---
name: platform-benchmarks
description: Ground channel-mix and budget-split decisions in typical CPM, CPC, and CPA ranges per platform, and set realistic performance expectations. Use when a user asks what to expect on a platform, how to split budget across channels, or whether their numbers are normal.
---

# Platform Benchmarks

Set expectations and split budget using how each platform typically performs for an objective and audience. Use this to sanity-check numbers and inform a media plan, not as a promise; the account's own history beats any benchmark.

## Use the account's own data first

Before quoting a range, pull what this account already does: the supported performance tools (`pull_google_ads_performance`, `pull_meta_ads_performance`, `pull_linkedin_ads_performance`, `pull_microsoft_ads_performance`, `pull_reddit_ads_performance`) and `forecast_campaign`. Real history for this advertiser is the truth. Benchmarks are for platforms not yet run or for a directional split.

## How platforms typically behave

- **Search (Google, Microsoft):** high intent, higher CPC, strong conversion rate. Best for demand capture. Microsoft usually cheaper clicks, lower volume than Google.
- **Meta (Facebook/Instagram):** low CPM, broad reach, demand generation. Creative-driven; performance swings with the creative.
- **TikTok:** low CPM, young skew, creative-first and fast-fatiguing.
- **LinkedIn:** high CPC and CPL, precise B2B targeting. Judge on pipeline quality, not click cost.
- **Reddit, X:** cheaper clicks that can be a false economy. Validate conversions, not just clicks.
- **Amazon:** measured on ACOS/TACOS, closest to the purchase.

## Splitting budget

Weight toward demand capture (search) for immediate conversions and demand generation (social) for growth, sized to the objective and the funnel. Show the split with a rationale and projected CPA per channel. Hand off to the **media-plan** skill to formalize it and **launch** to ship.

## Rules

- Never present a benchmark as a guaranteed result. State it as a typical range and name the source of any real number.
- Prefer the account's own history over any external figure.
- If you do not have a real number, say so; a plain true line beats an invented impressive one.

Use only platform and entity types accepted by the live tool schema. Follow **launch** for plan review, preflight, approval, execution, and verification. If a setting or platform is unsupported, describe the manual handoff without claiming it was applied.