On social media, reach is how many unique people (or accounts) saw your content, while impressions are how many total times it was shown, including repeat views by the same person.
Think of reach as “how many different humans did we get in front of?” and impressions as “how many total chances did we have to be noticed?” If one person sees your Instagram Reel three times, that is 1 reach and 3 impressions. Because of repeats, impressions are usually higher than reach.
| Metric | What it counts | What it’s telling you | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reach | Unique people or accounts that saw the post/ad at least once | How wide your distribution is | Track brand awareness, local visibility, and audience growth |
| Impressions | Total displays of the post/ad (includes repeat views) | How often you’re getting in front of people | Track repetition, message saturation, and content fatigue |
When you compare them together, you get a simple “frequency” read. Frequency is impressions divided by reach. Example: 2,000 impressions and 800 reach means an average frequency of 2.5. For local Orlando businesses, frequency helps you avoid over-showing the same message to a small audience, while reach helps you see if you’re actually getting outside your current followers.
How we use this in reporting for service businesses (dental, law, home services) is straightforward: reach answers “did we get in front of more people in our service area?” and impressions answers “did we get enough repeats for people to remember us?” If reach is rising but calls, forms, or DMs are not, the content may be getting seen without creating intent. If impressions are rising but reach is flat, you may be showing the same audience the same thing too often, and it’s time to refresh the angle, the hook, or the creative.
One practical note: platforms label these a little differently. You’ll see terms like “accounts reached,” “members reached,” or “unique impressions.” The idea stays the same, unique vs total. If you want help tying these numbers to real outcomes like bookings and leads, our social media marketing services focus on tracking the metrics that match your business goals, not just dashboard totals.
If you’re comparing reports between organic posts and ads, it also helps to understand organic social vs paid social because reach and impressions behave very differently depending on whether you’re relying on the algorithm or paying for distribution.
