Help! My CPMs Are Through the Roof: A Marketer’s Guide to Troubleshooting

Look, we’ve all been there. You’re running what you think is a killer ad campaign, but when you check your metrics, your CPMs are sky-high. Your boss is breathing down your neck, and you’re starting to sweat. Trust me, I’ve been in those shoes, and it’s not fun.

But fear not! After years of trial and error (and maybe a few panic attacks), I’ve picked up some tried-and-true methods for troubleshooting those pesky high CPM issues. So, grab a coffee, take a deep breath, and let’s dive in.

1. Check Your Targeting (Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Audience Insights)

I’ll never forget the time I launched a campaign for a client selling luxury watches. The CPMs were astronomical, and I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out, I had set the targeting to include “people interested in time” – yeah, that’s basically everyone. Facepalm moment!

Quick Fix: Review your audience targeting. Are you being too broad or too narrow? Use audience insights tools to find that Goldilocks zone of targeting.

2. Timing Is Everything (Except When It Isn’t)

Once, I scheduled a big push for a Black Friday sale… starting on Black Friday. Rookie mistake. Everyone and their grandmother were advertising that day, driving CPMs through the roof.

Quick Fix: Look at historical data to find out when CPMs are typically lower in your industry. Sometimes, zigging when others zag can save you a bundle.

3. The Ad Fatigue Is Real

I had a client who loved their ad creative so much, they wanted to run it non-stop for months. Spoiler alert: CPMs started to creep up as our frequency went through the roof.

Quick Fix: Keep your ad content fresh. Rotate creatives, test new formats, and please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t run the same ad for six months straight.

4. The Platform Shuffle

Not all advertising platforms are created equal. I once had a campaign performing beautifully on Facebook but tanking on Twitter. The CPMs were night and day.

Quick Fix: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Test different platforms and allocate your budget where you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

5. Quality Score: The Invisible Hand

Here’s a fun story: I inherited a Google Ads account with abysmal quality scores. The previous manager had been using landing pages that looked like they were designed in 1999. The CPMs were painful.

Quick Fix: Work on your quality score. Improve your landing pages, make sure your ad copy is relevant, and watch those CPMs start to drop.

6. The Bidding Game

Confession time: I used to set my bids and forget them. Big mistake. The digital ad landscape changes faster than I change my socks (which is daily, thank you very much).

Quick Fix: Regularly review and adjust your bidding strategy. Test manual vs. automated bidding, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

7. Seasonality: Not Just for Pumpkin Spice Lattes

I once ran a campaign for swimwear in the middle of winter. Let’s just say the CPMs were not beach-friendly.

Quick Fix: Be aware of seasonal trends in your industry. Sometimes, the best move is to pull back during high-competition periods and push harder when others are quiet.

The Bottom Line

High CPMs can be a real pain in the you-know-what, but they’re not insurmountable. The key is to stay vigilant, keep testing, and never stop learning. Trust me, I’ve made every mistake in the book so you don’t have to.

Remember, every “failed” campaign is just an opportunity to optimize for the next one. So keep at it, and may your CPMs be ever in your favor!

P.S. If all else fails, there’s always interpretive dance to express your frustration. It hasn’t lowered my CPMs yet, but it’s great for team morale!