Every year, without fail, someone asks: "So how much are CPMs going up this time?" Honestly, it's become a seasonal tradition. Like mince pies appearing in shops in September.
Here's the truth. Over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, every brand on Meta is shouting about discounts at the same time, so yes, costs are going up. So far this November, we're seeing CPMs up 12% year on year on average across 16 ad accounts, and that's looking at sales objective, bottom-of-funnel campaigns alone.
And if last year is anything to go by, it doesn't stop there. Across those same 16 accounts and campaigns, CPMs climbed every single week in November 2025, rising from £6.03 to £7.51 by the end of the month. That's nearly 25% in four weeks.
Week (2025)
CPM (GBP)
WoW change
1st Nov - 7th Nov
£6.03
+4.69%
8th Nov - 14th Nov
£6.64
+10.12%
15th Nov - 21st Nov
£7.17
+7.98%
22nd Nov - 28th Nov
£7.51
+4.74%
You can't control how crowded the room gets. But you can control how good you look when you walk in.
Because Meta's auction isn't just a bidding war. Alongside your bid, it's weighing up your estimated action rate (how likely someone is to actually do the thing you're optimising for) and ad quality (whether your ad is worth someone's time). Translation: throwing more money at it won't save a boring ad. Relevance wins. And relevance is the bit you actually have power over.
So where should your energy go?
🎨 Give Meta more to play with
Since the Andromeda update, Meta needs variety to match the right ad to the right person at the right time. In peak season, when everyone's feed looks like one giant "UP TO 50% OFF" banner, that matters more than ever.
So go beyond the discount. Why should someone pick you over the brand in the next ad down? Give people a reason to stop scrolling that isn't just the price. Bonus: it helps Meta find people who've never heard of you yet.
🎯 Loosen the leash (a bit)
Diverse creative and broad targeting are a package deal. Let the algorithm find buyers through signals, not a demographic you picked in 2022. Peak season shopping is unpredictable, and gifting means people who'd never buy your product for themselves might happily buy it for their sister.
That's not permission to let Meta run riot. Just make sure every restriction is earning its place, not quietly choking delivery.
📉 Look past the CPM
A CPM spike is the first thing you'll notice in Ads Manager. It's not automatically a reason to panic and start pulling levers. Work out what's driving it, and whether it's actually hurting results.
The real question isn't what you're paying for impressions. It's what those impressions are doing. Are people engaging? Are they clicking? Are they buying? If not, your creative might have stopped giving them a reason to care.
Peak season is always going to be pricey. But a pricey auction you can win beats a cheap one you can't.
