← Glossary
Influencer Marketing
CPC (Cost Per Click)
The amount a brand pays for each click generated on a tracked link, often used to evaluate influencer content optimized for traffic rather than pure awareness.
What it means
CPC measures cost against action instead of passive views, a step closer to ROI than CPM. It matters most for campaigns aimed at traffic, a landing page, a product listing, an app download, rather than pure brand awareness. A campaign with a low CPM but a low click-through rate still ends up with an expensive CPC. Read the two metrics together.
Examples
- •A brand pays $500 for a post that generates 250 link clicks, a $2 CPC.
- •A newsletter sponsorship gets priced per click on the embedded link instead of per subscriber.
- •An app install campaign tracks CPC through to install rate to calculate a blended cost per install.
Use cases
- •Traffic-driving campaigns to a landing page, waitlist, or app store listing.
- •Comparing creator content formats, Stories versus feed posts, by which drives cheaper clicks.
- •Budgeting affiliate or performance-based creator deals.
Why it matters
CPC surfaces which creators and formats move people to act, beyond watching. It often reveals that a smaller, more engaged creator drives cheaper, higher-intent clicks than a larger one with passive viewers.
Common questions
It varies by niche and platform, but many brands target $0.50 to $3 per click. Direct-response niches like e-commerce usually aim for the lower end.