When referring to social media metrics, impressions and engagement often come up in conversation, but the two terms have distinct meanings. Understanding the differences between these terms is important to determine if your brand’s content is earning quality feedback, feedback that translates to your users’ taking action.
Impressions refer to the number of times a single piece of content is displayed on users’ feeds. Users may see multiple impressions of the same post and do not have to engage with the displayed content for it to count as an impression. Impressions-based campaigns can help with spreading brand awareness in two ways – organically (free) or with boosted (paid) content. Many businesses drive their content organically, but when the number of impressions is not as high as desired, boosted content can make up the difference. Boosting a post delivers the content to a larger audience, targeted by the parameters you set.
Engagements, on the other hand, are the number of times a user likes, shares, comments on or otherwise engages with a specific piece of content. Engagements go beyond brand awareness to help to drive business. When a brand distributes engagement-based content, the motivation is to receive audience interaction. These interactions show you what type of content, such as video, lifestyle photography or online articles, your audiences would like to see, helping to pinpoint what type of content to focus on in the future.
Tracking engagements and impressions through analytics and insights is crucial. By monitoring the performance of social media content, your business can draw correlations between posted content and the amount of impressions and engagements received to gauge growth and behavior change over time.
At TRINDGROUP, we believe in the power of social. In an increasingly engaged world, it’s important to target your message so your voice is heard. Whether your business is seeking to enhance brand awareness or to increase conversion rates, our team of content strategists and designers can help you leverage social media to reach your goals.
