Meta Cost per Video Play: Average Spend per Video Initiation

Meta Cost per Video Play measures the average spend per video play initiation on your Meta ads, including auto-plays.

Formula

Meta Cost per Video Play = Meta Spend ÷ Meta Video Plays

Formula Components

Metric	Definition
Meta Spend	Total amount spent on Meta advertising campaigns
Meta Video Plays	Number of times your video started playing, including auto-plays

Metadata
Type	Currency
Data Source	Meta Ads
Aggregation	Ratio

Example

Your video campaign spent $2,500 and generated 50,000 video plays.

Metric	Value	Calculation
Meta Spend	$2,500	Total campaign spend
Meta Video Plays	50,000	All video initiations
Meta Cost per Video Play	$0.05	$2,500 ÷ 50,000

How It Works

Meta Cost per Video Play divides your total ad spend by the number of video play initiations. This includes both user-initiated plays and auto-plays that occur when videos appear in feed. The metric helps you understand the efficiency of your video content at capturing initial attention.

When to Use

Scenario	Action
Comparing video creative efficiency	Lower cost per play indicates more efficient attention capture
Budget allocation for video campaigns	Identify which videos deliver plays most cost-effectively
Benchmarking against industry standards	Track cost per play trends over time
Optimizing video ad formats	Compare in-feed vs. Stories vs. Reels cost efficiency

Metric	Relationship
Meta Video Plays	Denominator — total video play initiations
Meta Spend	Numerator — total advertising spend
Meta Cost per Video View	Similar metric measuring cost per qualified view

See all Meta Video metrics →

Meta Cost/Video View Meta Cost/Thruplay

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​Formula

​Formula Components

​Example

​How It Works

​When to Use

​Related Metrics

Formula

Formula Components

Example

How It Works

When to Use

Related Metrics