Cost Per Mille (CPM)
Cost per mille (CPM) is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions, regardless of whether anyone clicks, calculated as cost divided by impressions times one thousand.
In depth
CPM is the standard pricing model for awareness and reach campaigns because it charges for visibility rather than action. The "mille" means thousand, so a $10 CPM means every thousand times your ad is shown costs $10. Since you pay for impressions, CPM rewards broad exposure but tells you nothing about engagement on its own.
The pitfall is judging a campaign by a low CPM in isolation; cheap impressions to the wrong audience produce no leads. CPM is best read alongside click-through rate and downstream cost per lead, which together reveal whether reach is actually working. In a quiz-funnel strategy, CPM campaigns can warm a cold audience, and you then retarget engaged viewers into a scorecard where they convert into scored, qualified leads at a measurable CPL.
Example in practice
Frequently asked questions
What does CPM stand for?
CPM stands for cost per mille, where "mille" is Latin for thousand. It is the cost of one thousand ad impressions.
When should I use CPM instead of CPC?
Use CPM for awareness and reach campaigns where impressions matter more than immediate clicks. CPC is better when you want to pay only for traffic and drive direct response.
Does a low CPM mean a campaign is performing well?
Not on its own. A low CPM only means impressions are cheap; if they reach the wrong audience, you still get no leads. Always pair CPM with click-through and conversion metrics.