Campaign planning
Ad Cost Calculator
Estimate what a campaign will cost from your CPM and target impressions — or work backwards from a fixed budget.
Quick answer: campaign cost = (CPM × impressions) ÷ 1,000. At a $12 CPM, 250,000 impressions cost $3,000.
Calculate ad cost
Enter your CPM and target impressions, or switch the mode to solve for CPM or impressions instead.
Result
Enter two values to solve the third.
How ad cost is calculated
Ad platforms sell inventory two ways: by impression (CPM) or by result (CPC, CPM-based reach, cost per acquisition). When you buy on CPM, the cost is fixed by the price of 1,000 impressions and the volume you want. Two examples:
| CPM | Impressions | Calculation | Campaign cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| $12.00 | 250,000 | ($12 × 250,000) ÷ 1,000 | $3,000 |
| $6.50 | 500,000 | ($6.50 × 500,000) ÷ 1,000 | $3,250 |
| $25.00 | 80,000 | ($25 × 80,000) ÷ 1,000 | $2,000 |
What that means in practice: at a $25 CPM (a realistic US B2B rate on LinkedIn) the same $2,000 buys only 80,000 impressions, while a $6.50 TikTok reach CPM buys over six times that volume. Cost per impression is the variable that decides how far a budget stretches.
Cost of 100,000 impressions at common CPMs
| CPM | Cost per 100,000 impressions | Typical place you see it |
|---|---|---|
| $4 | $400 | Broad reach buys on social in low-competition months |
| $6 | $600 | Good US social reach campaigns |
| $8 | $800 | Average US Meta and display inventory |
| $10 | $1,000 | Mid-range US social, Q4 pricing starts here |
| $12 | $1,200 | Conversion-optimised US social campaigns |
| $15 | $1,500 | Narrow retargeting, finance and insurance verticals |
| $20 | $2,000 | Premium video and high-intent audiences |
| $40 | $4,000 | US B2B and professional targeting |
How to plan a monthly ad budget
Two approaches, and the better one depends on what you already know:
1. Budget-first (new accounts)
Start with what you can afford to spend for 60–90 days without needing a return. Divide it into a test budget and a scaling budget. Keep each campaign at a level where you can afford at least 50 conversions per week — below that, platform optimisation has too little data to work with.
2. Target-first (accounts with conversion data)
- Set a monthly revenue or lead target.
- Divide it by your average order value or deal value to get the number of conversions needed.
- Multiply by your known cost per acquisition to get the required spend.
- Sanity-check the result against a % of revenue rule: many US ecommerce brands plan 10–20% of revenue for paid acquisition, and lower once repeat purchase and organic channels carry more of the load.
If you sell on a website, the WordPress and Squarespace ad spend calculators turn a revenue goal into a required budget using your own conversion rate and CPC.
Ad cost vs cost per click vs cost per acquisition
| Metric | Formula | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| CPM | (cost ÷ impressions) × 1,000 | What does it cost to reach 1,000 people? |
| CPC | cost ÷ clicks | What does one visit cost? |
| CTR | (clicks ÷ impressions) × 100 | Is the creative earning attention? |
| CPA | cost ÷ conversions | What does a sale or lead cost? |
| ROAS | revenue ÷ ad spend | How much revenue per dollar spent? |
Budget conversations almost always start with CPM and end with CPA or ROAS. Use CPM to plan reach, then judge the campaign on the last two.
Five ways to bring ad cost down
- Fix creative before budget. Weak creative raises both CPM and CPA; a stronger hook lowers the price the auction charges you.
- Consolidate campaigns. Many small campaigns compete against each other for the same audience and push your own costs up.
- Cut wasted placements. Review placement-level reports and exclude anything with spend and no conversions.
- Use the cheapest placement that still converts. Feed and Reels inventory usually costs less than in-app and audience-network inventory.
- Improve the landing page. Conversion rate is the cheapest lever you own: doubling it halves your cost per acquisition at the same ad cost.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate ad cost from CPM?
Multiply the CPM by the number of impressions you want, then divide by 1,000. A $12 CPM for 250,000 impressions is ($12 × 250,000) ÷ 1,000 = $3,000.
How much does it cost to get 100,000 impressions?
At a $4 CPM it is $400, at $8 it is $800 and at $20 it is $2,000. US social and display campaigns commonly land between $4 and $15 CPM, so $400–$1,500 is a realistic planning range for 100,000 impressions.
Is this the same as a CPM calculator?
It uses the same formula from the other direction. The CPM calculator works out the cost per 1,000 impressions from spend and impressions; this one starts from your CPM to estimate total campaign cost.
Does this include agency fees or taxes?
No. It estimates media cost only. Add agency or management fees, taxes and any third-party tooling costs on top before you compare against an invoice.
What budget should a new advertiser start with?
Enough to run for 60–90 days and gather conversion data. In most US verticals that means at least $1,000–$3,000 per month, because platforms need roughly 50 conversions per week per campaign to optimise reliably.
Why is my actual cost higher than the estimate?
Auction prices move daily, and Q4, political periods and new competitors all push CPM up. Platforms also pace delivery, so a campaign may not spend the full estimate in a short flight.
Can I estimate cost for search ads this way?
Search is normally sold per click, so estimate clicks first and multiply by your average CPC. To compare with CPM campaigns, convert it: effective CPM = CPC × CTR% × 10.