Metrics & KPIs
What is CPM (cost per mille)?
CPM (cost per mille) is what an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions. On Meta (Facebook and Instagram) it is the auction price for showing your ad a thousand times — it measures the cost of distribution, not of clicks or sales.
Formula
CPM = (amount spent ÷ impressions) × 1,000
Example
Spend $50 and your ad is shown 10,000 times → CPM = (50 ÷ 10,000) × 1,000 = $5. If the same ad on the same audience later runs at a $9 CPM, the audience is saturating and delivery is getting more expensive.
Why it matters
CPM is the base cost of everything else: when it rises, your CPC and CPA rise too, even if your creative never changed. Meta CPMs vary widely by country, industry and season — they climb sharply in Q4 as competition for the same feed peaks — so the useful comparison is your own CPM over time, not a global 'good' number.
How to use and improve it
Lower CPM with broader audiences, stronger creative (higher relevance is rewarded with cheaper delivery), and by avoiding narrow, overlapping audiences that bid against each other. Watch for CPM spikes as an early warning of audience fatigue.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good CPM on Facebook?
There is no universal number — CPM depends on your country, industry, audience and the season. Instead of chasing a benchmark, compare your CPM against your own account's trend and react when it jumps.
Why is my CPM so high?
The usual causes are a saturated or too-narrow audience, heavy competition (especially Q4 and around big sale events), and low-quality creative that Meta charges more to deliver.
Does CPM include clicks?
No. CPM is purely the cost per 1,000 impressions. What people do after seeing the ad — clicking or converting — is measured by CPC, CTR, CPA and ROAS.
CPM vs CPC — what's the difference?
CPM is the cost of 1,000 impressions; CPC is the cost of a single click. A high CPM can still produce a low CPC if your click-through rate is strong.
Related
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