The number of unique accounts that saw a piece of content at least once — distinct from impressions, which counts repeated views.
Last verified · 2026-05-29 · by Moe Ameen
Reach counts unique viewers. If 1000 people saw a post and 200 of them saw it twice, reach is 1000 and impressions are 1200. Reach is the more honest measure of "how many distinct humans encountered this content."
Reach is driven by three things: follower count (who sees it directly), distribution to non-followers (the explore page, recommendations, hashtag pages), and shares (which expose it to followers' followers). The third lever is the most leveraged — a single viral share can multiply reach 100x.
Reach degrades fast on most platforms. Instagram's organic reach for a typical account hovers around 10–20% of follower count; LinkedIn's around 5–10%. Paid promotion bypasses the cap. The way to compound reach organically is consistent saves/shares/comments, which trigger the algorithm to push the content beyond followers.
Reach is the number of unique accounts that saw a piece of content at least once. It is distinct from impressions, which count repeated views, so reach is the more honest measure of how many distinct humans encountered the content.
Reach counts unique viewers while impressions count total display events. If 1,000 people saw a post and 200 of them saw it twice, reach is 1,000 and impressions are 1,200.
Reach is driven by three things: follower count (who sees it directly), distribution to non-followers (the explore page, recommendations, hashtag pages), and shares (which expose it to followers' followers). Shares are the most leveraged — a single viral share can multiply reach 100x.
Organic reach degrades fast on most platforms. Instagram's organic reach for a typical account hovers around 10–20% of follower count, and LinkedIn's around 5–10%; paid promotion bypasses that cap.
The way to compound reach organically is consistent saves, shares, and comments, which trigger the algorithm to push the content beyond your followers. Shares specifically expose the content to followers' followers, the highest-leverage lever.