What is the difference between CPC and CPM?

CPC and CPM are two ways to pay for ads. With CPC, in full cost per click, you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. With CPM, in full cost per mille, you pay per thousand times your ad is shown, whether or not anyone clicks. CPC therefore charges on interaction, CPM on visibility.

When do you choose CPC?

CPC makes sense when you want to steer on action: clicks, visitors and ultimately enquiries. You only pay when someone shows interest, which makes it easier to keep an eye on the cost per result. You see this model mainly with search ads, where people are actively looking for a solution. For most B2B campaigns that steer on leads, CPC is therefore the most common model. It also makes your reporting simpler: you can directly calculate what a click costs and set it against the number of enquiries that result from it.

When do you choose CPM?

CPM fits better when reach and awareness are the goal. You pay for impressions, so you are charged on how often you appear in front of your audience. That is handy for campaigns higher in the funnel, for example to make a brand or service known among accounts that are not yet actively searching. On channels where you aim mainly at reach, such as social, CPM is therefore common. The risk is that impressions on their own do not yet deliver customers, so you need to keep a close eye on what that visibility ultimately contributes to your enquiries.

What does this mean for your budget?

The difference lies not only in the model, but in what you steer on. A low CPM can look attractive, but if those impressions do not lead to clicks and enquiries, your money is gone. Conversely, a higher CPC can still be profitable if those clicks deliver valuable leads. At Customer Impact we therefore look beyond CPC and CPM to what a campaign genuinely delivers: enquiries, customers and revenue. We work exclusively for B2B, never for webshops, and steer on results instead of on impressions or clicks alone. What a campaign costs in your situation, we explain transparently via our pricing.