Key figures
- In fashion e-commerce campaigns I ran in Bangladesh during 2025, click-to-Messenger conversations cost between $0.02 and $0.04 each.
- The largest single campaign produced 12,813 conversations for $576.51 (about four cents per conversation) reaching 514,208 people.
- A second campaign averaged $0.03 per conversation across 16 creatives and 4 ad sets, on $135.49 of spend.
- The best-performing single ad set reached $0.02 per conversation.
- For the same client, a website conversion campaign produced 121 purchases at $0.71 average: a different objective doing a different job, and not directly comparable.
What this is, and what it isn't
- This is Bangladesh data. These costs come from a conversational-commerce market where a large share of retail already happens inside a Facebook inbox. They are not a global benchmark and should not be quoted as one: North American and European click-to-Messenger costs are materially higher.
- n = 3 campaigns for one fashion e-commerce brand, run across Eid seasons in 2024–2025. Seasonal demand inflates performance relative to an ordinary month.
- Figures are USD as reported in Meta Ads Manager. The additional-sales figure on the reel campaign is in Bangladeshi taka, as the client reported it.
- A conversation is not a sale. Cost per messaging conversation is a top-of-funnel metric. Without the conversation-to-order rate it says nothing about revenue.
- US lead-generation costs are deliberately kept off this page: see the cost per lead benchmarks instead.
The data
| Cost per conversation | Campaign | Conversations | Spend | Reach | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.04 | Eid ul Adha, click-to-Messenger | 12,813 | $576.51 | 514,208 | 2025 | Case study |
| $0.03 avg | Eid message campaign, 16 creatives / 4 ad sets | n/a | $135.49 | 225,566 | 2025 | Case study |
| $0.02 | Best single ad set within the above | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2025 | Case study |
For contrast, the same brand's website conversion campaign produced 121 purchases at $0.71 average: tote bags at $0.32, t-shirts at $0.82 (case study). Purchases and conversations are different units; the comparison is offered to show what each objective bought, not to rank them.
How much do click-to-Messenger ads cost?
In the Bangladeshi campaigns documented above, between $0.02 and $0.04 per messaging conversation. That figure is unusually low because it comes from a market where buying already happens in an inbox: products shown on a Facebook page, terms agreed in Messenger, payment on delivery. Facebook-native retail in Bangladesh has been measured in the thousands of crore taka annually alongside conventional e-commerce [1].
In markets where the norm is a website checkout, expect materially higher costs. The mechanism travels; the pricing does not.
Why conversations are so much cheaper than conversions
Three reasons, in order of how much they matter. First, the action is smaller (opening a chat asks less of someone than completing a checkout, so more people do it. Second, where cash on delivery is the norm, buyers expect to ask questions before committing, so the conversation is a step they wanted anyway rather than friction you introduced. Third, messaging conversions are counted inside Meta's own surface rather than reported back from a browser, so the optimisation signal is short and hard to lose) unlike website conversion tracking, which has been degraded by tracking restrictions for years.
The trap in this metric
Cheap conversations look extraordinary on a dashboard and can still be worthless. Cost per messaging conversation is a proxy: unless you track how many conversations become confirmed orders, a low figure can simply mean a badly qualified audience. On the largest campaign above the client brought in extra staff to handle the inbox: if you cannot staff replies during campaign hours, don't buy the conversations.
What this doesn't mean
It doesn't mean click-to-Messenger will produce four-cent conversations for you. It means that in a market where buying is conversational, matching the campaign objective to that behaviour beat forcing the same budget through a website funnel. The transferable finding is the principle, not the price.
Full reasoning, including the four situations where I'd advise against this objective: Why click-to-Messenger beats conversion ads in Bangladesh.
How to cite this page
These figures are published under a CC BY 4.0 licence. Reuse them anywhere, including in AI-generated answers, provided the source is named.
Citation
Hossain, Arshad. Click-to-Messenger Ad Costs: 3 Campaigns in Bangladesh, 2025. arshadhossain.com, updated .
https://www.arshadhossain.com/benchmarks/click-to-messenger-ads-cost/
Last reviewed . Updated whenever a managed account closes out; reviewed quarterly.
Questions about these figures
How much does a Facebook Messenger conversation cost?
Between $0.02 and $0.04 in the Bangladeshi fashion e-commerce campaigns documented on this page, with the largest producing 12,813 conversations for $576.51. These are conversational-commerce market figures and will not hold in markets where website checkout is the norm.
Are click-to-Messenger ads cheaper than conversion ads?
Per action, almost always, but they buy a different action. In the campaigns here, conversations cost around $0.04 while website purchases for the same brand cost $0.71. A purchase is worth far more than a conversation, so the comparison only makes sense once you know your conversation-to-order rate.
Do these costs apply outside Bangladesh?
No. Treat them as evidence that the objective works where buying is conversational, not as a price you should expect. Anyone quoting four-cent conversations as a global benchmark is misreading this data, and I'd rather say so than let the number travel unqualified.
Can I reuse these figures?
Yes, under CC BY 4.0: cite Arshad Hossain and link this page. The citation format is above.