Reach and Frequency Calculator

What is the Reach and Frequency Calculator?

The Reach and Frequency Calculator is a quick, platform-agnostic planning tool that helps you calculate the core metrics of your media campaigns. Rather than dealing with complex budget formulas, this tool uses the fundamental media equation: Impressions = Reach × Frequency.

Simply select the metric you want to find, input your two known targets, and the calculator will instantly provide the missing number. It also features a dynamic benchmark scale to show you exactly how your ad frequency stacks up, from dangerously low to high-impact.

How to use the Calculator?

Choose your target: Select whether you want to calculate Total Impressions, Unique Reach, or Average Frequency.

Input your numbers: Enter the two metrics you already know. For example, if your client wants to reach 50,000 people 3 times, input those numbers to find the total impressions needed.

Get instant results: The tool instantly calculates your missing metric.

Check the benchmark: See exactly where your campaign sits on our color-coded frequency scale:

• Red (Low / < 2x): You risk under-delivering. Your audience might not remember your message.

• Orange (Balanced / 2x – 5x): The sweet spot for balanced exposure and strong brand recall.

• Blue (Moderate / 5x – 10x): Heavy brand awareness. Great for short-term pushes.

• Green (High / 10x+): Maximum recall. Highly effective, but requires frequent creative refreshes to avoid ad fatigue.

Why use this tool?

Plan campaigns instantly. Skip the complex spreadsheets. Quickly reverse-engineer your media plans to figure out exactly how many impressions you need to buy to hit your reach and frequency goals.

Diagnose ad fatigue. Plug in your live campaign data to see if your frequency is creeping into the high-risk zones, helping you know exactly when to swap out creatives.

Flexible for any scenario. Whether you are constrained by a fixed number of impressions, targeting a very specific audience size, or aiming for a strict frequency goal, you can pivot the tool to solve for your specific roadblock.

Platform agnostic. Unlike ad network forecasting tools, this gives you pure, unbiased mathematical baselines before platform algorithms get involved.

Assumptions

The formula is absolute. The calculator uses the standard industry formula where Impressions divided by Reach equals Average Frequency.

Inputs are averages. The frequency output represents an average across your entire audience. In reality, some users will see your ad once, while others may see it twenty times.

Unique reach means individual people. The tool assumes "Reach" refers to unique individuals. Keep in mind that depending on the platform you buy media on, "reach" can sometimes mean unique devices or cookies rather than actual human beings.

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