The engagement rate is a measure of social media user activity on your page. This rate shows how strongly people interact with your posts and helps determine whether a post has been successful or not. The engagement rate is one of the main metrics used to evaluate the performance of a social media profile.
In the past, the popularity of a profile was determined by the number of followers it had. However, over time it became clear that this method was subjective — the audience could be «dead», consist of bots, or simply not show any interest. The engagement rate takes all these factors into account and can show the real state of affairs. To calculate the engagement rate, the following are considered:
- likes;
- comments;
- saved posts;
- reach.
There are several different formulas for calculating engagement rate. Firstly, the rate can be calculated as the sum of all reactions (likes, comments, etc.) divided by the total number of followers and multiplied by 100%. This helps to understand how the audience responds to your content. However, the number of followers and the number of people who see your posts are two different numbers. Therefore, another formula is used to calculate the engagement rate, which takes the reach into account instead of followers. This approach helps to determine people's interest in your content directly.
Depending on your goals, the engagement rate can be calculated for individual posts or for a certain period of time. The overall rate will help you understand if you have chosen the right strategy for managing your social media accounts. The rate for a particular post will show if the topic, format, or style of the post is interesting. For example, try a new post format and see how users react. Compare the obtained rate with regular posts and draw conclusions about the success of the new format.
The normal engagement rate to consider depends directly on the number of followers. It is believed that the larger the audience, the lower the rate. If the rate should be around 10% for 10,000 followers, then for 100,000 followers, a good engagement rate would be considered at the level of 5-6%. For small accounts, the engagement rate should be higher because it is easier to achieve loyalty from a small group of people. You can increase the engagement rate in several ways:
- use interactive content such as giveaways, promotions, etc;
- engage with the audience in the comments;
- publish relevant and unique content;
- find the optimal time to post;
- conduct surveys, polls, and use stories.
