Social Media Engagement Rate
Average engagement (likes, comments, shares, saves) as a percentage of total followers or reach
What is Social Media Engagement Rate?
Social media engagement rate is the percentage of people who interacted with a post or account out of those who could have. Interactions include likes, comments, shares, saves and clicks.
It shows how well content resonates with an audience, which reach and follower counts cannot tell you. It is the main measure for judging whether social content is worth producing and which types of post to make more of.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Marketing
- Sub-function
- Social Media
- Industry
- All Industries
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- Quality
- Unit
- %
- Measurement frequency
- Weekly / Monthly
- Formula
- (Total engagements / Total followers or reach) × 100
How to calculate it
Divide the total number of engagements by the number of followers or by reach, and multiply by 100.
For example, if a post received 300 engagements and reached 6,000 people, the engagement rate by reach is (300 / 6,000) x 100 = 5%. If you divide by followers instead, use that base every time.
Choose one definition and stick to it, since platforms and tools calculate it differently. Compare posts and time periods on the same basis, and be cautious comparing across platforms.
Where it is used
Choosing content types
Compare formats and topics to see what your audience responds to.
Reporting on social performance
Show whether the audience is active, beyond the size of the follower count.
Guiding timing and frequency
Find when to post, and how often, to keep the audience engaged.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Pick one calculation method and keep to it, since rates by followers and by reach differ a lot.
- Larger audiences usually show lower rates, so compare with accounts of a similar size.
- Engagement that does not lead anywhere is only part of the story. Track clicks and conversions from social too.
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