A recent report by The Online Project gives an average cost of acquiring a fan on Facebook per industry in the Middle East. The report covers 
11 countries in the Arab world, across eight industries: Telecoms, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Airlines, Electronics, Banking and Finance, and Public Figures.
The Facebook advertising platform is based on an automatic bidding system; which means there is no fixed cost per click, per impression or per fan. What happens is that you set a bid amount either per click or per one thousand impressions and that would be the maximum price you are willing to pay. Then, the cost will be determined according to that amount along with other factors that include reach, performance, and competitors’ ads.
Some of the key highlights of the report were as follows: –
- Qatar has the highest average cost per fan, while Egypt has the lowest average cost.
- Ads for banking and financial institutions are more expensive than in other industries in most countries in the Middle East
- The airlines, telecom and consumer goods industries have a relatively low cost per fan in all countries. While the electronics and fashion industries have a higher average cost per fan in most countries
- The UAE has the lowest engagement rate with ads (CTR). This means that people in the UAE are less inclined to click on ads
- Saudi Arabia has the lowest average cost per fan among the GCC countries due to the high number of Facebook users in comparison to the other GCC countries.
