What is cost per view? Cost per view (CPV) is a pricing model where advertisers pay a predetermined amount for each video view. It’s commonly used in video advertising campaigns.

How does cost per view work? In video campaigns, the advertiser merely pays based on the number of views. A view is recorded when a viewer watches your video ad for — typically — 30 seconds (or the full duration if it’s shorter than 30 seconds) or interacts with the ad, whichever happens first.

Types of cost per view:

• Target CPV: This is the maximum amount an advertiser is willing to pay for a view.
• Actual CPV: This is the average amount an advertiser pays for a view.

How to measure cost per view: CPV is calculated by dividing the total cost of a campaign by the number of views generated. For example, if a campaign costs $10,000 and generates 100,000 views, the CPV would be $0.10.

Why is cost per view important to marketers? CPV measures the effectiveness of their video advertising campaigns at reaching a large audience. This metric also tells marketers whether the video ad hit the desired target audience.

Who needs to know what cost per view is:

• Digital marketing manager
• Paid search specialist
• Social media manager
• Content marketing manager
• Affiliate manager
• E-commerce manager
• Product manager
• Marketing analyst
• Brand manager

Use cost per view in a sentence: “When you look at the cost per view for pre-roll and outstream or native video ads separately, they seem similar; but it all comes down to which one has the greater completion rate.”