Posted by Picture this: You’ve just been hired as a social media manager and your first task is to analyze your company’s previous few campaign results and plan the next one. You know your way around all social platforms statistics and analytics. How to get the number of likes, comments, or shares. But to be able to truly understand what you need to do better, you have to properly calculate the engagement rate and compare it with the previous campaign’s results. But what is the Engagement Rate?
Engagement rate is a metric used to measure how well your content resonates with its audience. It is calculated by taking the total number of engagements (likes, shares, comments), dividing it by the total reach of the post, and then multiplying that number by 100.
Previously, the number of engagements was divided by the number of followers. But since that doesn’t give an accurate number, since all followers may not even see the post, people figured it was best to use the post reach instead. This meant that the number would be the true calculation of engagement on any given post.
This metric helps content creators and social media managers understand how well their content is performing and what kind of content resonates best with their audience. By understanding the engagement rate, content creators can create better and more engaging content that will help them increase their reach and engagement.
Let’s see how we can calculate the engagement rate for some social platforms.
Calculating the engagement rate on Instagram
On Instagram, you can get engagement data from the Professional dashboard. These insights are only available for Instagram business accounts.
On the insights page on the Instagram professional dashboard, you’ll see an overview of accounts reached, accounts engaged, and the total number of followers. To see more in-depth information, you can scroll below to see the insights on all the posts you’ve shared and there’s also an option to compare insights between posts.
Once you click on content, you’ll get a grid view of all the posts and their reach displayed for you. On opening a post, you’ll get the total number of likes, comments, shares, and saves. You’ll also get info on whether the engagement came from a follower or non-follower. But that does not really affect the engagement rate.
All you need to do is add up the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves, and divide it by the reach number mentioned in the post insight. Then multiply by 100.
Calculating the engagement rate on Facebook
On Facebook, you can get post insights from the dashboard, the same as Instagram. Login to your business page and between the Status text box and the Stories/Reels, you’ll find the Dashboard button. The 1st thing you’ll see is an overview that gives you the number of followers, post reach, post engagement, and the number of new followers in the last month.
You can change this timeline by selecting ‘See More Insights’. While Instagram has more than 90-day time frames, Facebook limits it to the last 90 days.
Instagram also gives you some demographic data on your followers, like gender, age, location, etc. Sadly, Facebook will only provide this data if you have more than 100 followers. However, since the new formula for engagement rate doesn’t use the number of followers, or their data, you don’t have to worry about it!
Under your overview, you’ll see the top post from the time frame you’ve selected and another ‘See Insights’ button under that. If you click on that, you’ll get data on the post reach, post impressions, post engagement, and total clicks.
Once you have these numbers, follow the same formula of the total number of engagements divided by the post reach and multiply that by 100.
Calculating the engagement rate on Twitter
While Instagram and Facebook use post reach in their engagement rate calculations, Twitter uses post impressions instead. The formula is the total number of engagements divided by the post impressions.
Twitter also displays this information for all users, not just Twitter Blue users or verified pages.
Unlike Instagram and Facebook, Twitter does not have a dashboard where you can find the information you need to calculate the engagement rate within the app. There’s a separate website where you can get in-depth data and analytics.
They do have these details in Tweet Activity in every tweet though. In the same line as comments, re-tweets, likes, and shares icons, you’ll find the Tweet Activity icon. If you click on a Tweet, you’ll also find a Tweet Activity option below the Tweet.
Once you have your numbers from Tweet Activity, you can use the number of engagements and divide it by the post impressions. Voila!
Calculating the engagement rate on LinkedIn
Like Twitter, calculating the engagement rate for LinkedIn posts is done with impressions instead of reach. LinkedIn also displays the engagement and impression numbers to all users.
To find these numbers on the web page, you can go to the drop-down under your profile and click on Posts and Activity under Manage. At the bottom of each post, you’ll find the number of impressions, and an option to View Analytics.
Clicking on View Analytics will take you to more detailed information on the number of each engagement like reaction, comment, and repost.
On the mobile app, click on View Profile from your Profile Picture in the top left-hand corner. Scroll down to activity. Here you’ll be able to see an overview of the number of reactions and comments.
Clicking on All Activity will list out all your posts and at the bottom of each post, you’ll see the number of impressions and an option to View more. This will show you the total impressions and engagement data.
Add up the engagement data, divide that number by the number of impressions, and multiply by 100. That’s your engagement rate for your LinkedIn post.
Note: The displayed number of comments on LinkedIn includes your responses to comments. If you’re in the habit of replying to every comment then use half the number of comments when adding up engagement numbers.
Calculating the engagement rate on Pinterest
The engagement rate on Pinterest is calculated with the total engagements with your Pins divided by the total number of times your Pins were seen (Impressions). Engagements include saves, Pin clicks, and outbound clicks
You will have access to this information only from a business account, like Instagram and Facebook.
To get the engagement and impression numbers, go to your profile or your pins. Images will directly open up the image with a data overview at the bottom. You can click on ‘See More’ to get more in-depth data. Videos will have icons to the right. There’ll be likes, comments, shares, and an icon for Pin Stats.
In Pin Stats, you’ll get the number of pin clicks, saves, profile visits, and follows. You’ll also get impression numbers here.
Once you have this information, divide the sum of engagement (pin clicks+saves+outbound-clicks) by the number of impressions.
This is your engagement rate for Pins on your Pinterest account.
Even though the specifics for each platform can differ, the basic formula for calculating the engagement rate on any social platform is the sum of engagement on a post divided by the reach/impressions of that post multiplied by 100. So in case you’re on a platform that doesn’t have a specific formula, you can always use this.
That’s all folks!