Advertising
CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions)
The cost of buying 1,000 ad impressions on a platform.
CPM (mille = thousand) is the price you pay to deliver 1,000 ad impressions. Calculated as `total spend / impressions × 1000`. The standard pricing unit for display, social, and video advertising.
Platform CPMs vary widely. 2025 mid-market: LinkedIn $28 (the most expensive — B2B targeting premium), Instagram $9, Facebook $8, X $7, YouTube $11, TikTok $6, Pinterest $5. These move with auction demand.
CPM is also the foundation of EMV calculations. To translate an organic post's reach into "paid equivalent" dollars, multiply (impressions / 1000) by the platform's paid CPM.
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