Term: "Impressions"
Definition
In digital marketing and online advertising, impressions are a key metric used to measure the reach of an advertisement or a piece of content. An impression is counted each time an ad is fetched and potentially seen by a user, whether it appears on a web page, in a social media feed, or as part of a search engine results page. This metric does not account for user engagement with the content, such as clicks or conversions, but rather the opportunity for the content to be seen.
Impressions are crucial for understanding the visibility and exposure of digital campaigns. They help advertisers and marketers gauge the scale of their audience and the distribution of their content across digital platforms. For pricing and budgeting purposes, many online advertising platforms charge by cost per thousand impressions (CPM), making it an important financial metric as well. While a high number of impressions indicates wide exposure, it's often analyzed in conjunction with other metrics like clicks, engagement rates, and conversions to assess the overall effectiveness and efficiency of digital advertising efforts.