Should I choose CPC or CPM?

Every Mintfunnel campaign is billed one of two ways, chosen under How you pay on the Budget step: per click (CPC) or per 1,000 viewable impressions (CPM). Neither is better in general. They charge for different things, so the right one depends on what the campaign is for.

The short answer

• Choose CPC when you want traffic: visits, sign-ups, wallet connects. You pay only when someone clicks.
• Choose CPM when you want to be seen: a token launch, an exchange listing, an event, a brand campaign. You pay for reach, whether or not anyone clicks.

Pros and cons

• You pay for. Per click (CPC): Clicks only. Readers who scroll past cost nothing. Per impression (CPM): Only verified viewable impressions: at least half the ad on screen for one continuous second. Clicks are free
• Best for. Per click (CPC): Traffic and direct response. Per impression (CPM): Reach and awareness, such as token launches and brand campaigns
• Cost. Per click (CPC): Never more than your bid per click. Per impression (CPM): Never more than your bid per 1,000 viewable impressions, so the cost of reach is predictable
• Reach. Per click (CPC): Less predictable. In the shared auction a CPC ad is ranked partly on how often it gets clicked, so weak creative serves less. Per impression (CPM): More predictable. Your rank depends on your bid, not on click-through rate
• Main risk. Per click (CPC): An ad that few people click wins fewer slots. Per impression (CPM): You pay whether or not people click, so creative and targeting matter more

How the two compete

CPC and CPM campaigns run in one auction, ranked by what each is worth per 1,000 impressions (eCPM). A CPM campaign's eCPM is its bid. A CPC campaign's is estimated from its click bid and its click-through rate. That is why a CPC ad with a weak headline serves less, and why a CPM ad's delivery depends mostly on the size of its bid. See How CPM pricing works for the details.

What CPM will not fix

If a campaign gets plenty of impressions but few clicks, switching it to CPM changes what you pay for, not how the ad performs. Try a stronger image or headline first.

Run both and compare

The most reliable way to decide is to test. Run the same creative and targeting as one CPC campaign and one CPM campaign, side by side, with similar budgets. Once each has had enough traffic to judge, compare cost per conversion, wallets and onchain value, not just clicks or impressions. Then put more budget behind the one that wins. You can also switch an existing campaign between models from its Edit page; past spend stays as it was billed.

Results are measured the same way either way

Whichever model you choose, Mintfunnel attribution measures the outcome: wallet connects, token purchases, mints, swaps and the other conversions you track, tied back to the campaign that drove them. Spend is the same figure in every report, so totals and return on ad spend add up across CPC and CPM campaigns.

Both models also share the same protection: filtered invalid traffic is never billed, and anything found invalid within 72 hours of billing is credited back to your wallet.

Related

• How CPM pricing works
• How to run a CPM campaign

Questions? Contact the Mintfunnel Team from the Support page in your dashboard.