Reach vs. Impressions: What's the Difference and How to Understand These Metrics
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 8:17 am
Do you know the differences between reach vs. impressions? In this post you can find out! Here you will discover the concept, importance and use of each one, as well as their differences and similarities. Don't miss it!
Luis Herrera
May 6, 22 | 7 min read
reach vs impressions
Reading time: 6 minutes
Within all the aspects inherent to social networks, the topic of metrics is one of the most important factors for brands because it allows them to understand the impact of their digital strategies.
With this in mind, the battle that has emerged from the study of these indicators has been the popular reach vs. impressions, which are, for many, the same thing.
For this reason, we have decided to create special content that can define both concepts, talk specifically about the characteristics and uses of each one and, of course, exemplify their importance within Digital Marketing strategies .
Would you like to learn more about the relationship and differences between reach vs impressions? Read until the end!
What is scope, for sure?
When we talk about reach within a social platform, such as Instagram , Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn, we are specifically referring to the number of users who have been effectively impacted by a post within the interface.
That is, every time you enter the feed of your list of syria consumer email favorite social network and see content from your friends, from the brands you follow, or even from organizations that decide to run Ads campaigns, it is called reach.
However, it does not matter if the same user sees a post more than once, for the platform's metrics, it is only counted as one.
Generally, content published on a social network manages to generate more impressions in quantity than the total number of followers of the profile that uploads it.
For example, on Instagram this metric is often one of the bases of campaigns since it allows us to understand how many people were potentially impacted.
This app also has a section called "Explore" where users can find new creators and brands to follow, and where they also receive views that the profile does not necessarily know about before.
Something that is important to clarify is that reach has two types: organic and paid.
Organic reach
It refers to the impacts achieved by an account or profile without using Ads campaigns . That is, it is content that reaches the user through natural means, either by recommendation of the algorithm or through another user who suggests viewing the content.
Organic reach can be generated through two sources: viral reach gained through sharing and non-viral reach gained through channels without any human intervention.
Paid Scope
Paid reach is, of course, the other side of the coin in this story: it is a reach achieved through the use of advertising tools such as Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads, by running ad campaigns.
And now, what are impressions?
To understand the general context of the classic social media battle , reach vs. impressions, we must know the other "competitor."
Impressions are a metric that tells us how many times content is displayed on users' screens. In short, it is a "screen impression" of a post from an account.
This is precisely where confusion about reach vs. impressions arises, since reach tells us the number of users who actually see a post.
On the other hand, impressions are the number of times the content is displayed on the screen, but this does not mean that the user has detailed it, much less interacted with it.
So we can say that an impression is, simply, a view that can be repeated for the same publication through the same user.
For example, if you see a post on Instagram in the "Explore" section, but then a friend shares that same material with you, it will count as two impressions.
Now, on platforms like Facebook or Instagram, impressions can also be of different types such as:
Organic : The number of times non-promoted content is shown to network users.
Payments : number of times that paid or promoted content is shown as an advertisement to users.
Viral : Like reach, viral impressions are those produced through interactions between platform users.
We recommend these materials to complement your reading!
31 Essential Metrics for Any Digital Marketing Strategy
What are key performance indicators and how to use them?
Learn how to promote your brand on TikTok with this post
But then, aren't paid impressions the same as paid reach?
Here it is necessary to be very careful not to confuse both concepts, since when an advertisement is shown, an impression will be produced when the ad is displayed on the screen but it does not take into account whether the user has seen it.
What does this mean?
Well, impressions count ads, on many platforms, that can appear to the user behind a window and when the person leaves the site.
Luis Herrera
May 6, 22 | 7 min read
reach vs impressions
Reading time: 6 minutes
Within all the aspects inherent to social networks, the topic of metrics is one of the most important factors for brands because it allows them to understand the impact of their digital strategies.
With this in mind, the battle that has emerged from the study of these indicators has been the popular reach vs. impressions, which are, for many, the same thing.
For this reason, we have decided to create special content that can define both concepts, talk specifically about the characteristics and uses of each one and, of course, exemplify their importance within Digital Marketing strategies .
Would you like to learn more about the relationship and differences between reach vs impressions? Read until the end!
What is scope, for sure?
When we talk about reach within a social platform, such as Instagram , Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn, we are specifically referring to the number of users who have been effectively impacted by a post within the interface.
That is, every time you enter the feed of your list of syria consumer email favorite social network and see content from your friends, from the brands you follow, or even from organizations that decide to run Ads campaigns, it is called reach.
However, it does not matter if the same user sees a post more than once, for the platform's metrics, it is only counted as one.
Generally, content published on a social network manages to generate more impressions in quantity than the total number of followers of the profile that uploads it.
For example, on Instagram this metric is often one of the bases of campaigns since it allows us to understand how many people were potentially impacted.
This app also has a section called "Explore" where users can find new creators and brands to follow, and where they also receive views that the profile does not necessarily know about before.
Something that is important to clarify is that reach has two types: organic and paid.
Organic reach
It refers to the impacts achieved by an account or profile without using Ads campaigns . That is, it is content that reaches the user through natural means, either by recommendation of the algorithm or through another user who suggests viewing the content.
Organic reach can be generated through two sources: viral reach gained through sharing and non-viral reach gained through channels without any human intervention.
Paid Scope
Paid reach is, of course, the other side of the coin in this story: it is a reach achieved through the use of advertising tools such as Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads, by running ad campaigns.
And now, what are impressions?
To understand the general context of the classic social media battle , reach vs. impressions, we must know the other "competitor."
Impressions are a metric that tells us how many times content is displayed on users' screens. In short, it is a "screen impression" of a post from an account.
This is precisely where confusion about reach vs. impressions arises, since reach tells us the number of users who actually see a post.
On the other hand, impressions are the number of times the content is displayed on the screen, but this does not mean that the user has detailed it, much less interacted with it.
So we can say that an impression is, simply, a view that can be repeated for the same publication through the same user.
For example, if you see a post on Instagram in the "Explore" section, but then a friend shares that same material with you, it will count as two impressions.
Now, on platforms like Facebook or Instagram, impressions can also be of different types such as:
Organic : The number of times non-promoted content is shown to network users.
Payments : number of times that paid or promoted content is shown as an advertisement to users.
Viral : Like reach, viral impressions are those produced through interactions between platform users.
We recommend these materials to complement your reading!
31 Essential Metrics for Any Digital Marketing Strategy
What are key performance indicators and how to use them?
Learn how to promote your brand on TikTok with this post
But then, aren't paid impressions the same as paid reach?
Here it is necessary to be very careful not to confuse both concepts, since when an advertisement is shown, an impression will be produced when the ad is displayed on the screen but it does not take into account whether the user has seen it.
What does this mean?
Well, impressions count ads, on many platforms, that can appear to the user behind a window and when the person leaves the site.