Three sibling metrics, three questions: impressions ask how many times content was shown, reach asks how many distinct people saw it, and views ask how many times it was actually consumed.
How they stack
Impressions ≥ reach, always — one person can be shown the same post five times. Views sit differently per platform: a scroll-past can count as an impression but not a view, while a rewatch adds views without adding reach. Pinterest's famous "monthly views" figure is really an impressions metric — covered in the Pinterest guide.
Which to optimise
- Chasing awareness? Reach — new distinct humans.
- Testing packaging? Impressions-to-views conversion (click-through).
- Measuring content quality? Views and completion, per the view counting guide.