Understanding reach on Facebook

Reach on Facebook refers to the number of unique users who view your content, including posts, stories, and ads. It’s an essential metric for businesses and marketers to track because it provides insight into how many people are seeing their content and engaging with their brand. Reach can be categorized into three main types: organic reach, paid reach, and viral reach.

Organic reach is the number of unique users who see your content without any paid promotion. This type of reach is crucial for understanding the natural performance of your posts.

Paid reach refers to the number of unique users who see your content as a result of paid promotions, such as Facebook ads. This metric helps you gauge the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.

Viral reach is the number of unique users who see your content because it was shared by other users. This type of reach can significantly amplify your content’s visibility and is often driven by high engagement levels.

By understanding these different types of reach, you can better analyze your content’s performance and make informed decisions to enhance your Facebook marketing strategy.

Reach and views: Facebook Insights

Let’s start by explaining what reach is, what views are, and the difference between the two.

Reach represents the number of people who have seen any post published by a Facebook Page or business page. Reach only counts the number of unique users – each person only once. That means that even if the same user saw your post four times, it will still count only once.

It doesn’t matter whether the user saw the content on their phone, tablet, or computer. You can also split reach up into other categories, which we will explain shortly:

• Paid reach
• Organic or viral reach

The main difference between reach and views is straightforward: the number of views represents how many times each piece of content was actually seen. The total number of views includes every single time a piece of content was viewed. Impressions measure the total number of times content is displayed, regardless of engagement, providing a broader view of content visibility.

In short, it doesn’t matter if a single person has seen it 1 time, 3 times or 12 times. Each time they saw it counts as a view.

Another important metric is impressions. Understanding reach and impressions is crucial for marketers to gauge the visibility and effectiveness of their content. Impressions represent the number of Page views from both Facebook users (users who are logged in) and users who are not logged in or don’t have a Facebook account at all.

Types of reach

Organic reach – the number of Page and post views published by a Page without paid (promotional) activities.

Paid reach – the number of Page and post views which are a result of paid content, such as ads.

Viral reach – the number of Page and post views which are a result of other user activities (e.g. sharing).

Note: Information about viral reach is available only within the Sotrender tool; you won’t find this metric in Facebook Insights, for example.

You get viral reach when a post receives thousands of likes, comments, and (typically) shares on Facebook. Or, to put it simply, when Facebook users engage with it a lot.

A piece of content which has gone viral could have gained results as seen below:

Example of viral reach on Facebook

Total reach refers to either a Page or to a single post.

• Page total reach – the number of unique users who have seen any content published by a Page in a specific period of time, regardless of the place where he/she saw it.
• Post total reach – the number of unique users who have seen a post.

Total reach (for a Page or for a single post) includes both paid and organic reach.

Information about total reach is available only for selected periods: 7 days, 14 days, 21 days, and 28 days (max. 1 month). For other periods, the given reach will always refer to average daily reach. That is because it’s not possible to know the exact amount of total reach for periods longer than one month, e.g. for a quarter or for a year.

It’s also important to know that reach includes dark posts – content that functions as an ad but is not available from the Facebook Page as a standard post.

Still, for many marketers, the total number of fans is thought to be equal to the amount of reach a published post gains. Unfortunately, with all the current changes being made within Facebook, this assumption is completely wrong. That’s because posts will never be seen by all of a Page’s fans. That’s why the number of fans is currently very weakly connected to the actual reach your posts have.

Factors that affect reach on Facebook

Several factors can influence how many users see your content on Facebook:

• Content quality: High-quality, engaging content is more likely to be seen by a larger audience. Posts that resonate with users tend to get more likes, comments, and shares, which can boost their visibility in the news feed.
• Target audience: Understanding your target audience and creating content that appeals to them can increase your reach. Tailoring your posts to the interests and preferences of your audience can lead to higher engagement and broader visibility.
• Competition: The number of posts and ads in a user’s news feed can affect your reach. With so much content vying for attention, it’s essential to stand out with compelling and relevant posts.
• Facebook algorithm: Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes content that is likely to engage users. This means that posts with higher engagement rates are more likely to be shown to a broader audience.
• Paid advertising: Running Facebook ads can significantly increase your reach, especially when targeted to specific audiences. Paid reach allows you to extend your content’s visibility beyond your organic audience.

By considering these factors, you can develop strategies to enhance your reach and ensure your content is seen by as many users as possible.

How are unique users measured?

Let’s go back to reach and unique users for a moment. How are they measured?

Let’s take a look through two examples:

1. A Facebook user sees a post 2 times in a week – on Monday and on Friday. He will be counted towards the average daily reach for Monday and the average daily reach for Friday. But in the total reach for the whole week, he will be counted only once.
2. A similar situation arises when a Facebook user sees a post organically and then sees the same post but as an ad. He will be counted as a unique user once in organic reach and once in paid reach. But he will be only be counted once in total reach.

That’s why, unique users taken into consideration, it is not possible to sum up, for example, organic and paid reach to get total reach. You also can’t sum daily reach to get weekly reach or multiply daily reach, e.g. by a number of days in a month, to get total monthly reach.

Optimizing reach for your target audience

To optimize reach for your target audience, consider the following strategies:

• Know your audience: Understanding your target audience’s interests, behaviors, and demographics is crucial. Use this information to create content that resonates with them and encourages engagement.
• Create engaging content: High-quality visuals, videos, and compelling captions can make your content more engaging. Posts that capture attention and prompt interaction are more likely to be seen by a larger audience.
• Use Facebook Insights: Facebook Insights provides valuable data on your reach and engagement metrics. Use this tool to track your performance and adjust your content strategy based on what works best.
• Target specific audiences: Facebook’s targeting options allow you to reach specific audiences based on interests, behaviors, and demographics. By targeting your content to the right people, you can increase your reach and engagement.

Implementing these strategies can help you optimize your reach and ensure your content is seen by the right audience.

Best practices for maximizing reach on Facebook

To maximize your reach on Facebook, consider the following best practices:

• Post consistently: Regular posting can help increase your reach, as users are more likely to see your content if you post frequently. Consistency also helps build a loyal audience.
• Use eye-catching visuals: High-quality images and videos can grab users’ attention and increase your reach. Visual content is more likely to be shared, which can amplify your visibility.
• Encourage engagement: Encourage users to interact with your content by asking questions, running contests, or using call-to-actions. Higher engagement rates can boost your content’s visibility in the news feed.
• Monitor and adjust: Regularly monitor your reach and engagement metrics. Use this data to adjust your content strategy and improve your performance over time.

By following these best practices, you can maximize your reach on Facebook and ensure your content reaches a broader audience.

Want to read more definitions? Explanation of all the metrics and definitions we use in our reports and the Sotrender tool can be found in our glossary.