Impressions

Impressions are a measure of how many potential readers, viewers, or listeners were reached by a placement in the media. It is usually equivalent to the circulation number in the case of print (i.e., newspaper, magazine) and the estimated viewership or listeners for broadcast outlets (i.e., television, radio). With broadcast, audience numbers vary depending upon the time of the newscast. With print, pass-along rates are often extrapolated and [Page 413]taken into account in addition to merely relying upon circulation. Most good media databases (e.g., Bacon's) and monitoring services (e.g., Video Monitoring Service, Burrelle's) provide these numbers. Because no service is completely comprehensive, going to individual media outlets and asking is sometimes still necessary. Media buyers are also a good source of such numbers.

No exact number of people reached can ever really be determined, but impressions are the closest estimates that are available, keeping in mind that they do not gauge an actual impression that individual audience members have of the media clip and its message. Therefore, although impressions are a good tally of potential audience reach, they cannot definitively predict the actual imprint left by the coverage. Sometimes tone of the piece can help determine the likelihood of the latter.

Impressions usually come into play as a tool used in the evaluation stage of a public relations campaign or initiative in trying to determine reach. Although impression is considered a good measure by many communicators, other professionals in the field do not consider it to be a valid account of reach due to its decidedly quantitative nature. A more qualitative approach comes with measuring actual effect of a news clip, such as inquiries received as a direct result or a marked improvement in sales, business, or traffic. Impressions, however, are a good evaluation tool from a statistical standpoint in that potential audience numbers can give practitioners an idea of reach, with higher numbers increasing the odds of message dissemination.