Free tool
Reach and frequency calculator
Impressions, reach and frequency are three views of the same thing. Give any two and the third appears as you type.
What do you want to work out?
Average frequency
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Frequency = impressions ÷ reach
The formula
Frequency = impressions ÷ reach
Reach counts people, impressions count showings, and frequency is simply how many showings each person got on average. Spend more without widening the audience and frequency climbs while reach stands still, which is the usual sign a campaign is wearing out its welcome.
Worked example
The campaign delivered 4,000,000 impressions to 1,600,000 people.
4,000,000 ÷ 1,600,000 = 2.5
Average frequency was 2.5.
One line of a media plan.
A real plan needs every channel, every placement and the totals underneath. Planit turns your rates into a client-ready plan, then exports a PDF to send and a spreadsheet that recalculates when you change a number.
Questions
What frequency should I aim for?
Enough for the message to land, not so much that people tire of it. Three to five over a campaign is a common starting point for awareness, but it depends on how long the campaign runs and how complicated the message is.
Why can I not just add up reach across platforms?
Because the same person is very likely on more than one, so adding the numbers counts them twice. Combined reach is always lower than the sum of the parts.
Is reach the same as impressions?
No. Reach counts people. Impressions count how many times the ad appeared. If one person sees it four times that is one reach and four impressions.