Those 8-figure “reach” numbers are lying to you

“Impressions” are a mirage.

A single wire pickup can spray the same 300-word blurb across hundreds of low-authority sites and hand you “reach” that rivals the Super Bowl . . . without being seen by a single potential customer.

Same thing happens when Sinclair syndicates your local win to 200 member stations – web only, buried four layers deep.

But if you correct those fake wins, that hurts too! One large institution in my Inner Circle saw their impressions drop 50% over the past 12 months, even though they feel like they’re landing the same level of coverage. Their monitoring vendor explained “we’re cleaning out the noise.” Try telling that to your execs.

Muck Rack’s latest State of PR Measurement found:

• Yes, 76% of PR pros track impressions.
• But only 42% believe impressions accurately measure their efforts.
• And 23% say impressions LEAST accurately measure their efforts!

Translation: We show a meaningless number because bosses/clients expect it.

Why do YOU think PR pros keep reporting impressions? Add your take in the LinkedIn thread.

Here’s the alternative I recommended to that IC member whose impressions history got blown up.

1. Narrow the list. Identify 20 outlets that actually influence your target decision-makers.
2. Pitch only those outlets – and tailor every angle to why their readers/viewers care.
3. Score coverage, not reach. Did the outlet run your story and include your key message?
4. Tie back to revenue signals (demo requests, referral URLs, coupon codes – whatever fits your business).

No “potential eyeballs,” no syndicated scrapings, no guesswork. Just evidence that real humans ran your story in places that matter.

Run the experiment for 90 days and see if “impressions” disappear from your slide deck.

Inner Circle members got the complete “balanced scorecard” template from our training Measuring and Reporting PR Success: What the Best Teams Do and Don’t Do. Join our Wait List and to get it when enrollment reopens.

P.S. Muck Rack is now gathering responses for its annual “State of PR” report, from which those data above were pulled. Give back by filling out the survey.