25 18
field conversion rate?

The average form field conversion rate

is 11%.27 Conventional wisdom tells

11%
23
https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/what-is-a-good-conversion-rate/ marketers to keep their forms simple,
24
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/03/08/video-marketing-statistics
25
https://www.marketingcharts.com/charts/most-effective-content-formats-for-building- as fewer fields (three seems to be the
relationships-to-generate-leads-that-convert/attachment/ascend2-effective-content-formats-
leads-that-convert-jul2020
sweet spot) and less text to input seems
26
https://growandconvert.com/conversion-rate-optimization/blog-conversion-strategy to correlate with higher conversions.28
27
https://www.formstack.com/guides/what-is-conversion-rate
28
https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6746/Which-Types-of-Form-Fields-Lower-
Landing-Page-Conversions.aspx#sm.00007tv8fbieqeeaur41jp4hpcap1

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19 What is a “good” conversion
rate from an email campaign?

Abandoned cart (5%) and order follow-up emails (5%) have the highest
conversion rates while newsletters are the lowest (1%). In this case, a conversion
refers to a completed action (such as someone returning to their cart to complete
a purchase) or actions that result in someone eventually becoming a customer.
1.3%

Email Type Open Rate Click-Through Rate Conversion Rate

Newsletter 23.4% 17.8% 1%

Order Follow-Up 46.1% 16.7% 5%

Inactive Customers 38.9% 19.5% 2.6%

Abandoned Cart 46.6% 28.7% 5%

Member Follow-Up 39.2% 22.4% 2.7%

29
https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/email-marketing-conversion-rate-comparison/ 16
 20 What is considered a “good” 21 What is a “good” conversion
conversion rate for a webinar? rate for an ABM (account-
based marketing) campaign?

43%
The average webinar registrant-to-

3%-4%
attendant conversion rate is 43%30
for presentations with more than
100 attendees.

Anything between 3% and 4% is considered “good” for

converting an MQL (marketing qualified lead) to a customer.31 In
this scenario, an MQL would refer to someone who’s engaged
with your content or interacted with your company in the past
(via email, social media, etc).

22 What is the typical conversion rate

of leads from social media?

Organic social media

converts at a disappointing
0.71%32, one the lowest
conversion rates we’ve
mentioned so far. Although

0.71%
social media is invaluable
for nurturing leads and
researching prospects, a
totally organic presence
30
https://www.marketingcharts.com/cross-media-and-traditional/content-marketing-108045 probably isn’t going to
https://www.altudo.co/resources/blogs/abm-success-metrics
result in a flood of business
31

32
https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/social-media-is-a-terrible-
ecommerce-tactic-or-is-it/ for most companies.

17
 23 What is the typical conversion rate for 26 What is considered a “good”
an influencer marketing campaign? conversion rate for mobile visitors?

The average conversion rate The typical conversion rate for

2.25%
of an influencer marketing mobile traffic (for ecommerce) is

2.55%
campaign is 2.55%.33 This might 2.25%37, less than half of what it
come as a surprise given that is from desktop users.
influencer campaigns are all-
the-rage right now.

24 What is considered a “good” 27 What is considered a “good”

app store conversion rate? conversion rate for desktop visitors?

The average app store Desktop traffic converts at a rate

4.81%
conversion rate is 26.4%34, of 4.81%38, perhaps signaling

26.4%
with the top factor of app that customers at home are
store conversions being eager to act versus mobile users
traffic source (~50% of users who are “just browsing.”
discover apps via search35).

33
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/418657/Resources_Downloads/Influencer_Marketing_2016_

25 What is considered a “good” Benchmarks.pdf

34
https://www.geckoboard.com/best-practice/kpi-examples/website-conversion-rate/
conversion rate for a referral? 35
https://splitmetrics.com/blog/good-app-store-conversion-rate/
36
https://amplifinity.com/8-benchmarks-creating-successful-customer-referral-program
37
https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2019/11/01/why-are-mobile-conversion-rates-lower-

3.65%
desktop#:~:text=According%20to%20stats%20from%20Monetate,converting%20at%204.06%25%20
The average lead-to-deal on%20average.
38
https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2019/11/01/why-are-mobile-conversion-rates-lower-
conversion rate from a desktop#:~:text=According%20to%20stats%20from%20Monetate,converting%20at%204.06%25%20
customer referral is 3.65%.36 on%20average.

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Conclusion
When it comes to conversion rates, it’s
crucial to know where you stand.

Start with the basics: measure.

Without an understanding of your existing

rates, it’s impossible to know how you
stack up against industry benchmarks or
what you can do to improve.

Start measuring, and you’ve won half the

battle to improving.

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