What is reach in advertising reports?
Interpret unique exposure within a reporting scope and avoid adding overlapping reach counts.
Reach describes distinct exposure within the provider’s defined report scope. Its uniqueness is the reason simple addition is often invalid. The same person can occur in multiple ad, campaign or daily rows.
How to read this metric
State the provider, reporting level and period. Request the aggregate scope you actually need where supported.
Keep detailed reach rows for comparison, not as building blocks for an assumed unique total. Preserve source qualifications on the measure.
Read impressions and frequency separately to understand repeated exposure. They answer related but different questions.
Make it concrete.
Two ads each reach 1,000 people, with 400 people seeing both. Their combined reach is 1,600, not 2,000; the two row totals alone do not reveal the overlap.
What to keep in mind.
Cross-platform reach cannot be deduplicated from aggregate reports alone. Adding Google and Meta audience counts can overstate unique exposure.
Your next useful step.
Use the provider’s whole-scope figure and label unavailable totals honestly. Keep the detailed delivery pattern beside it when making a creative or audience decision.
Working with this in Liftaven
A metric needs a numerator, denominator, reporting period and source. Record those alongside the result. The examples in these notes are invented to explain the calculation; they are not industry benchmarks or Liftaven customer results.
Explore the workspaceSources & context
This note combines original practical guidance with the reporting references below. Follow provider documentation for current definitions and availability; suggested investigations are not guarantees of a particular result.