CPC (Cost per Click)
CPC is the average cost you pay each time someone clicks your ad, calculated as total ad spend divided by total clicks.
CPC measures how much each ad click costs. It's a mid-funnel metric — it tells you the price of getting someone from the ad to your landing page, but nothing about what happens after they arrive.
On most modern platforms (Meta, TikTok, Google), you don't directly bid on CPC. The auction runs on CPM, and CPC is a derived metric: CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10). That means the best way to lower CPC is usually to improve your creative's click-through rate.
CPC varies wildly by industry and platform. B2B LinkedIn ads can exceed $5 per click, while broad TikTok traffic can be under $0.30.
Formula
CPC = Total ad spend ÷ Total clicks
Example
Related terms
CPM
CPM is the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions, used to compare media costs across platforms and campaigns.
CTR
CTR is the percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions times 100.
CPA
CPA is the average advertising cost to acquire one customer or conversion, calculated as total ad spend divided by total conversions.
CVR
CVR (conversion rate) is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action — a purchase, signup or lead — after clicking through to a landing page.