What was the methodology for calculating these benchmarks?

These benchmarks come from the marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing our Marketing Science team runs for each client, rather than from platform-reported ROAS. Results are anonymized medians, comparing each period with the same period a year earlier. Where two patterns move together, the report calls it a correlation and doesn't claim cause.

What is marketing efficiency?

Marketing efficiency is how much revenue your marketing creates for each dollar spent. This report measures it as incremental ROAS (iROAS): the revenue that wouldn't have happened without the ad spend, divided by that spend.

How is iROAS different from platform-reported ROAS?

Platform ROAS counts the sales an ad platform attributes to its own ads, including sales that would have happened anyway. iROAS counts only the sales the ads caused, estimated with experiments and marketing mix modeling. That's why the two numbers often disagree.

Why did ad costs rise so sharply in September 2026?

Year-over-year CPM increases ran about 5 percentage points higher in September than in the rest of the year, led by Meta and YouTube. One plausible explanation is election spending, which was often vying for the same inventory.

Should I cut my 2027 budget after a slow Q3?

Not on the Q3 number alone. In 2025, growth followed the same pattern of a strong start, a softer middle and a stronger Q4. Compare your Q1-to-Q3 shape with last year's before drawing conclusions about momentum.

Is AI advertising worth testing in 2027?

It may be, but too few brands have tested it so far to benchmark it with confidence. If you test it in 2027, fund and measure it as a separate test rather than folding it into an existing budget line.

How does LiftLab measure incremental revenue?

LiftLab estimates incremental revenue with Agile MMM, a marketing mix model that refreshes with daily signals and is calibrated by incrementality experiments. Assumptions and confidence ranges are shown, so finance can audit how a number was reached.

State of Marketing Efficiency 2026 Report

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2026 Marketing Trends at a Glance

Marketing efficiency stayed positive in 2026, but it slowed. Median year-over-year growth in incremental revenue fell from 5% in Q1 to 1% in Q3, while September CPMs spiked on Meta and YouTube. This report breaks these nine months into six insights (and one observation) based on LiftLab's anonymized and aggregated U.S. client data across 6 categories - Apparel, Footwear, CPG/Durables, Lifestyle, Home, and Tech Services.

2026 Marketing Efficiency Benchmarks: What Changed, and What It Means for Your 2027 Budget

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2026 Marketing Trends at a Glance

5% (Q1) → 1% (Q3)

+21% CPM for Meta Ads

Google was the safe bet

-4% iROAS for Linear TV

What Does This Report Answer?

Which ad platform was the most consistent in 2026?

Which categories grew fastest, and how did they reallocate spend?

Is your Q3 slowdown a real downturn, or the same mid-year dip as 2025?

Did Meta and YouTube get less effective in Q3, or just more expensive?

What's happening with TV advertising in 2026?

How did Google do for advertisers?

What's going on with AI advertising?

Frequently Asked Questions about 2026 Marketing Efficiency Benchmarks