Reach is a central concept in marketing and describes the number of people who are potentially or actually reached by a specific advertising message, post, or campaign. It indicates how many people have perceived a brand, a product, or information – whether through social media, email, websites, print media, or other channels.
One distinguishes between organic reach and paid reach.
Organic reach arises from unpaid content, e.g. social media posts, blog articles, or recommendations. It usually grows more slowly, but is often more credible.
Paid reach is generated through advertising (e.g. Google Ads, Facebook Ads). It can quickly achieve high reach, but is associated with costs and requires good targeting.
Another important concept is viral reach, where content finds a large, often unexpected distribution through sharing, liking, or commenting. This form plays a significant role in social media marketing.
However, reach alone is not a guarantee of success. Decisive is the qualitative reach – whether the right target groups are being addressed. A post with high reach but without engagement or conversion brings little value. Therefore, reach is often considered together with other metrics like impressions, click-through rate (CTR), or engagement rate.
For companies, the continuous increase of reach is an important goal to build brand awareness, acquire customers, and secure competitive advantages. Strategies for increasing reach include, among others, content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), influencer collaborations, or targeted advertising campaigns.
In short: Reach is the foundation of every successful marketing communication – but only effective when used purposefully and sensibly.