Work out engagement rate by reach, by impressions or by followers, and see how the three differ and which to report.
By reach is the fairest. It asks: of the people who saw this, how many responded. It is unaffected by follower count and by how many times the algorithm re-served the post.
By impressions is always the lowest of the three, because impressions exceed reach. Useful for comparing paid placements, where repetition is bought deliberately.
By followers is the one that appears in pitch decks. It flatters small accounts – a 2,000-follower account whose post reaches 8,000 people can post a 20 percent engagement rate that means nothing about how engaging the content was.
| Platform | Typical ER by reach |
|---|---|
| Instagram feed | 3–7% |
| Instagram Reels | 4–9% |
| TikTok | 5–12% |
| 2–5% | |
| Facebook page | 1–4% |
| X | 0.5–2% |
Engagement correlates with distribution, not with revenue.
Engagement correlates with distribution, not with revenue. Platforms use it to decide who else sees the post, which makes it a genuine input to reach – but a post can engage enormously and sell nothing.
Saves and shares are worth more than likes for both distribution and intent. If your platform breaks them out, weight them separately rather than dropping everything into one engagement total.