What Do Impressions Mean On Twitter

As a budding influencer or brand owner, you will encounter numerous jargon upon entering the world of online marketing. Impressions, engagements, and reach are just some of the most common ones that you will hear.

However, when you hear these words used in the marketing world, it might seem confusing at first. The words are just simple nouns already in your vocabulary, but when marketers use them, it seems that those words have a different and deeper meaning to them.

No need to be intimidated, though. We’re here to help give you a better understanding of these terms.

In this article, we will answer what are impressions on Twitter; and how you can use this knowledge to your benefit.

You can also check out our other articles that explain further concepts such as engagement rates, Twitter demographics, and Twitter Analytics.

• What Is a Good Social Media Engagement Rate?
• Top Twitter Demographics That Matter to Social Media Marketers
•  How to Use Twitter Analytics?

Hopefully, after reading these blog posts, you will get a good grasp of these important concepts to help grow your brand on Twitter.

Now, on to our topic: Twitter Impressions.

What Are Twitter Impressions, and Why Are They so Important?

Impressions, simply put, are the total number of times your Tweet was seen by users on Twitter. It is also non-unique, meaning if a person sees one Tweet of yours 5 times, Twitter will automatically count it as 5 impressions.

It can be in the form of the original Tweet, a retweet, a sponsored Tweet, or a search result. As long as users encounter your post on the Twitter platform, it will be tallied under impressions.

Knowing the number of impressions your Tweets get is crucial. Here’s why:

You can learn when to post

On average, Twitter users only spend 3.39 minutes whenever they access the site. It is now your task to catch them during that window of time to get more impressions and engagements.

You can try posting at different times during the day to see the trend. You will most likely get varying numbers of impressions at each time.

Then, observe which posts get seen the most. The time of day at which you posted those will be the best times to post your future Tweets.

You can generate more income

The number of impressions, followers, and engagements is what advertisers consider when looking for marketing partnerships. They want profiles that have a huge following and high amounts of impressions and engagements. These are the Twitter metrics that guarantee the advertisers that they will get the exposure that they want.

So, if you want to monetize your Twitter account, be sure to monitor your impressions and keep them consistently high.

Twitter Impressions and Reach: What’s the Difference?

Impressions are the number of times a post is seen. A person can view your Tweet 5 times, for example, and Twitter will count it as 5 impressions already.

Reach is the number of people who have seen your content. A person can view your Tweet multiple times and will still be just counted as 1 reach.

Impressions	Reach
The number of times a Tweet was seen	The number of people who see your Tweet
If a user sees your Tweet 5 times, it will be tallied as 5 impressions	A user is counted as 1 reach regardless of the number of times he/she has seen your Tweet
Impressions are a rough estimate of your content’s exposure	Reach gives you a more accurate figure of how many people see your posts

Since impressions are non-unique, it is also essential to learn about other metrics such as reach and engagements. This way, you can have a more accurate picture of your brand’s exposure.

How Many Twitter Impressions Is Good?

A healthy number to have for your impressions is at least 20% of the total number of your followers. This means that you get a minimum of 20% views from your followers, plus a chance to increase that figure because of impressions from non-followers.

Another aspect that you need to look at is the number of engagements in relation to the number of impressions. The best scenario is when your Tweets have both a high number of impressions and a high engagement rate. This means that almost every time a user sees your post, they will interact with it in some way (click, like, comment, expand, retweet).

If you know the ratio of users on Twitter who see your posts and interact with them, then you can determine if your posts are effective or not.

The number of engagements divided by the number of impressions will give you the engagement rate.

How Can You Access Your Twitter Impressions?

Twitter’s built-in analytics is such a helpful tool for your marketing needs. There is no need to install another program or third-party apps. And the tools are all free!

And another good news about it is that you can access it on any device. It’s all available to you in just a few clicks.

Simply follow these instructions on your device to view your Twitter impressions.

Using a computer

1. On a web browser, log in to your Twitter account.
2. Click ‘More’ on the menu to the left of the screen.
3. Choose ‘Analytics’ from the drop-down menu. A new window will open that leads to Twitter Analytics.
4. Now, click the ‘Tweets’ tab at the top left part of the screen. The default graph displays the total impressions all of your Tweets got in the last 28 days. You can change the graph to show results from previous months, as well.

Using a mobile device

1. Launch the Twitter mobile app and log in to your account.
2. Tap your profile photo at the top corner of the screen.
3. Next, tap ‘Profile’ from the menu to visit your personal timeline.
4. Search for the Tweet you want to see the data of. Then tap the ‘Tweet activity’ graph icon (three vertical lines) under the Tweet.
5. The Tweet Activity dashboard displays the number of impressions that a specific Tweet has gotten.

You can only view the total number of impressions for all your Tweets on the web version. The mobile version only supports individual Tweet statistics.

Ways You Can Increase Twitter Impressions

Since the introduction of the Twitter Algorithm, Tweets now have more chances of appearing in more user timelines, and not just necessarily during the time you posted them. Impressions are consequently easier to increase in this situation.

Here are our top tips to help you boost those numbers:

Engage with your audience

The more engagements a Tweet gets, the more times it will be shown in more timelines. This is because the algorithm considers Tweets with high engagement rates as more relevant, and should, therefore, be seen by more users.

So, when a user likes, comments, or retweets your post, be sure to acknowledge them in the comments. Write a reply to them.

Or create Tweets that will garner a response from your audience. Ask a question, get their opinion, or even run a mini-contest to get those engagements.

It will help you build a closer relationship with your followers and post viewers, and also help boost you up the algorithm.

Because of this, your Tweets will most likely be shown to the followers of the users who interacted with your posts.

Create engaging content

Posts with videos gain as much as 10 times more engagement than plain text Tweets. So, it is good practice to create short video content that will reel in your audience.

Remember, more engagement means more chances to be pushed into user timelines by the algorithm.

Interact with other popular brands and influencers

Also, an easy way to gain more visibility is by leveraging on other profiles’ popularity.

Do shout-outs and tag famous influencers and brands in your posts and comments. This method will let your post have the chance to be seen by the followers of those celebrities.

Post during peak hours

Twitter is mostly about what’s happening at the moment. This means that your post will more likely be seen by people who are browsing Twitter at the time that you post your content.

So, choose the best times to post when your target audience is most probably online.

It is said that when you view your own Tweets, it will not be counted in your number of impressions.

However, upon observation, each time you do see your own posts, the number of impressions increases. So, take the number of impressions with a grain of salt.

Be Impressive on Twitter

Understanding how Twitter impressions work is a step closer to succeeding on the platform. Follow the tips we outline for you, and you will surely continue to expand your brand’s reach on Twitter.