What you spent on the campaign or ad set in the period.
How many times the ads were shown.
CPM
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Enter ad spend and impressions.
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The CPM formula
CPM = ad spend ÷ impressions × 1,000
Example: You spend $500 and your ads are shown 120,000 times: $500 ÷ 120,000 × 1,000 = $4.17 CPM. At the same CPM, 300,000 impressions would cost about $1,250.
What is CPM?
CPM stands for cost per mille, Latin for thousand. It is the price of reach: how much 1,000 views of your ad cost, whether or not anyone clicks. Ad platforms such as Meta, Google, LinkedIn and TikTok report it for every campaign, and many awareness campaigns are bought on it.
Because it ignores clicks and sales, CPM is best for comparing the cost of reach across audiences, placements and months. A lower CPM means cheaper reach, not a better campaign.
What is a good CPM?
It depends on the channel, the campaign objective and what you sell, so compare against your own history first. For scale, these are the typical figures from the largest recent studies of ad accounts and shops.
| Where | Typical | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Meta (Facebook and Instagram), ecommerce brands From $11.50 (baby products) to $21.80 (health and wellness), Aug 2025 to Jul 2026 | $15.06 | Triple Whale, Facebook ad benchmarks (2026) |
| TikTok, ecommerce brands Aug 2025 to Jul 2026 | $4.08 | Triple Whale, TikTok benchmarks (2026) |
How to lower your CPM
- Broaden the audience. Narrow audiences compete for the same people and cost more to reach.
- Test placements. Feeds, stories, video and display inventory are priced differently.
- Refresh tired creative. As people see an ad again and again, engagement drops and delivery gets more expensive.
- Watch the calendar. Prices usually rise around big shopping periods such as Black Friday, when more advertisers bid for the same people.
What CPM doesn't tell you
- CPM says nothing about clicks or sales. A cheap CPM on the wrong audience is still wasted spend.
- Platforms count impressions differently, so compare CPMs within one platform before comparing across them.
OneLence helps marketing teams find growth opportunities, know what to do next, and grow more efficiently without simply spending more. It puts ads, search, AI assistants and affiliate partners side by side, with the visitors and sales each one brings, and says where to invest, hold or cut back. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate CPM?
Divide ad spend by impressions and multiply by 1,000. $500 for 120,000 impressions is $500 ÷ 120,000 × 1,000 = $4.17 CPM.
How do you work out impressions from CPM?
Divide ad spend by CPM and multiply by 1,000. A $1,000 budget at a $5 CPM buys $1,000 ÷ $5 × 1,000 = 200,000 impressions.
What is the difference between CPM and CPC?
CPM is the cost of 1,000 impressions, CPC the cost of one click. CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10), where CTR is in percent: a $5 CPM with a 1% CTR gives a $0.50 CPC.
What does a high CPM mean?
That reaching this audience costs more than usual: the audience may be narrow or in demand, the placement premium, the season busy, or the ad less engaging than others competing for the same people.
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