CPM
Also: cost per mille, TKP
The CPM (cost per mille, German: TKP) states what it costs to reach 1,000 contacts with an ad. It is the most common price and comparison metric in media buying: cost divided by contacts, times 1,000.
The True Effect view
A low CPM looks good in a report but says nothing about the quality of the contacts. When ad placements are multiplied at will, the CPM falls – and often the attention each ad gets falls with it. Cost-per-contact KPIs seem to improve all by themselves while the effect is diluted.
We use the CPM as a price, not as a measure of success. What matters is what a contact achieves – not what it costs.
Example
If a campaign costs 15,000 euros and generates 2.5 million contacts, the CPM is 6 euros: €15,000 ÷ 2,500,000 × 1,000.