CPM / CPC.

CPM stands for Cost per Mille, where “mille” is the Latin word for “thousand.” In German, this metric is usually called the “thousand-contact price,” or TKP for short. It shows how much you pay, on average, to have your ad displayed 1,000 times. For a business that advertises on Facebook and Instagram, CPM is like an admission fee: It tells you how much attention is currently costing you among your target audience, but it doesn’t say anything yet about whether that attention will turn into inquiries.

Here's how Meta calculates CPM

According to Meta, CPM is calculated by dividing the amount spent by the number of impressions, then multiplying by 1,000. Meta’s own example: $50 in spending across 10,000 impressions results in a CPM of $5. Meta describes this metric as a common benchmark for comparing the cost-effectiveness of campaigns.

What matters is what counts as an impression. According to Meta, an impression is counted when an ad appears on the screen for the first time. If someone scrolls away and back, it still counts as one impression. If the same person sees the ad twice in one day, that counts as two impressions. Impressions are therefore not the same as reach, which, according to Meta, counts the number of accounts that have seen your ad at least once. In Google Ads, CPM is primarily a bid type on the Display Network: according to Google, it’s the amount you’re willing to pay per 1,000 impressions.

What Your Business Should Keep in Mind

Never evaluate CPM on its own. Cheap ad impressions are useless if no one clicks or submits an inquiry. Always analyze it alongside the click-through rate and cost per inquiry. A higher CPM is worth it if the target audience is a better fit.

Compare only campaigns with the same advertising objective. According to Meta, the “Awareness” objective aims to reach as many people as possible who will remember the ad, while the “Leads” objective targets people who are more likely to share their information. The CPMs for both campaigns therefore measure different things.

Keep track of how often the same people see your ad. If you divide the impressions by the reach, you’ll get the average number of times an account has seen your ad. In projects, we often see that in small, regional target audiences, the same people quickly end up seeing an ad very frequently. In those cases, new ad creatives usually help more than increasing the budget.

Frequently Asked Questions About CPM

What is a good CPM? There’s no single, reliable figure that applies to all businesses. Compare your own campaigns over time and pay attention to what each lead ultimately costs. We break down the overall cost of Meta advertising in “Meta Ads 2026: What Advertising on Facebook and Instagram Really Costs.”

What is the difference between CPM and CPC? CPM refers to the cost per 1,000 impressions, while CPC (cost per click) refers to the cost per click. In other words, CPM indicates the cost of visibility, while CPC indicates the cost of a visit.

Are TKP and CPM the same thing? Yes. TKP is the German term. In the German Meta Help Center, this metric is called “CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions).” Our guide to the Meta Ads Manager shows you where to find it in your ad account.

If you don't want to weigh the pros and cons of CPM, click-through rate, and cost per lead yourself, we'll handle the management and analysis in Ad Management.