A game of smoke and mirrors can be sometimes played with Facebook ads reporting. That is why it is good to understand just what the metrics mean, and what is important to track for your business.

Two of the most commonly confused metrics are reach and impressions, so here is a crash course on the difference.

Reach is the total number of unique people who see your content. Reach gives you a more accurate depiction of how big your audience is and will help you understand the potential impact of your campaign.

Impressions refers to the total number of times when users were exposed to your content on social media, in other words, the number of times your content is served. That includes the same user seeing the same post multiple times.

The ratio between reach and impressions is important (otherwise known as frequency), as it will effect your ROI on your ad spend.

Frequency = Impressions / Reach

For instance, if your Reach is 13,586 and Ad Impressions are 17,190, then it implies that your ad is viewed 17,190 times by 13,586 unique users. Thus, your Facebook ad frequency is 17190/13586 = 1.27

WHY IS FACEBOOK AD FREQUENCY IMPORTANT?

Ad fatigue is a real concern with Facebook ads, and something you want to avoid. There is a direct correlation between ad frequency and campaign performance. If your advertisement shows up too many times in user’s feeds, it can have a negative impact on its relevance score.

One of the reasons ListingLogic ads deliver such strong ROI is the tight differential between reach and impressions we aim to keep.  One average our ads are served 1.2 times to each potential buyer we reach.  This minimises wasted spend, and ensures each vendor gets their listing in front of as many relevant eyeballs are possible.

Example: Professionals Belmore