CPE is a digital marketing tool that is used to assess the success and efficiency of advertising campaigns, particularly in the context of social media and online advertising. It computes the cost of each user engagement or interaction resulting from an advertising campaign. Clicks, likes, comments, shares, retweets, follows and other forms of user involvement with ad content are examples of engagements.
You can use the following calculation to compute the cost per engagement:
CPE = Total Campaign Cost / Total Engagements
The following are the important components:
Total Campaign Cost: This is the sum of all money spent on the advertising campaign. It includes advertising costs, creative production charges and any other linked expenses.
Total Engagements: These are the interactions and engagements that users have as a result of the campaign with the ad content. It consists of clicks, likes, comments and shares as well as any other required engagement activities based on the platform and campaign goals.
CPE is a significant metric for advertisers because it allows them to assess how effectively their advertising is driving user engagement. A lower CPE suggests that the campaign is producing engagements at a lower cost which is a beneficial outcome.
Follow these steps to calculate the cost per engagement (CPE) for a digital marketing campaign:
First, decide which engagement metrics you want to track for your campaign.
Gather the overall cost of the campaign: This includes all advertising campaign expenses such as ad spend, creative creation fees and any other linked costs.
During the campaign period, count the number of engagements or interactions that people have with your ad content.
Once you have all the required data, substitute the values you gathered in step 2 into the formula:
CPE = Total Campaign Cost / Total Engagements
Calculate to find out the cost per engagement.
The results of the calculation will give you the CPE for your campaign. This amount is the cost associated with each user engagement made by your advertising campaign.
Let’s look at one or two examples of calculating the cost per engagement (CPE):
Example 1: A Social Media Advertising Campaign
Suppose you’re conducting a social media advertising campaign on a platform like Instagram and want to determine the cost-per-click (CPC) for ad clicks. Here’s the necessary information:
The total cost of the campaign is $600.
Total Engagements (Clicks): 1,500
Let us now compute the CPE:
CPE = Total Campaign Cost / Total Clicks
CPE = $600 / 1,500 clicks
CPE = $0.40 per click
In this example, the cost per engagement (click) is $0.40 which means that each user who clicks on your ad will cost $0.40.
Example 2: Google Ads Campaign
Suppose you’re running a Google Ads campaign and need to determine the CPE for conversions which may be a website form submission. Here’s the available data:
The total cost of the campaign is $1000.
Total Engagements (Conversions): 50
Let us now compute the CPE:
CPE = Total Campaign Cost / Total Conversions
CPE = $1000 / 50 conversions
CPE = $20 per conversion
The cost per engagement (conversion) in this example is $20 which means that it will cost $20 for each user who conducts the required action (in this case, submits a form) as an outcome of your Google Ads campaign.
Cost per engagement (CPE) is a digital marketing metric used to assess the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in terms of user interaction. Like any other measure, it also has its own list of pros and cons:
CPE allows advertisers to monitor the efficacy of their ads by directly linking the cost to user engagement. This aids in determining the impact of advertising on audience interactions.
It can be personalized to various kinds of engagements such as clicks, likes, shares, comments and so on, allowing advertisers to focus on specific interactions that correspond with their campaign goals.
By understanding the costs associated with each engagement type, advertisers can allocate funds more efficiently.
CPE data can be used to influence changes in campaign targeting, ad creativities and bidding techniques in order to increase engagement while lowering costs.
It allows advertisers to compare the performance of different campaigns or platforms by examining their CPE values which aids in decision-making and resource allocation.
CPE largely focuses on engagement indicators and may overlook other important elements such as conversion rates, ROI (Return on Investment) and long-term customer value. CPE alone may not provide an accurate picture of marketing success.
Not all engagements have the same value. A comment or sharing, for example, may be more useful than a simple like or click. CPE treats every engagement similarly which can oversimplify campaign success evaluation.
Different advertising platforms may have different definitions of what constitutes an engagement, making it difficult to effectively compare CPE across platforms.
A low CPE doesn’t always ensure a successful campaign. It might have been accomplished by generating a large number of low-quality engagements that do not result in meaningful conversions or revenue.
CPE alone may not provide a comprehensive understanding of user behavior or motivations. Additional analytics and metrics should be evaluated to get a more complete picture of campaign effectiveness.
A good cost per engagement depends on the specific industry, goals and platform, however, lesser figures such as $0.10 to $1 are generally considered beneficial.
A high cost per engagement can be caused by factors such as competitive markets, inefficient targeting, low-quality ad creations or unsuitable audience intentions and content.