A Guide to Common Acronyms and Online Slang

The Meaning and Usage of Instagram Impressions

If you have a business profile on Instagram, you may be wondering what impressions mean. 

Impressions are the number of times your content, which could be an Instagram post, a story, an Instagram reel, or a Live Video, has been shown to users. This number is the total number of times your content has been seen. 

When describing your reach and audience to a potential brand, client, or a manager, you could say, “My content on average receives around 10,000 impressions per post.” This means around your posts or stories are seen, on average, 10,000 times. 

Below is an example of what your impressions on Instagram could look like.

If you have a business profile, simply click on any of your posts and click ‘view insights’ to see this information.

What Do Impressions Mean On Instagram?

If your impressions number is higher than your reach, that means your audience is likely viewing your content multiple times. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but just because you have a high impressions number, doesn’t mean you are reaching multiple different accounts.

Your impressions could come from users viewing your posts from your profile, their home page, or ‘other’, which is usually the discover page. If you have a large amount of people viewing your content from the discovery page, this means Instagram’s algorithm is sharing your content wide-spread.

Impressions can often be confused with your reach. Your reach is the number of unique users who have seen your content. 

Your Instagram engagement refers to how people are interacting with your content. This could be sharing your posts, commenting, liking, or even saving to their favorites. 

All these terms are equally important. Even though your impressions may be lower than your reach, this could be helpful for you to see what is and what isn’t working, and you can adjust to the needs and wants of your audience.

Many other social media platforms use these terms as well, including Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok.

Twitter also uses impressions to show how many accounts your Tweet has reached. Below is an example of a tweet with over 1,000 impressions.

The Origin of Impressions

The term Impressions comes from advertising and marketing, i.e, how many times potential customers have seen an ad. The term has now become more popular since the rise of digital content creation and is used outside of marketing and online advertisements. Although anyone can have an Instagram business profile and view their impressions, you will most likely see this term while you are working on brand deals or with your agent or manager.

How to Use Impressions in a Professional Context

Here is an example of how you can effectively use the terms Impressions vs. Reach so you can accurately describe your audience to a potential brand while trying to get a brand deal. Below is an example of an email you may send to a potential client when describing your social media presence. 

Dear Brand/Client,

I have a total following of 50,000 on Instagram. Over the past 90 days, my posts have received 20,000 impressions, while my stories received an average of 15,000 impressions. In addition, I have a total reach of 10,000 individual accounts. Most of these numbers come from the Discovery page, and I receive over 5,000 shares on every post. I believe these numbers will provide an accurate representation of what you can expect when I promote your product on my page. 

According to the below graphs, you can also see my age range is in your desired market, as well as the desired location. You can also see the steady growth in followers since I have begun promoting similar products.

I hope we can work together on this project!

Best,

Your Name.

Remember to provide images and proof of your reach, engagement, and impressions.

Conclusion

It is important that you are correctly using the word impressions, especially while you are communicating with potential brands or agents. You want to give an accurate measure of your audience. When you correctly describe your impressions, as well as use other terms such as engagement and reach, you are more likely to receive offers from brand deals that will fit your specific audience.

For more information on how to become a digital content creator, or expand your career as an influencer, read our other articles below.