Impressions vs Reach in Out of Home Advertising: What’s the Difference?

Whether you’re running a small business and taking the initiative to get your brand more exposure, or you’re simply looking for new opportunities to market your company in a convenient, efficient, and effective way, out of home advertising is the way to go. 

Reaching the consumer outside of their home offers a simple way to create brand awareness, encouraging engagement and bringing in customers that may have overlooked your products and services otherwise. But getting behind OOH advertising and trusting its effectiveness doesn’t just happen by word of mouth – it comes from understanding the research and notable metrics. 

Measuring impressions and reach, for example, gives you better insights into how many people came in contact with your advertisement and soaked it up before making (or neglecting to make) a purchasing decision. 

But what’s the difference between reach and impression, and how does it apply to OOH advertising? Let’s take a closer look at how these metrics play a part in your success, and how AllOver Media can help you track reach and impressions. 

Difference Between Reach and Impressions

When assessing the similarities and differences between impressions and reach, most are diving into their content marketing strategy or social media marketing strategy. Reach and impressions are calculated based on how many unique users came in contact with your pieces of content. 

Understanding how to improve the effectiveness of your advertising efforts starts with getting to know how many people engaged with your content to begin with. The main difference between impressions and reach, according to Sprout Social, is:

  • Reach is the number of people who came in contact with your content.
  • Impressions refer to the number of times your content was put on display. This includes your content showing up in search results, not just the total number of times your content was clicked. 

In many cases, you may be more inclined to learn about your reach metrics, but impressions are just as important. When you track impressions, you have a better idea of getting your content in front of the right people. When your impressions count rises, that means your reach count will inevitably increase as well. It’s the difference between exposure and engagement; the more exposure your brand name has, the more likely it will reach the right people. 

What’s the Difference Between Reach and Impressions in OOH Advertising?

Understanding the relationships between impressions and reach in OOH advertising is a little different than measuring social media strategies with analytics tools, however, the intentions are the same.

Impressions refer to how many eyes have been exposed to a specific message or advertisement, while reach refers to the percentage of the population that will see the message within a time frame. Reach takes more into account; targeted weights, length of the campaign, demographic, and population play a major role in the ability to accurately measure reach. 

In simpler terms, this is what reach vs impressions looks like in OOH advertising:

  • Impressions: The number of people who see your advertisement
  • Reach: How many people came in contact with your advertisement based on the timing and placement of the message

By getting ahead of these numbers, you can better formulate your advertising efforts, creating unique messaging that different audience members can absorb and take advantage of as they’re exposed to your brand.

How We Measure Reach and Impressions with OOH Advertising 

AllOver Media uses the Gallop Math Formula to estimate reach, impressions, and frequency of your advertisements. Here’s how it works:

  • Frequency = Demographic Daily GRP x Target Audience Weight x Number of Days/100
  • Reach = Demographic Daily GRP x Target Audience Weight/Frequency 

Target Audience Weights are an estimate of the number of people within that age range who are most likely to be exposed to the OOH media or advertisement. 

By better understanding metrics like reach and impressions, you can get a better grasp on your brand awareness efforts as well. When you have these metrics at your disposal, you can feel better about designing a tailored message that will reach your target audience at the right place and right time. 

Impressions and reach management allow you to continue growing as a business as you channel the marketing efforts that work best for your brand. 

Take Your OOH Advertising Measures to the Next Level 

Traditional out of home advertising methods, such as billboards and concrete signage can make a big difference in reaching your target audience and getting them to convert. If you want to stand out from the competition and wow your potential customers, consider digital out of home advertising instead. 

AllOver Media can help you get more creative with your advertising and offer an attractive, thought-provoking option that meets consumers where they work, relax, wine, and dine. 

From dedicated digital trucks to static signage and digital gas pump advertisements, we can help you create custom messages to put on display during different times and days of the week. This allows you to deliver the most accurate, timely message to specific consumers in hopes of grabbing their attention and making a strong impression.

Whether you’re looking to reach new customers at their university, catch them at the convenience store or make them turn heads in the mall or shopping center, we can help. Reach out to us today for more information on how we can plan your next advertising campaign.