Reach vs Impressions on Social Media: What's the Difference?

Understanding the difference between reach and impressions is crucial for measuring the success of your social media marketing efforts. While the two terms may seem similar at first glance, they refer to very different metrics that provide unique insights into your campaign performance. In this article, we’ll break down exactly what reach and impressions mean on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and more. We’ll also discuss why both metrics matter, and how you can use them to refine your Instagram Growth strategy.

What is Reach on Social Media?

Reach refers to the total number of unique accounts that have seen your content on social media. For example, if you share a post and it’s displayed in 500 different users’ feeds, your reach for that post is 500.

Reach indicates how far your content is spreading across the social network. A high reach means your content is being exposed to a wide audience, which is great for building brand awareness. However, a post with a high reach may not necessarily drive a lot of engagement. You could have a post reach 1,000 people but only get 5 likes.

What are Impressions on Social Media?

Impressions refer to the total number of times your content is displayed to users on social media. This differs from reach because one person can generate multiple impressions.

For example, let’s say you share a post, and one user sees it in their feed 3 separate times. That would count as 3 impressions, but only 1 reach. Impressions show the number of opportunities users have had to see your post.

Unlike reach, impressions are not unique to each user. The same person can generate numerous impressions of your posts and ads over time. 500 impressions could be 100 people seeing your content 5 times each, or any other combination adding up to 500.

Why do Both Reach and Impressions Matter?

Monitoring both reach and impressions provides a clearer picture of how your social media content is performing. Here’s why each metric is important:

Reach shows the scale of your content distribution and measures how many different accounts you’ve exposed it to. This indicates how efficiently you’re blanketing your target audience and getting your message in front of new eyeballs. A high reach is often a goal early in a campaign when you’re seeking to raise brand awareness among a wider crowd.

Impressions reveal the frequency and repetition you’re achieving with your content. This shows how often you’re recapturing audience attention and staying at the top of users’ minds. Impressions help gauge ongoing campaign saturation and are useful for sustaining engagement.

Comparing reach vs impressions also gives insight into how compelling your content is to the audience. For example, a post with 10,000 reach and 15,000 impressions indicates people are seeing it more than once on average. This suggests strong relevance and interest that's leading users to re-engage.

However, if you have 100,000 reach but only 110,000 impressions, it means most people only saw your post once, so it’s not grabbing their attention to scroll back.

Also Read - 10 Strategies for Increasing Instagram Story Views in 2023

How to Measure Reach and Impressions?

Luckily, tracking reach and impressions is simple on most social platforms. Here’s where to find these metrics:

Facebook: In Facebook Insights, reach is listed under “Post Reach” and impressions are under “Post Impressions.”

Instagram: In the Instagram Insights tab of your profile, reach is located in the “Audience” section. Impressions are shown in the graph view for each post.

Twitter: In Twitter Analytics, reach is reported as “Tweet Impressions” and impressions are “Profile Visits.”

LinkedIn: The LinkedIn analytics dashboard displays reach as “Impressions” and impressions as “Content Views.”

YouTube: In YouTube Studio, click on the “Reach” report to see the impression and viewer numbers for your videos.

Most social media dashboards make accessing reach and impression data easy. You can break it down by each post, or view it in aggregate for your account over custom timeframes.

How to get more impressions and reach on Instagram?

Here are some tips for how to get more impressions on Instagram-:

Analyze Trends Over Time

Don’t just look at reach vs impressions for one or two posts. The most valuable insights come from analyzing trends over longer periods of time.

Compile the data into weekly or monthly reports to see how your reach and impressions are increasing and decreasing over the life of a campaign.

Ask questions like:

Is my overall reach growing, indicating my content is breaking through to larger crowds?
Are my impressions increasing at a similar rate to reach, meaning the audience is engaging repeatedly with my posts?
Does reach drop off before impressions, suggesting people lose interest quickly after the first exposure?
Spotting these trends will help you double down on tactics that boost reach and repetitions while phasing out content that fails to hold attention.

Set Benchmarks

One of the best practices for monitoring reach and impressions is to establish internal benchmarks to aim for.

Study the reach and impressions delivered by your top-performing posts or campaigns. Set those numbers as benchmarks for future content to try and exceed.

Benchmarks provide an objective target to evaluate against, rather than assessing each post in a vacuum. Some examples of possible benchmarks:

Minimum reach goal for a single post: 500 users
Average impressions per post: 2,000
reach for a monthly campaign: 15,000

Tweak your content formats and distribution for Instagram Growth strategy until you’re consistently hitting or beating your historical internal benchmarks.

Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

Bigger reach and impression numbers don’t automatically equal better performance. Poorly targeted campaigns can generate inflated vanity metrics that look impressive but don’t impact meaningful business results.

Rather than fixating on driving up reach and impressions at all costs, focus on quality over quantity. Engagement, clicks, conversions, and ROI are stronger indicators of effective social media marketing than vanity metrics alone.

Achieving your highest reach or impressions won’t matter if the underlying content strategy is flawed. Smart targeting and optimization should come first. Reach and impressions can act as a barometer for the health of your strategy, but don’t get distracted chasing big vanity numbers on mediocre content.

Use Both Metrics to Build an Optimal Social Strategy

Monitoring reach vs impressions provides invaluable data to inform an agile social media growth strategy. Here are some best practices for applying these metrics:

Analyze trends over time to spot positive and negative momentum. Don’t overreact to one-off data points.
Set challenging but realistic internal benchmarks for reach and impressions.
Tailor content formats to match differences in reach vs impressions Instagram data. For example, emphasize video if it reliably boosts repetitions and impressions.
Shift budget and efforts to platforms driving the highest reach and engagement at the best ROI.
Use promotions or paid ads to extend reach if needed, but focus on quality content that breaks through organically.
Don’t put all your eggs in the impressions basket; ensure you’re also tracking meaningful engagement and conversions.

Mastering both reach and impressions metrics provides actionable direction to refine your social strategy and allocation. But don’t forget the end goal — conversions and real business impact beyond vanity metrics. Use reach and impressions as a compass, not the destination.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is better, reach or impressions on social media?

There is no definitive "better" metric between reach and impressions on social media. Reach shows the breadth of audience exposure, while impressions reveal frequency and repetition. Brands should track both metrics to understand the full scope of their campaign performance. Typically marketers aim to expand reach, while increasing impressions signifies greater audience retention and interest.

Should I be more focused on reach or engagement?

Brands should focus on driving both reach and engagement with their social media content. Wider reach expands audience exposure and awareness. Stronger engagement indicates your content resonates and spurs reactions after initial reach. Monitor both metrics and optimize content to deliver on each front.

How can I increase my reach on social media?

Some proven ways to expand your social media reach include leveraging influencers, implementing paid promotions, engaging followers to share content, posting at optimal high-traffic times, joining relevant social conversations with trending Instagram hashtags, and promoting content across multiple social platforms.

What is a good reach percentage on Facebook?

There is no universal "good" reach percentage on Facebook since it varies based on audience size and campaign goals. Typically reaching above 10-20% of your overall followers indicates strong performance. As a broader benchmark, brands often aim for post reach in the range of 2-5% of total Facebook audience size.

How many impressions should I aim for per post?

The ideal number of impressions per post depends on your audience, industry benchmarks, and campaign goals. As a general rule of thumb, 500+ impressions per post signals most of your audience has seen it at least once. But prioritize quality engagement over chasing big impression counts alone. Set challenging yet realistic internal benchmarks to aim for based on past top-performer averages.