Both metrics are a crucial aspect of conquering social media yet we often tend to mix them up. I’m talking about Reach and Impressions of course. The only way to dominate your market is by focusing on the right metrics, as it’s the only way you’ll be able to improve your efforts to get a better ROI (Related: Video and ROI. A match made in heaven. ) For this article, I’ll help you understand the vital differences between the two in an effort to not only expand your mind, but make you feel less goofy when somebody asks you the questions: ” Hey… what’s the difference between reach and impressions?”. Strap in, we’re going for a ride!

Teach me!

Hold your horses. Before we continue, you’ll notice that the definition of these metrics may seem very similar, but the truth is, this is simply because they measure similar characteristics. That doesn’t mean that they measure them in the exact same way. Let’s get to the definitions and what each one measures.

Reach – Total number of people who see your content

Impressions – The number of times your content is displayed, no matter if it was clicked or not.

So this is the straightforward definition of both of these bad boys. As you can see, the similarities are still there. Let’s get deeper and dissect each one individually, that’ll give you a better chance to finally being able to differentiate the two!

Reach

In social media, reach measures the spread of a social media conversation. How big of an audience is your message…reaching? Think of it in concert terms. You’re the band, how many tickets to show have you managed to sell?

Organic vs Paid

There are essentially two ways in which you can determine your reach. Organic and paid reach. What’s the difference? Well here’s a good way to understand this.

Organic Reach – content seen without any ad spend

Paid Reach– content that is boosted, or paid for, to a target audience

Having said that, it’s important to consider that most of the social channels that you use, subscribe to an algorithmic method to display content. Essentially, your audience’s behavior determines what content they see, which affects your reach. So there are many factors to consider.

Impressions

Or, the number of times your post has been seen, regardless if the link has been clicked or not. In essence, your impressions will always be greater than your reach because theoretically speaking, the same person could see your post more than once, and this automatically increases your impression number. This metric is often the most crucial for businesses that make brand awareness and promotions a priority.

Speaking of brand awareness…

This is an important part of your business, let’s be real. You want people to recognize your brand in the sea of other brands right? Your reach and impressions will help you see if your audience is familiar with your brand. Once you see that both your reach and impressions are relatively constant and high, it means you’re reaching interested leads multiple times! Keep going!

How about some tips?

So now that you’ve got a general overview of these metrics work, you see how important they are in helping you drive better results, right? Right! Well here’s some tips on how to improve your reach and impressions!

Target Audience

Knowing your audience is key. They’re the reason you’re still here, they drive your campaign results. If you don’t like the results, it means you need to improve the experience for your audience. Creating a general campaign message with your audience in mind should do the trick. Find a hook, something that appeals to them. The content needs to reflect your audiences interests and wants. Once you’ve compiled a list, go ahead and test it out. See which one works and which one doesn’t by closely monitoring your content and how it’s being shared and interacted with.

Keep an eye out on engagement

Knowing HOW your audience interacts with your content is also something to consider. A lot of impressions mean that your fans are sharing your content. Content that appears in multiple feeds, means more opportunity for new leads to find your business! Monitor your engagement regularly to get a sense of where you’re headed! Adjust where necessary.

Add video!

I mentioned content, but I didn’t specify which! Well, if you still haven’t implemented more video into your campaign, you’re falling behind my friend. Video is a sure way to attract and boost everything from your CTR (Related: Using Video to Boost your CTR ) to Engagement (Related: 3 words: Video Boosts Engagement ) and everything in between! There’s a reason why video content plays a huge role in your business growth and it’s not slowing down!

“By 2021, it’s predicted that 80% of all internet traffic will be video”

Source: Tubular Insights

Don’t take this information for granted, and start adding video content!

I’m starting to get it

Are you? That’s good. These two metrics may seem the same on the surface, but in reality, they simply are not. Once you get into the finer details of how it all works, you’ll also know how it applies to engagement. Simply put, if your content isn’t getting shared, or likes, something is off. Either on the creative side or targeting end.

Look at it this way. Both are crucial for your social media strategy. Which one you prioritize will depend on your marketing goals. Now get out there and start tweaking! TWEAKER!