The difference between Facebook "post reach" and "post engagement"

Facebook post reach refers to the number of people that have "seen" (loaded and shown on your News Feed) a post publication. Now, there are different types of post reach:

(via http://blog.getpostrocket.com/2013/03/understanding-reach-and-its-role-in-your-facebook-marketing-strategy/)

1. Organic Reach – This is the number of [unique] people who saw* your post in their News Feed, Ticker, or on your Page.  This is the most common way Page posts reach Facebook users.
2. Viral Reach – This is the number of [unique] people who saw* your post in a story from a friend.  For example, a story in your Newsfeed that says, “Bob shared Starbuck’s photo” would mean that you are being virally reached by Starbuck’s photo post.
3. Paid Reach – This is the number of [unique] people who saw* your post in an ad or sponsored story.  Any post you see with the ‘Sponsored’ label at the bottom or in the right-hand column falls into this category.
4. Total Reach – This is the number of [unique] people who saw* your post.  This is a bit trickier than just adding up the previous three because it’s the number of unique people.  Keep in mind that someone could be reached organically, virally, and through ads, but would only count as 1 toward total reach.

Post Reach is a great way to observe what posts are being viewed and which ones are not as much.

Facebook Post Engagement is defined by the number of actions (likes, shares, clicks or comments) by Facebook users when they view a post.


It good to know and understand these terms so you can have a grasp on how you are engaging with your audience. Are you posting content for the sake of posting or are you having a conversation with your customers? Is the content of your post quality content that the audience wants to interact with?  These are great questions to ask yourself in dealing with Facebook Insights with help your business.