CPM, CPC, CPA and ROAS for a campaign
Four divisions over the same five numbers, and almost nobody has them side by side when the client asks. Copy the figures off the platform dashboard and all four come out, along with the CTR and the conversion rate, which are the two that explain why a CPA blew up.
The campaign numbers
What it cost over the period you are looking at, before IVA, the Spanish value added tax.
Times the ad was shown. Not people: that is reach.
The ones the platform counts as a click. Each platform counts its own way.
Sales, leads or whatever you decided counts. That call is yours and it moves the whole CPA.
What the platform credits to this campaign, inside its attribution window.
What comes out
CPM
7,50 €
Spend over impressions, times a thousand. It is what being seen costs, and it rises when more people bid for the same audience.
CPC
0,67 €
Spend over clicks. It falls when the creative is interesting, not only when you bid less.
CPA
33,33 €
Spend over conversions. This is the figure you hold against what a new customer is actually worth to you.
ROAS
4,0x
Revenue over spend. It is turnover per euro invested, not profit.
CTR
1,13 %
Clicks over impressions. When a CPA blows up, the drop is usually here rather than in the bid.
Conversion rate
2,00 %
Conversions over clicks. It measures the landing page and the offer far more than the ad.
ROAS compares revenue with spend and leaves out the cost of what you sell, of delivering it and of your own work. A high ROAS on a thin margin is still money lost, so say what it measures before you show it.
- IVA, the Spanish value added tax. Platforms bill spend without it while the revenue they credit you usually carries it, so ROAS looks better than it is until both figures sit on the same side of the tax.
- The attribution window. Changing it moves conversions and revenue without the campaign doing anything differently, and two periods measured on different windows compare nothing.
- Break even is not a ROAS of one. It is the point where your margin covers the spend, and only you know that number: on a margin of half the price you need twice as much revenue as investment just to stand still.
- What the campaign did not earn. A brand people already search for by name converts more cheaply, and that credit ends up counted here even though the ad did not do it.
Frequently asked questions
Does a ROAS of 3 mean I am making money?
It means every euro invested returned three in turnover. If the product costs you more than half of what you sell it for, or if shipping, returns and your own time eat as much again, you can be losing money at a ROAS of 3 and making it at a ROAS of 2. The sum that matters runs on your margin, not on turnover.
What is a good CPM or CPC?
There is no good one in the abstract: both depend on the country, the sector, the audience you target and the time of year, and in November and December they rise for everybody. The useful benchmark is your own history. Record the CPM and CPC every month and compare them against yourself, which is the only comparison where the variables actually match.
My CPC is cheap and my CPA is terrible. What is going on?
The problem sits after the click. A low CPC with a high CPA means the conversion rate is what dropped: people arrive and do not do what you expected. Look at the landing page, at whether it promises the same thing the ad did, and at whether the form or the checkout asks for more than the person is willing to give at that moment. Raising the bid there just buys the same problem at a higher price.
Can I see these metrics across several platforms at once?
In the GoFeed ads dashboard, yes: Meta, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok and Pinterest are read into the same table, with their spend, impressions, clicks and conversions. Every profile gets it, whether you run clients, your own brands or your company marketing, from the second tier of its plan upwards. It is a reporting surface: campaigns are created and edited on each platform, never here.
Fourteen days to decide
Connect one account, schedule a week and see whether it fits. If it does not fit, cancel before day 15 and nothing is charged.