CPM, per post or retainer. Two questions pick the right one.
Not sure which model to pick? Two questions settle it. All three get you views. The choice is about how you want to pay for content: per result, per video, or per creator over time. You pick the model when you create the campaign, and it can't change afterwards. Platforms, access type and budget lock at launch too; budget only grows through top ups.
This is the choice, on the first screen of a new campaign. It cannot be changed afterwards.
Question one: pay for views, or pay for videos?
If you want cost to move with the result, choose CPM: you pay per 1,000 views, up to a maximum per clip and your budget. If you want cost tied to the videos themselves, it's per post or retainer.
Question two: one batch, or an ongoing cadence?
Per post for a set number of original videos you also want to keep using. Retainer for the same creators delivering every cycle.
CPM
Works when you have source material to cut, such as a podcast, gameplay, event footage or a founder on camera, and you want reach with little day to day involvement. You set the rate per 1,000 views, and a minimum and maximum a clip can earn. Creators earn from the moment they submit, and you pay only on approved clips.
Setting your CPM, minimum and cap
Three numbers go with a CPM campaign, set per platform: the rate per 1,000 views, the minimum a clip has to earn before it is paid, and the most one clip can earn. What follows comes from the campaigns on Content Rewards that actually filled with clips, and from what creators say to each other about rates in their own communities.
The three numbers
Number | How to set it |
Rate | The campaigns that fill sit between $0.80 and $2.00 per 1,000 views, with $1.00 the most common setting, and the $1.50 to $2.00 range fills most reliably. Below $0.50 works only when the content is something creators already want to cut, and about half of those campaigns never get going. Creators compare rates across campaigns and announce rate changes to each other, so a rise from $1 to $1.50 on a quiet campaign is the fastest lever you have. |
Budget, which creators read first | At the same $1 rate, campaigns funded with $5,000 or more drew hundreds of clips while campaigns funded under $2,000 often drew none, because the budget bar on the card tells a creator how long the campaign will last. A fair rate on a small budget reads as a campaign that will be gone before their clip earns. |
Minimum payout | $2 is the usual setting, which at $1 per 1,000 views means a clip needs 2,000 views before anything is paid. It keeps clips that never move out of your queue without putting off the creators you want. |
Maximum per clip | $200 is the usual cap, which at $1 per 1,000 views is 200,000 views, and most campaigns set the cap somewhere between 85,000 and 330,000 views' worth at their rate. Set it to what a strong clip in your niche actually does: a cap far above that lets one clip take a large share of the budget, and a cap far below it stops your best creators early. |
Two things to expect once it is set. A funded campaign typically spends about four to five percent of its budget a week, so a $2,000 budget lasts a couple of months unless a clip takes off; if you want it spent faster, raise the rate or the cap, or add fresh material, rather than waiting. And the price you actually pay per 1,000 views across everything the campaign gets ends up well below the rate you set, because clips keep collecting views after they reach their cap and after their earning window closes. Those views are yours; they are simply not paid for.
Per post
Works when you want a specific number of original videos, care which creators make them, and plan to reuse the finished videos in ads or on your site. You set a flat amount per approved video and the minimum views it has to reach. Most run application only, so you choose the creators, and pre-post review lets you see a draft before they post.
Retainer
Works once you have found creators who fit and want a predictable cadence. You set a total budget, an amount per cycle, the cycle length, the deliverables per cycle, and whether pay is pro rata or all or nothing. The campaign runs while the budget covers the next cycle, and unused budget comes back.
What each one teaches you
CPM shows which hooks travel. Per post shows how your brand sounds in different voices. Retainer shows what a creator does with your product over weeks, which is where the best work appears most often. Many brands start on CPM to learn, then move the creators who stood out onto per post or retainer.
Still torn? Read What each one teaches you above and pick the one that answers your question.
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