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.
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).
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
CPCV = 7000 ÷ 560
$7,000 ÷ 560 = CPCV
CPCV = $12.5
Like most of the video pricing models, the lower the CPCV, the better.
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:
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.
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.
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