This is why it is very important to make sure that you have properly calculated your CPC campaign cost, and the potential outcomes of this before you agree to launch the advertising campaigns.
A CPC and CPM calculator will give you all the information that you need to understand the number of clicks you will get if you spend a certain amount of money on a campaign.
This article will look at the formula behind this calculation, as well as giving you all the information you need about CPC and CPM calculations!
What Is CPC?
CPC stands for Cost Per Click. This is a model for digital advertising which refers to the way that the advertising is priced. Using this model, the business will pay only for the amount of times that the ad is clicked on, rather than for the ad itself.
This is a good way of dealing with advertising, as it means that the advertising company will not have to make any payments if the adverts do not work.
What Is CPM?
CPM is a similar payment method for advertising. It stands for Cost Per Mile. This is also referred to as cost per thousand, which resembles the meaning of the pricing model more accurately.
Using this model you will pay a certain amount of money for each 1000 times that the advert gets displayed online.
CPC Calculation
Understanding how CPC is calculated is very important, because you need to make sure that you are getting good value for your money.
The formula looks like this: CPC = Total Cost of Campaign/Number Of Clicks.
How Does CPC Work?
CPC is a great way to navigate the world of advertising. The CPC will depend on the quality of the advert, ensuring that the company will only have to pay if the advert is successful in bringing clients in.
The advertiser will be charged each time their ad is clicked on.
This is done in one of two ways. Either, the advertiser fixes this rate so that they only pay what they are willing to for each click, or, the platform is automatically adjusted in order to get more clicks.
Using CPC, the number of impressions that an ad achieves doesn’t impact the cost per click as it would on a CPM campaign. You will only be charged when the advert is clicked on.
CPC Terms
There are some important terms to look out for when you are looking to launch a CPC campaign.
These are:
Maximum Cost Per Click
Maximum cost per click refers to the most that the advertiser is willing to pay for a certain keyword.
The advertiser will likely be charged this amount when their advert is clicked on, however, sometimes they will not. This can just act as a limit for the cost per click and the price charged can sometimes be lower than this.
Click Through Rate
The click-through rate – also known as the CTR – refers to the number of times that an advert is clicked on when compared to the number of times that interest is shown on the advert (known as an impression).
CTR helps advertisers to understand how their ad campaigns are doing and what effect they are having.
Automatic Cost Per Click Bidding
This is something that is worked out using algorithms. It optimizes the campaign by working out the best price for cost-per-click bidding.
Manual Cost Per Click Bidding
This refers to the other type of bidding other than automatic cost-per-click bidding. It is where an advertiser will set the CPC for each keyword.
CPM Calculator
When you are working out the CPM, you will need to divide the cost of the advertising campaign by the number of impressions that you are hoping for. You will then need to multiply this number by 1000. In doing this, you will get the cost of advertising.
The CPM will usually be set by the ad network. These are not usually negotiable by the advertiser.
Advantages Of CPC
There are lots of advantages to CPC advertising. It is a great pricing model to use for many reasons.
These include:
Fairness – CPC models are very fair. You will only be charged when the advert has been successful, so you don’t need to worry about an ad campaign failing and wasting lots of money.
Transparent – Using this pricing model, there is a lot of transparency when it comes to pricing. You will know exactly how much you are going to pay for each click. There is no opportunity for hidden costs or tricks.
Flexible – The CPC rate can be set by the business themselves if they prefer. Or, you can opt for allowing the platform to choose it and adjust based on certain factors.
Manageable – It is very easy to control spending using this model. You can set a budget that cannot be ignored by the ad company.
Disadvantages Of CPC
There are lots of disadvantages when it comes to using a CPC pricing model.
This includes:
Competitive – There are lots of competitors when it comes to CPC, meaning you may have to pay a high rate if you are using popular keywords.
Low click rates – While it is very good that you don’t have to pay if you don’t get any clicks on your site, sometimes the click rates are very low. This means that the adverts are not always all that successful.
Click fraud – It is very easy for businesses to end up being charged for fake clicks. These are very hard to prevent and spot.
Factors That Affect CPC
CPC is impacted by a lot of different factors, these include:
Keyword popularity – Keywords that are more common and popularly used tend to have higher CPCs.
The quality of the ads – Each ad will have a quality score. Those with higher quality scores will often have lower CPC’s.
Type of device used – If a mobile device is used, they have lower CPCs than on desktops.
Type of advert – If a video or image is used, they will have higher CPCs than text adverts.
Location – Location will impact on the CPC rates. In more developed countries, the CPC rate will be higher.
What Is CPA?
CPA stands for cost per action. In a CPA campaign, the business is only charged when the user completes the action that is laid out by the company.
For instance, they will only be charged if the product is purchased or the subscription is secured. This is a different pricing plan to CPC and CPM.
Final Thoughts
It is very important that you understand CPC and CPM business models. The calculations for both of these pricing models are very straightforward, and they will benefit your business a lot.
This article should have informed you about everything you need to know on these pricing models.
These days, everything is online. You can’t get your business anywhere without a great online presence. With search engines forever changing, it’s difficult to stay on top of it all! That’s where I’ll come in.
Hello, my name is Jack O’Neil and I have been in the marketing industry for almost 10 years. I focus on online marketing, SEO, advertising, and more.
