CPM, or Cost per Mille, is a classic affiliate pricing model where advertisers pay per 1000 impressions the ad receives on a website. When done right, a CPM campaign is a solid option for brand awareness, quick results, and relatively stable traffic volumes — and you can benefit from it as an advertiser. Study our article in full to take maximum advantage of CPM’s strongest points and navigate possible challenges when creating digital ads.
When to choose the CPM pricing model?
The CPM Model is your perfect match if you value stability and reliability, with high earnings and faster testing included. If you are on a deadline, looking for a specific amount of traffic for your offer, and working with smaller GEOs, CPM is the right call. Bigger GEOs and extended time limits may require another pricing model, so it’s up to your goals.
What about possible conversions? Consider their difficulty and frequency. If the user action requires higher payments, like $200 crypto offers, and usually happens less often (e.g., once every two days), the CPM model is a stable and comfortable choice for your case. Easier requirements like clicks or downloads are best used with CPC and CPA models.
CPM is about getting your campaign out there quickly and effectively with adequate pricing and costs for you.
CPM Green Flags
There are four main reasons why the cost-per-mille pricing model always stays in style in digital marketing.
- Complete control of the traffic flow. The CPM model allows you to limit or expand the traffic volumes by setting desirable bids and frequency/capping.
- Stability. A solid, competitive rate should provide steady traffic levels (excluding the organic increase or decrease in the campaign zone). We will teach you to tame the beast with Galaksion’s platform-exclusive features and create the best strategy to get relevant impressions.
- Individual bids. If you want to increase the rate in a particular zone, you can set the desirable bid without buying more traffic in other zones. The CPM model opens unexpected doors for budget optimization.
- Daily rate updates. You can find up-to-date statistics for each GEO in your account on Galaksion’s Self-Service Platform.
CPM Red Flags
Real pros know the possible drawbacks of working with a CPM campaign. No worries; we've got you covered with a mistake-prevention list for more awareness.
- Avoid setting random rates. If you are not careful with your rate choices, your campaign can easily go over the budget.
- Prepare for manual optimization. You must manually track your zones’ effectiveness with the cost-per-mille model. We at Galaksion are trying our best to help you manage your campaigns with automated tools and White Lists provided by your personal manager. Still, your best strategy is to oversee the process.
- Compete for profitable traffic volumes. Your rates have to be ambitious if you want high ROI.
7 Steps to successful CPM optimization
As an advertising network with 10 years of experience and marketing pros, we know our way around a CPM campaign. More people should view your ads, brands, and content online! Here are the seven steps on how you can maximize your earnings:
1️⃣ Test new zones using White and Black lists
Avoid putting your eggs in one basket for too long. Remember to update your White List when working on a ROS campaign. A wiser move is launching RON campaigns using all your zones or even the Black List. New profitable zones appear every single day, and you gotta catch them all. Contact your manager to revise the White List.
2️⃣ Pay attention to rate recommendations and win over competitors
If you monitor the bids for your targets, you can stay ahead of the curve and buy as much relevant traffic as possible. Imagine you are using the CPA model, and your rate is 0.4 while your rival rates are around 1.5. Switching to CPM will be an effective way to out-bid the competition. Flexibility and timely measures are the key!
3️⃣ Increase/decrease CPM on specific zones
With the Custom Rates feature on Galaksion, you can manually decrease or increase the rate for each campaign zone separately. Aim for success and buy traffic based on performance.
4️⃣ Expand your experiments beyond one target
Our SSP platform is home to Audience Targeting, a feature that allows you to target specific user categories. Although you can enjoy a surplus of fresh customers if you set it to “New,” we recommend you also engage the older audience. All categories may convert unexpectedly well.
5️⃣ Conversions lay beyond love at first sight
Secret info: our data proves that it usually takes more than one ad showing to get a conversion. Two or three showings are good enough. If your campaign is aimed at sales days or specific events, your frequency/capping should be set to 3/24 and higher.
(And if you haven’t tried event targeting yet, subscribe to our social media and e-mail newsletter for weekly event bundles completed with GEOs, Verticals, and Formats for more profit. Our tips perfectly fit the targeting settings on our platform).
6️⃣ Be mindful of the budgets when testing
Sometimes, an offer needs more effort to succeed. If you are working with certain types of offers and bigger GEOs, such as Asia, go beyond the minimal testing budget to get higher results. Let your campaign bloom, and your wallet will thank you.
7️⃣ Use direct traffic from Galaksion Ad Network for better advertising
Your CPM campaign will do wonders if your traffic is clear. We can offer 50 billion monthly impressions and platform-exclusive optimization features. And if you are still more comfortable paying for clicks or conversions, we have your back: stay tuned for our next guides on the CPC and CPA models! You will learn everything there is to know about impressions, clicks, and conversions by subscribing to our social media.
Launch your campaign now, if you’re our experienced partner! Register and start your journey with Galaksion on the best terms, if you’re a newbie.