Reach
Also called post reach, accounts reached
What is reach?
Reach is the number of unique people or accounts that saw a piece of content at least once during a given period. If one person views a post three times, that counts as a reach of one. It shows how far content traveled and how many different people had a chance to notice your brand.
Reach is usually split into organic reach, from unpaid posts, and paid reach, from ads. Platforms also show how much reach came from followers and how much from non-followers, which tells you whether a post is growing your audience or only reaching people who already know you.
Reach is easily confused with impressions. Impressions count every time content was shown, including repeat views, so impressions are always equal to or higher than reach. The two together tell you how often each person saw something, which in ads is called frequency.
Why reach matters
No one can buy, follow or remember a brand they never saw. Reach is the top of the funnel for social media: the bigger the right audience you reach, the more chances you have to win attention and customers.
Reach from non-followers is especially valuable, because it is how new people discover a business. A post that reaches far beyond your follower count is a sign the format or topic is worth repeating.
How to increase reach on social media
- Post short vertical videos, which most platforms now push to non-followers.
- Make content people want to share or send to a friend.
- Post consistently so the platform has more chances to test your content.
- Use relevant keywords in captions and a few targeted hashtags so posts can be found.
- Collaborate with other accounts through collab posts or creator partnerships.
Reach FAQ
What is the difference between reach and impressions?
Reach counts unique people who saw content. Impressions count total views, including repeats. A post seen twice by 100 people has a reach of 100 and 200 impressions.
Why is my reach going down?
Common reasons are posting less often, a change in format, topics your audience cares less about, or platform changes that favor other content types. Compare recent posts with your best ones to find the difference.
Related terms
Impressions are the total number of times content was shown on screen, counting repeat views by the same person. Reach counts people.
Organic reach is the number of unique people who see your content without paid promotion, through feeds, search, shares and recommendations.
Engagement rate is the share of people who interacted with a post, usually engagements divided by reach or followers, shown as a percentage.
Ad frequency is the average number of times each person in your audience has seen your ad. It equals impressions divided by reach.
A social media algorithm is the system a platform uses to decide which posts each person sees, and in what order, based on predicted interest.
Brand awareness is how familiar your target audience is with your brand: whether they know it exists and can recall or recognize it.