You must have come across the concept of impressions as a part of your social media strategy. But what are Impressions on Instagram?
It is the number of times your content, whether a post or a Story, was shown to users.
For example, if someone is scrolling their feed and passes by your post, that is counted as an impression.
What Are Impressions on Instagram Story?
Every time a user views your Story, Instagram counts it as an impression, even if they have viewed the Story before. If 10 followers each view your Story ten times, that is 100 impressions.
If your total impressions exceed your reach, it means your Story was viewed multiple times.
What Is Reach on Instagram?
Instagram reach is the number of unique users that see your Instagram post or Story in a day.
To keep it simple, remember it like this: One Instagram account = one reach.
Reach vs impressions Instagram
Reach and Impressions together help you determine the size of your Instagram audience.
Reach is the total number of people who see your content. Impressions are the total number of times your content is displayed to users, even if it was clicked or not.
Consider reach as the number of unique people who see your content.

Views vs. Impressions Instagram
On Instagram, there is no such thing as views vs. impressions.
However, impressions are the total number of times your content is shown to users while reach is the number of unique viewers. Your impressions will usually be greater than your reach.
How to Increase Impressions on Instagram
If you are thinking of increasing impressions on Instagram, then keep reading for some helpful tips:
1. Try different Instagram Post Formats.
Include these different post formats in your Instagram strategy such as Reels, Stories, Live streams, and Story highlights.
2. Post at Instagram Peak Times.
Posting at peak times enhances reach and improves the number of engagements on Instagram. Post at the right time when your followers are most active.
3. Design Attractive Visuals.
To grab the attention of your audience, make sure the quality of your content is top-notch. Use designing tools like Canva to help you create stunning visuals with ready-to-use templates and elements.
4. Use Trending Hashtags.
Build a hashtag strategy by finding trending and industry-specific hashtags to grow organic reach on Instagram. You can select hashtags based on location, age, and interests.
5. Use Geolocation.
Use location to increase your Instagram impressions, reach, and engagement. This method is useful If your target audience is location-based.
6. Create User-Generated Content (UGC).
Creating user-generated content is a great way to reach a wider audience by motivating them with rewards.
Organise giveaways or competitions to talk about your brand. You can also share inspirational quotes, content for special days, or even memes.
Instagram Impressions from Home
Impressions from Home means that your post was viewed from the home feed.
Instagram Impressions from Other
Impressions from Other means your post was viewed from another source. It includes posts shared via direct message, saved posts, tagged posts, post notifications where you were tagged or mentioned, and posts displayed on the Following tab in Notifications.
Instagram Impressions Calculator
Instagram engagement rate shows how many users interact with your content. This includes the number of likes, shares, comments, and saves.
1. Engagement by Followers.
Engagement = (Likes + Comments) / Followers x 100
2. Engagement by Impressions.
Engagement = (Likes + Comments + Saves) / Impressions x 100
There are many third-party apps and websites through which you can calculate engagement rates on Instagram such as Hootsuite Analytics or Iconosquare.
FAQs: What Are Impressions on Instagram?
What is a good impression rate on Instagram?
Instagram accounts with larger followings get a lower reach rate than those with smaller followings.
Accounts with a large following (over 500K) should expect an average reach rate of 15% for an Instagram post and 2% for an Instagram Story.
Accounts with a smaller following (under 10K) should expect a reach rate of 36% through posts and 7% through Stories.
Which is better reach or impressions?
Both reach and impressions are important to consider in your Instagram strategy. While reach explains how much exposure your content gets, impressions state how engaging your content is.
Are impressions more important than engagement?
Engagement is the number of interactions your content received from users (likes, comments, shares, and saves)
If the goal is to increase awareness and brand visibility, then you should measure impressions. However, if your goal is to guide users to take action such as buy, click, or subscribe then engagement is a better metric.
Engagement is an important metric when you’re measuring social media success because it is the only one to involve the user.
Also Read: How to Add Music to Instagram Post, Story and Reels (2022)
Can you tell if someone screenshots your story on Instagram?
Instagram does not notify the other user if you are taking a screenshot of a Story, post, or Reel.
What are examples of impressions?
Instagram’s impressions are the number of times your post, Story, or Reel is displayed to users. For example, if your post is shown to one user 20 times, your post will have 20 total impressions.
Conclusion
Instagram impressions tell you how many times your content is shown to users. They are an important metric to cover since they help you measure the performance of your post, stories and ad campaigns.
With the right Instagram strategy, you should be aiming to reach more impressions and engagement rates with every piece of content you create.
If you have further questions, please let us know via your comments.