Advertising

CPM (Cost Per Mille)

Quick Definition

A pricing model where you pay for every 1,000 times your ad is shown to users on social media platforms, regardless of clicks or actions.

Examples

1An SMM panel charges $5 CPM for Instagram Story views, so 100,000 views (100 units of 1,000) costs $500.
2A TikTok promotion package offers 50,000 video views at a $6 CPM rate, costing $300 total.
3Your SMM reseller account offers Facebook ad impressions to clients at $8 CPM while you purchase them at $6 CPM, earning $2 profit per 1,000 impressions.
4A YouTube promotion service charges based on CPM, with higher rates ($10-15 CPM) for targeted audiences and lower rates ($3-5 CPM) for general audiences.
5An SMM panel's dashboard shows different CPM rates for different social platforms, with LinkedIn having the highest at $12 CPM and TikTok the lowest at $4 CPM.

Pro Tips

Compare CPM rates across different SMM panels before buying – prices for the same service can vary by 50% or more.

For brand awareness campaigns, focus on platforms with lower CPM rates to maximize your impression count.

Calculate your effective CPM (total cost divided by impressions in thousands) to compare different service packages.

Look for SMM panels that offer volume discounts on CPM rates when ordering larger impression packages.

Test small CPM campaigns across different platforms before committing your full budget to find which gives the best audience quality.

Test Your Knowledge

Take this quick quiz to see how well you understand cpm (cost per mille).

Question 1 of 5

What does CPM stand for in social media marketing?

In-Depth Definition

CPM (Cost Per Mille) is an advertising pricing model where you pay a set amount for every 1,000 impressions your content receives. The 'mille' in the name comes from Latin, meaning thousand. It's one of the oldest digital advertising metrics and focuses purely on visibility rather than user actions. In the SMM world, CPM is how panels price view-based services for social content. It's ideal for brand awareness campaigns where you want maximum visibility. SMM panels typically offer CPM rates between $2-15 depending on platform and targeting options, with higher rates generally providing better audience quality or more specific demographic targeting.

Related Terms

CPC (Cost Per Click)

A pricing model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad.

Impression

A single instance of an ad being displayed to a user, regardless of whether they interact with it.

Reach

The total number of unique users who see your content or advertisement.

Frequency

The average number of times each user sees your ad during a campaign.

Want to learn more?

Explore our blog for in-depth articles about social media advertising and other SMM topics.

Read Our Blog Explore More Terms