# What is Impressions?

What is Impressions? The number of times an ad was shown to viewers. Different from reach — one person can accumulate multiple impressions.

## How it works in practice

Impressions alone are worth nothing. A million impressions to an irrelevant audience equal $0. But brand building requires repeated impressions — 7 exposures before a purchase.

## Related metrics

- Reach — Reach × Frequency = Impressions
- CPM — cost per thousand impressions
- Frequency — Impressions / Reach = Frequency
- Brand Awareness — measured in impressions

## Common misconception

'A million impressions = viral.' Facebook counts an impression when 50% of the ad was on screen for one second. Not 'seen and remembered.'

## How to fix it

High impressions but low CTR? (1) wrong audience, (2) format doesn't stop the scroll — switch to video, (3) content doesn't address the pain point.

## Real-world example

An interior design store: 500K impressions, 0.3% CTR. Audience: men 18-24 who weren't the target. Narrowing it: 180K impressions, 1.8% CTR, ROAS x3.

## Where to start

Don't track impressions as your main KPI. CPM and frequency are the metrics that matter.

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Category: Marketing · From the [Jimmy OS KPI Glossary](https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi.md) · Source page: https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi/impressions