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CPM
CPM (Cost Per Mille) is the cost of 1,000 ad impressions; it is one of the most common media buying units.
Detailed explanation
Cost Per Mille (CPM)—“mille” meaning thousand—is what you pay for one thousand impressions. Brand and awareness campaigns often buy or report on a CPM basis.
CPM should be read with CTR, CPC, and CPA: cheap reach means little if clicks and conversions are weak. Auction competition, creative strength, and audience quality all move CPM.
For “what is CPM” searches, this entry explains impression-based cost. Compare it with CPC, CPA, and CPL when choosing a buying model.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CPM?
- CPM means Cost Per Mille—the cost of one thousand ad impressions.
- Why does CPM matter?
- CPM helps you evaluate reach efficiency and compare awareness campaigns across channels and audiences.
Related terms
Internal links for the topic cluster — read these concepts together.
- CPCCPC (Cost Per Click): A click-based purchasing model. This digigund glossary entry explains how the term is used in digital marketing.
- CPACPA (Cost Per Action) is a pricing and performance model based on completed actions such as a sale or form submission.
- ReachReach is a core visibility metric that counts the number of unique users who saw a piece of content or an ad at least once within a given period.
- FrequencyFrequency is a performance metric that expresses how many times, on average, a single user has seen the same ad within a given time period.
- ImpressionAn impression is a single instance of an online ad being displayed to a user.