CPM (Cost Per Mille): Definition & Guide for Creators
The cost advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions on your content.
CPM (cost per mille, where 'mille' means thousand) is what advertisers pay for every 1,000 times their ad is shown. This metric matters to creators because higher CPMs in your niche mean more potential ad revenue. CPM varies significantly by geography (US/UK/Canada pay more than other regions), niche (finance and tech have premium CPMs of $10-30+, while entertainment might be $2-5), and season (Q4 holiday season has the highest CPMs).
Why CPM (Cost Per Mille) Matters for Creators
Understanding cpm (cost per mille) is essential for growing on YouTube. This concept directly impacts how your content performs and how you can optimize your strategy.
- Affects how your content is discovered and distributed
- Impacts your growth potential on social media
- Understanding this helps you make better content decisions
- Professional creators track and optimize for this
Pro Tip: ViralNow helps you optimize content for better performance, which directly impacts your cpm (cost per mille) potential.
Examples
Here are some real-world examples to help you understand cpm (cost per mille):
- A finance YouTuber might have $25 CPM while a gaming channel has $4 CPM for the same view count
Frequently Asked Questions
What's a good CPM?
It varies wildly by niche. Finance/business: $15-30+. Tech: $10-20. Lifestyle: $5-12. Gaming/entertainment: $2-8. These are rough US averages—international audiences typically have lower CPMs.
Why is my CPM so low?
Common reasons: your audience is in lower-CPM countries, your niche has low advertiser demand, you're posting Shorts (which have much lower CPMs than long-form), or it's a low-spending season (January-February are typically lowest).
How do I increase my CPM?
Target higher-value audiences (US, UK, Canada), create content in high-CPM niches (finance, business, tech), make longer videos (more ad slots), and build an engaged audience that advertisers want to reach.