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Facebook Ads CPM

CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) is the cost that an advertiser pays per thousand ad impressions on a social media platform such as Facebook. It is an important metric that helps to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns and their reach.

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  • Tech details

What Is Cost per Mille (CPM)

Cost per Mille (CPM), also known as Cost per Thousand, is an advertising metric that represents the average cost an advertiser pays for every one thousand impressions (views) of their ad. It’s typically used to measure the cost-effectiveness of an ad campaign.

CPM is often used in comparison with other advertising metrics, such as CPC (Cost per Click) or CPA (Cost per Action), because it helps advertisers get more granular insight into the efficiency of different advertising campaigns, channels, or platforms.

How to Calculate Cost per Mille (CPM)

Cost per Mille (CPM) is calculated by dividing the total cost of an advertising campaign by the number of impressions and then multiplying by 1,000.

Here’s the exact formula:

CPM = (Total Cost / Total Impressions) * 1000

For example, if an advertiser spends $500 for 50,000 impressions, the CPM would be

CPM = ($500 / 50,000) * 1000 = $10

This means that the advertiser is paying $10 for every one thousand impressions.

What Is a Good Cost per Mille (CPM)

No matter which platform you run ads on, CPM will be one of the main metrics you should keep an eye on.

To help you better assess your campaign’s performance, we pulled out some benchmark data from our product that you might find useful.

Keep in mind that these numbers also highly depend on your specific industry and campaign type.

If you want to stay on top of future trends and be able to instantly compare your performance to companies just like yours (in any given industry), you can join our Benchmark Groups – it’s free for everyone!

How to Improve Cost per Mille (CPM)

Because the CPM rate is influenced by a variety of different factors, many marketers struggle to improve it.

But after talking to hundreds of experts and conducting dozens of reports on the topic, we’ve narrowed down some of the main tactics they use to improve their CPM:

  • Narrow down your target audience: Bigger audiences equal bigger spending. One of the best ways you can narrow it down is by leveraging the 80-20 rule. If 80% of your revenue is generated by 20% of your audience, then zero in on that 20% to better fine-tune your spending.
  • Steer clear of ad fatigue by monitoring your frequency: Even the most relevant ads can lead to spam reports if you overdo it. That’s why it’s a good idea to set frequency caps and make sure the same people can see your ad only a specific number of times. Another option is to make changes to your copy and visuals frequently.
  • Remarketing to past Facebook video viewers: If you have a Facebook page and occasionally post video content, this is a great way to retarget warm leads. You can create a custom audience and include viewers that watched 25%/50%/75%/90% of your videos. This allows you to optimize your CPM and target hyper-relevant audiences that already have some connection with your brand.
  • Work on getting a higher relevance score than your competitors: Check out how your ads perform compared to your competitors under the Relevance Diagnostics section. Facebook looks at three criteria: perceived quality, engagement, and conversion rate. If you boost your relevance score and outperform the competition, Facebook basically gives you a discount for showing users something that they like.

More resources to help you improve:

This metric has one or more equivalents:
LinkedIn Ads integration with Databox Average CPM
TikTok Ads integration with Databox CPM
TikTok Ads integration with Databox Cost per 1,000 People Reached

Visualizations

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    Number

    Used to show a simple Metric or to draw attention to one key number.

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    Pie Chart

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    Bar and Line Chart

    Used to show comparisons between values.

How to track CPM in Databox?

Databox is a business analytics software that allows you to track and visualize your most important metrics from any data source in one centralized platform.

To track CPM using Databox, follow these steps:

  1. 1
    Connect Facebook Ads that contains the metric you want to track
  2. 2
    Select the metric you want to track from the list of available metrics
  3. 3
    Drag and drop the selected metric onto your dashboard
  4. 4
    Watch your dashboard populate in seconds
  5. 5
    Put CPM on the Performance screen
  6. 6
    Get CPM performance daily with Scorecards or as a weekly digest
  7. 7
    Set Goals to track and improve performance of CPM
Goals

Set Goals to track and improve your performance
Scorecards

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Metric Digest

Receive detailed weekly performance updates
Metric Builder

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Data Calculations

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Performance Screen

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Facebook Ads integration with Databox Track CPM from Facebook Ads in Databox GET STARTED

Facebook Ads CPM included in Dashboard Templates 1

  • Live view

    Google & Facebook Ecommerce Funnel

    This dashboard helps you inspect every step of your e-commerce funnel so that you can quickly address problem areas.

    Mailchimp Google Ads Facebook Ads Google Analytics 4

Facebook Ads CPM included in Report Templates 1

  • Details

    Facebook Ads Advanced Report Template

    Use this Facebook Ads advanced report to share high-level and in-depth metrics of your Facebook Ads performance. Present an overview of key metrics like Impressions, CPC, Cost per Lead, ROAS, and more.

    Facebook Ads

Basics

  • Description
    CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) is the cost that an advertiser pays per thousand ad impressions on a social media platform such as Facebook. It is an important metric that helps to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns and their reach.
  • Category
    Advertising
  • Subcategory
    CPM
  • Date Added
    2017-06-12
  • Default Format
    PrefixCurrency
  • Cumulative Support
    No
  • Units
    Yes
  • Granularities
    daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, allTime
  • Favorable Trend
    decreasing
  • Historical Data
    Yes
  • Changing historical data
    No
  • Forecast Support
    Yes
  • Benchmark Support
    Yes
  • Media Support
    No
  • Dimension
    N/A
  • Metric Type
    general Learn more
  • API Endpoint
    https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/{adAccountId}/insights

Questions? We've got answers.

  • What is the difference between CPM vs. CPC and CPA?

    CPM, CPC, and CPA are all popular advertising metrics that are used for measuring different aspects of campaign performance.

    • CPM (Cost per Mille) measures how much advertisers pay for every 1,000 ad impressions displayed to users. 
    • CPC (Cost per Click) measures what advertisers pay for each click on their ads. 
    • CPA (Cost per Action or Acquisition) measures how much advertisers pay when a specific action or conversion occurs, such as a sale, sign-up, or download. 

    Each metric serves a different purpose and is used to evaluate different aspects of an advertising campaign. 

  • What affects a CPM rate?

    There are several factors that determine your campaign’s CPM rate, including:

    • Advertiser demand: If there is high competition for specific ad space, CPM rates will likely increase.
    • Ad placement: Ads displayed in prime locations or on highly visible platforms generally command higher rates due to increased visibility and potential engagement.
    • Ad format: Different ad formats can have varying CPM rates. For example, video ads tend to have higher CPM rates compared to display or text ads, as they often offer a more engaging experience for users.
    • Ad quality: Ads that are well-designed, compelling, and relevant to the target audience are more likely to attract higher bids from advertisers.
    • Seasonality: Advertisers may increase their budgets during peak periods when consumer demand is high, leading to higher CPM rates (e.g. Christmas campaigns).
    • Ad platform: Different platforms have their own pricing structures and advertiser demand levels, which also impact CPM.

    It’s important to note that these factors can interact with each other and CPM rates can vary significantly based on their combinations.

  • How to use CPM as an ad health check?

    Spotting anomalies in your CPM rate shouldn’t be an immediate reason to panic, but it’s important that you follow it up with a granular investigation and get to the root of the problem.

    Here are some of the first things you should assess:

    • Extremely narrow targeting: If you exclude too many demographics, your geographical targeting is overly specific, or you choose too many specific interests, the algorithm might be unable to find relevant prospects after a while.  
    • Establishing the baseline: Use benchmark data and industry reports to check out how the rest of the industry is performing (especially companies in your niche), and establish a reasonable CPM baseline.
    • Improper budgeting caused by different types of media: If you’re targeting several placements and are using a mix of video and image ads in a single ad set, you need to keep track of review report breakdowns. This way, you’ll immediately spot if the algorithm starts spending your budget on inventory with low demand that nobody else wants. 

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