What is CPM (cost per mille)?

CPM (cost per mille) is the price for a thousand impressions of your ad. Mille is Latin for thousand. You calculate it by dividing costs by the number of impressions and multiplying by a thousand. CPM is used in campaigns that focus on reach, such as display and video.

Why is CPM important?

The price of reach: useful when you want to build awareness rather than get clicks right away.
Comparable across audiences: you can set the cost of reach side by side.
Says nothing about results: a low CPM guarantees no clicks or conversions.

Examples of CPM

€50 for 10,000 impressions is a CPM of €5.
A B2B software company runs a video campaign and watches CPM and reach instead of clicks.
A store compares the CPM of two audiences to see which is cheaper to reach.

How do you use CPM?

Use CPM when your goal is reach or brand awareness, for example in video or display campaigns. Compare CPM per audience and placement, and combine it with frequency capping so the same people do not keep seeing the same ad. With search ads you pay per click, not per impression. See Google Ads campaigns.

CPM (Cost per Mille)