Cost Per Completed View (CPCV)

Imagine you’re running a video ad campaign to promote your new line of products or services. You have a catchy ad video that showcases your collection, but how do you know if people are actually watching the whole ad? That is where you will need the Cost per Completed View.

CPCV is a metric used in video advertising that tells you exactly how much you’re paying each time someone watches your video ad from start to finish. Let’s look more closely to understand what CPCV is.

 

What is CPCV?

The CPCV full form is Cost Per Completed View — it is a pricing ad model where advertisers pay for videos only after the user watches a video entirely.

It allows targeting only high-quality users that are generally interested in your offerings, which reduces the risk for advertisers. Advertisers pay a fixed charge for each successful video view, typically once a campaign reaches a certain KPI threshold (that is, minimum spend).

 

How to Calculate CPCV

A simple mathematical formula simplifies the calculation of CPCV.

CPCV formula = Advertising cost ÷ Completed video views

Basically, you divide the total cost of your video ad campaign by the total users who watched your video ad till the end. 

For instance, let’s consider you’re an advertiser who has spent $7,000 on a video ad campaign, which completed 565 successful views. The calculated CPCV would be

CPCV = 7000 ÷ 560

$7,000 ÷ 560 = CPCV

CPCV = $12.5

Like most of the video pricing models, the lower the CPCV, the better.

 

What Is the Importance of CPCV

Even though there are many metrics used to gauge an advertisement’s performance, CPCV is considered a key valuable metric that can give you precise analytics. Here’s how CPCV empowers your video marketing:

• Focus on Engagement, Not Just Views: Unlike traditional methods that charge per impression (even if viewers skip after a few seconds), CPCV ensures you only pay when someone watches your entire video. You can focus on creating truly engaging content that resonates with your audience.
• Optimize Your Budget for Maximum Impact: CPCV allows you to compare the cost of complete video views across different campaigns, creatives, or targeting strategies. This helps you identify what’s working best and allocate your budget more effectively for better results.
• See What Captures Attention: By analyzing completion rates, you gain valuable insights into how engaging your video content is, which means you can refine your content strategy to keep viewers hooked and improve audience retention.
• Make Data-Driven Decisions:  CPCV data is your secret weapon for campaign optimization. Identify high-performing videos or ad formats and invest more in what resonates with your audience. This leads to a domino effect, boosting your overall campaign performance.
• Measure True ROI: CPCV goes beyond just views. You can calculate ROI by comparing the cost per completed view to the conversions (e.g., sales, sign-ups) generated by viewers who watched the entire video.
• Craft-Winning Content Strategies: With CPCV insights, you can refine your content strategy based on what your audience actually watches. 

 

CPCV Over Other Price Models

Cost per View, or CPV for short, is a popular pricing strategy in which advertisers pay for a video impression or video view lasting one second or more. It is calculated via 

CPV = Total advertising cost ÷ Total number of views 

In a comparable manner, CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) is another frequent pricing methodology that is determined using the following formula:

CPV = (Total Campaign Spend ÷ Total Impressions) × 1000

Although both are the prominent pricing models in the advertising industry, many advertisers face challenges with transparency in metrics. Thus the Cost Per Completed View model is often preferred over Cost Per View and Cost Per Thousand Impressions.

Video ads often suffer from low visibility, and CPMs don’t effectively measure a campaign’s success. A CPCV pricing model ensures you’re paying for high-quality users who have full visibility of your ad, minimizing potentially wasted ad spend.

Not all ad networks and publishers offer CPCV pricing, mainly because video ad completion rates on mobile are generally low. CPCV pricing enhances transparency and trust between advertisers and publishers.

Alternatively, unskippable video ads are an option but may strain the user experience. However, when paired with rewarded advertising ads, publishers and networks can better predict the success of video ad campaigns.

Pro Tip: Rewarded video ads offer app users in-app rewards in exchange for video completion.

It’s important to note that the definition of “video completion” varies across platforms. For instance, YouTube counts 30 seconds as a full view, while Facebook and Instagram count 15 seconds for videos and 3 seconds for stories.

Like any other ad pricing model, nothing is guaranteed. A completed video view is not necessarily more effective than another metric like click-throughs. Therefore, marketers must always test different pricing strategies to find what works best for their specific audiences.

Overall, CPCV advertising more effectively measures the actual engagement rates of users, whereas CPV and CPM may be used for broader top-of-funnel campaigns at a lower cost. Marketers may also use CPV and CPM for larger-scale brand awareness campaigns, while CPCV is better suited for performance-driven campaigns focused on measuring conversions.

	CPV (Cost Per View)	CPCV (Cost Per Completed View)	CPM (Cost Per Mille/Thousand Impressions
Definition	Cost incurred each time a video ad is viewed.	Cost incurred each time a video ad is viewed in its entirety.	Cost incurred per thousand impressions of an ad.
Measurement focus	Number of video views.	Number of complete video views.	Number of ad impressions.
User Engagement	Lower engagement, may include partial views.	Higher engagement, ensures full ad visibility.	Varies, based on impressions rather than engagement.
Transparency	Moderate, relies on initial views.	High, ensures full ad completion.	Moderate, based on impressions rather than engagement.

 

Conclusion

CPCV is an important indicator in video advertising because it provides advertisers with a clear picture of viewer engagement and the costs associated with people who watch videos in their entirety. Advertisers can improve the performance of their video advertisements by optimizing for completed views, resulting in higher audience retention and campaign impact.