The entire marketing industry has changed almost overnight thanks to social media. With billions of active users online 24/7, the power of social media cannot be ignored, Facebook alone has over 2.7 billion active users worldwide. While in-person communication and brick-and-mortar shops are still important, businesses must also invest in their social media marketing efforts. Maintaining an active social media presence with the right online reputation benefits to your business in several ways and especially in sales.

Engaging in social media alone can lead to increased brand awareness, industry authority and therefore sales, but the two main performance metrics to consider within your social media strategy are Reach and Impressions. These terms are often used interchangeably, however they each have distinct features and reasons for considering them.

In this article, we will explain the difference between social media reach and social media impressions which will help you determine the best social media strategy for your brand.

Social Media Reach vs Impressions

What is Social Media Reach?

In social media marketing, the reach is the total number of unique people who saw your content, whether it be through organic or paid means.  For instance, if your social media reach is 650 people, that means 650 different accounts saw your social media post.

Your number of followers or likes will determine your reach. Take note that not all of your followers will see your content. In an ideal world, if you have a Facebook page with 100,000 followers, then 100,000 people would see your post. Unfortunately, this is far from reality.

Only a certain percentage of your following will be able to see your published posts. Your followers have the option to switch on your post notifications, but if they don’t, then the algorithm determines who sees your post and who will not.

What Are Social Media Impressions?

On the other hand, social media impressions indicate the number of times that a published post has been delivered to or passed through someone’s feed. This means that one account or person can count as multiple impressions for one post. Since some posts can appear repeatedly throughout someone’s feed, the number of impressions is generally higher than reach.

One misconception about social media impressions is that they count as engagement. Your post appearing in a feed (a view) counts as an impression but the person will not necessarily have engaged with the post (through likes, comments, and shares). For example, if you see a post on a page you follow, then your friend shares it later in the day and you see it again, it would count as two impressions.

Which is best?

Generally, businesses try to increase their social media reach (number of unique accounts) first as this means they have reached a wider audience. Reaching more unique accounts means increased brand awareness.

On the other hand, if the business is aiming more towards brand recall and authority, then impressions (the number of appearances in an account feed) are the more favourable metric.

How to Grow Social Media Reach and Impressions?

It’s natural to want to reach a wider audience. As a business, the more publicity, the better, right? If you’re looking for a quick way to instantly grow your social media reach, then running ads is a must. You get to target a specific audience demographic based on age, location, and interests. This makes for quick and instant results.

However, your long-term plan should include organic growth. This is important for building a stable business without ad spend. Here are some sure-fire ways to grow your organic social media reach:

Optimize Your Social Media Profile

Make sure that your profile is optimized. I’ve listed down the most common steps to improving your social media profile:

• Easy to remember username, for example @redragmarketing

• Use your company logo as you profile image

• Create an eye-catching cover photo, preferably include an interesting video

• Include a link to your website and correct contact information

• Make sure the contact us button below the cover photo is utilised. Why not try linking it to messenger or WhatsApp?

Engage with Your Current Followers

To generate an organic following, you need to engage with your current followers. Talk to them, give away prizes, reply to their messages. By creating a friendly persona online, more people will subscribe to your page. 

Regularly Post Content

When you start your social media strategy, know that it’s a long-term commitment. You can’t start a Facebook page, post once, and then leave it to rot. If you want to grow your social media reach and impressions, you need to allocate resources to your social media calendar.

However, the most important thing to remember is to deliver consistent content to your audience. There should be a focus on delivering value, not a barrage of sales pitches. Consistency is key and we recommend 1 post per day, 7 days a week. . By pacing your posts, you give them the opportunity to be seen by as many people as possible.

Let the experts take care of it…

Increasing your social media reach, especially if you’re starting from scratch, can be particularly tricky. For instance, getting the first 1000 likes/followers can take an inexperienced social media marketer months or even years! If you want quick results that deliver, then let the Red Rag Marketing social media experts help you learn how. We offer a comprehensive package of Facebook Marketing courses including both paid for and organic methods.

If it all seems like a lot of work then take a look at our Facebook Ads Marketing services,  we can cover your social media marketing on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn Marketing.