Cost Per Mille (CPM)

Cost per mille, also known as cost per thousand impressions, is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand views or impressions of an ad. CPM is the standard pricing model for display and social media brand awareness campaigns, where the primary goal is visibility rather than direct clicks or conversions. It is calculated by dividing total ad spend by the number of impressions and multiplying by one thousand. Why it matters: CPM is essential for comparing the cost efficiency of reaching audiences across different platforms, placements, and ad formats on an apples-to-apples basis. A brand running campaigns on Meta, TikTok, and YouTube simultaneously can use CPM to determine which platform delivers the most eyeballs per dollar. Typical social media CPMs range from $5 to $15, though highly competitive audiences such as finance or enterprise B2B can push CPMs above $30. Lower CPMs do not always mean better performance; a $20 CPM that reaches decision-makers in your exact target market may outperform a $5 CPM that reaches a broad, low-intent audience. Marketers should evaluate CPM alongside engagement metrics, view-through rates, and downstream conversions to assess whether impressions are translating into meaningful brand impact. Seasonality also affects CPMs significantly, with Q4 holiday periods often doubling or tripling costs due to increased advertiser competition.