Contents
- Reach counts the distinct people reached, where impressions count the displays.
- The ratio of the two gives frequency, which is often the real subject.
- It isn't additive: adding the reach of two campaigns counts twice the people reached by both.
Definition
Reach measures the number of distinct people who saw an ad at least once over the period.
Formula
Frequency = impressions divided by reach.
Worked example
A campaign records 240,000 impressions for 60,000 people reached, so a frequency of 4. Each person saw the ad four times on average. If cost per result rises while reach stalls, the audience is saturated: it's an audience-size problem, not a creative one.
Orders of magnitude
Reach naturally caps at the size of the targeted audience. When it stops growing while the budget rises, the audience is exhausted.
The most common mistakes
- Adding up the reach of several campaigns. People reached by several campaigns would be counted several times.
- Confusing it with impressions. A single person can generate dozens of impressions.
- Ignoring frequency. Stable reach with rising impressions means you're repeating, not broadening.
Where to find the metric
In Meta, the Reach column, to read with Impressions and Frequency. In LinkedIn Ads, the equivalent is called Members reached. Google Ads doesn't expose reach on the Search Network.
Frequently asked questions
The Adwise team connects Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, GA4 and Search Console so agencies and freelancers can run their campaigns from a single place.