Reach vs. Impressions — What’s the Difference?

Reach & Impressions

But, what do those terms really mean to you as a business owner? What do they mean for the campaigns you are running on your social media platforms?

When working with social media marketing, there are a lot of different insights and analytics that can get confusing to the average Joe. Those insights to us…are priceless! And they should be to you too IF you understand what they are. They’re there to provide the numbers you need to understand the success of your marketing efforts.

Reach and Impressions are often two terms that get mixed up or confused, and it’s important to know the difference between the two. Why? Because understanding the difference can help you determine your course of action when it comes to running a successful campaign.

So, to lay it out plain and simple, your REACH is the number of people that have viewed your content while IMPRESSIONS is the number of times your content was displayed, whether it was clicked on or not.

Because of the metrics on social media, your impressions, especially when your content has a budget behind it, usually have higher results in comparison to your reach. This is because, again, impressions are a result of how many times your content is shown on social, whereas your reach is how many times someone sees that content.

Clear as Mud?

Think about it this way. Say your friend goes to a concert and posts a few photos of the event on their social media page. Their content will be seen by other followers and will also still show up on THEIR Facebook even if YOU don’t see it. See the difference? The content is still on the social media site so it is generating impressions but you have to see that content in order for you to be included in the post’s reach.

Social media is always changing and who knows, things might change tomorrow but that’s what makes our job at Chatter interesting. One of the most exciting things about social media marketing is watching how little tweaks to your campaigns can increase your reach and impressions! There’s so much more to understand about social media insights and analytics but if you do have further questions, we’d be happy to help! Always keep up with your branding and campaigns on social media to get people talking about you and your company.

Why? Because Chatter Matters!