-
We really need to stop reporting on “Impressions” as a primary KPI.
Posted by on April 14, 2026 at 7:44 amHonestly, I’ve had to have some tough conversations with clients lately about why their "viral" post resulted in exactly zero dollars in revenue. We’ve entered this weird era where everyone is chasing reach because it feels good to see big numbers, but the quality of that reach is at an all-time low.
I’ve started shifting my monthly reports to focus almost entirely on High-Intent Actions (saves, shares, and link clicks) rather than just "eyeballs." 1,000 people who actually save a post for later are worth way more than 100,000 who scrolled past it in half a second.
The algorithm has gotten so good at finding "passive" viewers that impressions have basically become a vanity metric. If the engagement isn't leading to a conversation or a conversion, it’s just noise.
Curious to hear from other SMMs and Growth leads and how are you guys framing "low reach but high conversion" to your bosses or clients? Are people still obsessed with the big vanity numbers or is the tide finally turning?
-
1 Reply
-
I use impressions for nonskippable video view impressions. Technically each impression is a non skippable view.
-
Tbh sis a good point i haven’t thought of it like this
-
Actually, you’ve got the wrong way round. Why is like worth more? What is the value of a like or a save? Impressions don’t tell the whole story but ate at basis of a lot of different things. Combine impressions, frequency and views and you’ve got good KPIs. This is supported by recent research: market penetration, repetition and attention.
-
Hmmm…. yes and no.
You would be surprised how many large advertisers and commercial partners love impressions as a metric. I will gladly preach engagement, video view and other metrics as being more important, but clients have had a lot of very big corporates say “I don’t care, I just want my logo/brand to be as seen by as many people as possible.”
Log in to reply.