Which metric matters more, reach or impressions?

It depends on the goal — reach is closer to "how many different people did this touch," impressions is closer to "how much total exposure did this get," including repeat views. Neither is strictly better; they answer different questions.

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Glossary

Reach vs impressions: definitions explained

The reach vs impressions definition, in short: reach is the number of unique accounts that saw a post at least once, while impressions count every time it was shown, including repeat views by the same account. Because of that, impressions is always greater than or equal to reach for the same post.

All terms

Reach vs impressions definition: a quick example#

A post seen twice by the same person adds 1 to reach and 2 to impressions — the gap between the two numbers is exactly that repeat-viewing effect, which is why a widening gap over time usually means the same audience is seeing a post more than once rather than the audience growing.

reachimpressionsanalyticsglossary

FAQ

Which metric matters more, reach or impressions?: It depends on the goal — reach is closer to "how many different people did this touch," impressions is closer to "how much total exposure did this get," including repeat views. Neither is strictly better; they answer different questions.

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