Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM)

Cost per thousand impressions, or CPM, expresses advertising cost for each 1,000 ad impressions. It is often used to evaluate the cost of showing a message rather than the cost of acquiring an enquiry. For example, a lawn care business comparing awareness campaigns could use CPM to understand how expensive it is to deliver exposure across audiences. An impression is a recorded ad display, not a unique person, click, or sale. CPM can change with targeting, placement, competition, and measurement rules. It should not be confused with cost per click or cost per lead, which use different denominators and answer different business questions.