Reach

What is reach?

Reach is the number of different accounts or people your content was shown to over a set time. Each account or person is counted once, even if they saw the content several times.

Depending on the platform, reach may count accounts or people, and the number may be an estimate. Check whether your report covers one post, a whole account, or a campaign. Also check the dates: a month’s reach is different from reach since a post was published.

Why is reach important?

Reach helps you see how many different accounts or people had a chance to notice your content. This is useful when your goal is to introduce your brand to more people.

If impressions rise but reach stays the same, your content is being shown more often to the same audience.

How does reach differ from impressions and follower count?

Reach counts different accounts or people. Impressions count how many times content was shown, including repeat displays that the platform counts.

For example, if a platform counts two displays of your post to each of 1,000 different accounts, the post has:

• Reach of 1,000 accounts
• 2,000 impressions

These numbers tell you that the post was shown. They do not tell you whether anyone clicked, liked it, or bought something.

Follower count is the number of accounts that follow your profile. Some followers may never see a particular post, while people who do not follow you may see it. That is why reach can be higher or lower than your follower count.

Video reports may use other terms. For example, YouTube’s “unique viewers” estimates how many different people watched during a set time. Keep the platform’s name for each number so it is clear what you are comparing.

Can you add reach across posts?

Adding reach from separate posts can count the same account more than once.

Suppose two posts each reach 1,000 accounts, and 400 accounts see both. Together, the posts reach 1,000 + 1,000 − 400 = 1,600 different accounts.

If your analytics provides reach for the whole campaign or account, check that it counts each account only once. If you can only add up individual posts, label the result “sum of post reach” so readers know it may include repeats.

The same issue comes up when you combine results from several creators, or from ads and unpaid posts.

Related terms: Audience size, Impressions/Views, and Engagement rate.