Earned media value calculator

This EMV calculator prices impressions, engagements, and clicks at the ad rates you choose, then sets that estimate next to tracked revenue.

Calculator

Defaults match the worked example. Change a unit price when you have your own CPM, CPE, or CPC. The maths stays in your browser, and the address bar stores the scenario.

Earned media value

Engagements: 2,220
Impression value: $960.00
Engagement value: $888.00
Click value: $360.00
EMV total: $2,208.00
EMV per creator: $2,208.00

Tracked revenue vs EMV

Tracked revenue: $640.00
EMV total: $2,208.00

This EMV estimate is $1,568.00 above tracked revenue. EMV prices attention. Profit comes from the sales you tracked, and a high EMV can sit beside a campaign that lost money.

Worked example

One creator’s post gets 120,000 impressions, 1,800 likes, 140 comments, 60 shares, 220 saves, and 900 clicks. The unit prices are the defaults: $8 CPM, $0.40 CPE, and $0.40 CPC. Tracked revenue from the post is $640.

Engagements = 1,800 + 140 + 60 + 220 = 2,220
Impression value = 120,000 ÷ 1,000 × $8 = $960
Engagement value = 2,220 × $0.40 = $888
Click value = 900 × $0.40 = $360
EMV total = $960 + $888 + $360 = $2,208
EMV per creator = $2,208 ÷ 1 = $2,208
Tracked revenue − EMV = $640 − $2,208 = −$1,568

The attention is priced at $2,208 and the post collected $640. If those same totals were a campaign across two creators, EMV per creator would be $1,104 and the revenue comparison would still use the $640 you entered.

EMV formula

HubSpot’s article “Every Team Should Know Its Earned Media Value” (updated 2025-04-23) writes EMV as impressions × CPM plus engagements × CPE, with impressions divided by 1,000. Their worked example uses $8 CPM, which they call an industry average for fitness ads in that story, and $0.40 CPE. This calculator adds a third term, clicks × CPC, because a click is a different paid unit. CPC defaults to $0.40 so the starting point cites that article. Set CPC to $0 and the total matches the HubSpot formula on the same impressions and engagements.

1
Enter attention
Enter impressions, likes, comments, shares, saves, and clicks. Engagements are the sum of likes, comments, shares, and saves.
2
Set the unit prices
Set CPM per 1,000 impressions, CPE per engagement, and CPC per click. The defaults are labeled with their source. Replace them with your own paid-media costs.
3
Compare EMV with revenue
Read EMV total and EMV per creator, then compare that estimate with tracked revenue from your store or from Smler.

engagements = likes + comments + shares + saves

impression value = impressions ÷ 1,000 × CPM

engagement value = engagements × CPE

click value = clicks × CPC

EMV = impression value + engagement value + click value

EMV per creator = EMV ÷ creators

Source checked with this page: HubSpot, “Every Team Should Know Its Earned Media Value,” updated 2025-04-23. Read the article. Replace the defaults with the CPM, CPE, and CPC from your own ad account before you report the number.

EMV vs revenue and ROI

EMV answers “what would this attention have cost as ads?” Revenue answers “what did customers pay?” ROI answers “what profit did the fee produce?” In the worked example the EMV is $2,208 and tracked revenue is $640, so the estimate of attention is larger than the cash collected. That gap is the point of the comparison panel.

Once you have a fee and a conversion rate, use the influencer ROI calculator for ROAS, ROI, CPA, and the break-even fee. A creator’s asking price is a third question, handled by the influencer rate calculator.

Put tracked revenue next to this EMV

Give each creator a ?ref= link. Clicks, sales, and revenue show on the Influencers leaderboard, including purchases credited by the 400-day first-party cookie.

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Frequently asked questions

What is an EMV calculator?

An EMV calculator estimates what the same impressions, engagements, and clicks would have cost as ads. This earned media value calculator adds three terms: impressions divided by 1,000 times CPM, engagements times CPE, and clicks times CPC.

Where do the default CPM, CPE, and CPC come from?

CPM defaults to $8 and CPE to $0.40, the figures in HubSpot’s article “Every Team Should Know Its Earned Media Value,” updated April 23, 2025. HubSpot calls the $8 CPM an industry average for fitness ads in that worked example. The article’s formula has no click term, so CPC starts at the same $0.40. Set CPC to $0 to match that formula, or replace all three with your own paid-social costs.

Is earned media value the same as revenue?

EMV is an estimate of what the same attention would have cost as ads. Revenue is money collected from customers. The comparison panel shows both so the gap is visible. A post can have a high EMV and few sales, or modest EMV and a strong return.

How is EMV per creator calculated?

EMV total is divided by the creator count you enter. Use 1 when the metrics are already for one creator. Use the number of creators when the metrics are a campaign total and you want an average.

Does a higher EMV mean a better influencer ROI?

It means the attention was priced higher under your CPM, CPE, and CPC. Return on a creator fee uses that fee, your margin, and tracked sales. Use the ROI page once you have revenue per creator.

Can I change the value of a like versus a comment?

This version uses one CPE for likes, comments, shares, and saves added together, which matches the HubSpot example of one cost per engagement. Split them in a spreadsheet if your paid account prices those actions separately, and keep the same CPE whenever you compare creators.