"In direct marketing, you live or die on your cost per order."

If the main purpose of the ad is to generate sales, cost per order is the preferred metric.

The goal of predictive analytics is typically to lower the cost per order or cost per action.

The purpose of the "cost per order" metric is to measure the advertising cost required to acquire an order.

Cost per order, also called cost per purchase, is the cost of internet advertising divided by the number of orders.

Cost per impression, along with cost per click and cost per order, is used to assess the cost effectiveness and profitability of online advertising.

"Based on Dotomi's average click rates and our traditional rates, we believe we can lower our cost per order up to 50 percent," said Magnus Gustafsson, MediaBay's senior vice president for marketing.

Cost per order, along with cost per impression and cost per click, is the starting point for assessing the effectiveness of a company's internet advertising and can be used for comparison across advertising media and vehicles and as an indicator of the profitability of a firm's internet marketing.