Click-Through Rates | Not Food Safe

Have you ever heard the term “click-through rates”, also known as CTR’s? If you haven’t, that’s okay! Essentially, it’s the rate at which someone will click through an ad to either a website or to page to purchase. The ads that populate the algorithm that have a little button at the bottom that say “learn more” or “view shop” have CTR’s as part of their back-end analytics. From a business perspective, they can beneficial to know the rate at which people are willing to click on an ad in order to follow through. This means potential revenue coming from a paid or sponsored ad placed into the algorithm for the express purpose of getting clicks. It’s a fantastic idea....for some businesses.

I want to go on the record and say it’s never a bad idea to try and get people interested in your business, and an ad run is no different. The reason why it’s only effective for some businesses and not others comes down to sector. Retail, entertainment, fashion, beauty; these all have higher percentages for CTR’s on socials. Why? They are built on social media interaction. Content creators sponsored by a company to promote their new lipstick are more likely to get a higher percentage of click-through than a business that’s selling enchiladas. Don’t worry though, as hope is not lost!

According to a Varos analysis for the month of April in 2025*, the median CTR on Google ads for food and beverage was 1.53%. That number is also up from the month previous by 12.11%, which means that if people are going to Google to search, they aren’t clicking through food and beverage ads. This percentage is quite low, but here’s why that matters: your socials can be used to bring people in, and specific ads aren’t always necessary. These ads encourage people to click through with the full intent to purchase. You would probably struggle to click through an ad to buying a fabulous double cheeseburger or a mouth-watering tiramisu, much as I would love for that to be the case.

All this being said, CTR’s can be an important feature for a lot of businesses to utilize. There is nothing stopping you from running your own ads, and I highly recommend it if you know your target audience! Instead of a paid ad, however, why not try some of your own content? Follow a fun trend or even start one of your own. People love food and love to eat, so getting them in the door is the biggest obstacle. Make them want to come to explore your menu and the vibe your location gives. Use social media, but use it how you feel most comfortable! At the end of the day if you know what your followers want, that is what matters most to your business.

If you would like help with getting your business started on social media or would like to increase your growth rate, we'd love to hear from you! 

*https://www.varos.com/benchmarks/google-ctr-for-food-and-beverage