In the world of social media marketing, there are several social media metrics that are important to track, from reach to impressions to conversion rate. Without question, one of the most salient metrics is engagement as it plays a crucial role across a wide range of social media platforms, including Instagram. So, what is an Instagram engagement rate? Why does it matter? How can you calculate it?
In this guide, we answer these questions and many more about Instagram engagement rates. With these insights, you’ll not only better understand Instagram engagement, but you’ll gain creative strategies for boosting yours.
What is an Instagram engagement, and why is it important?
Instagram engagement is the umbrella term that covers all forms of interaction that your Instagram account receives, including likes, comments, shares, and saves. Every time a user interacts with your content in any of these ways, it boosts your engagement. Instagram engagement is incredibly important because it is more or less a reflection of your audience’s connection with your brand.
For example, consider your own behavior on Instagram; when you like a post or drop a comment on a Reel, why do you do it? It’s likely because the content resonated with you in some way or another. More than likely, you found it interesting, inspiring, aesthetically pleasing, or maybe even funny. Regardless of its exact impact, if content grabs your attention enough to entice you to engage with it, it’s typically an indication that it’s doing something right.
What is Instagram engagement rate?
Your Instagram engagement rate is the numeric measurement of all the various forms of engagement on your profile. The Instagram engagement rate calculation – which we’ll discuss in more detail in a later section – takes into account various metrics, including the number of followers, likes, comments, shares, and saves you have.
What does ERR mean?
When reading about social media engagement rates, you’ll often see the acronym ERR. ERR stands for engagement rate by reach. This is the measure of how many users chose to interact with your content after seeing it and is the most common way of calculating the engagement rate.
You can calculate ERR by post or your average ERR; both calculations will be explored in the next section.
How to calculate engagement rate on Instagram
There are a few key calculations most commonly used to identify Instagram engagement rates.
In general, engagement rates are typically calculated by dividing an account’s likes and comments by the follower count.
However, you may also want to calculate your ERR by post. To do so, you’ll need to take the total number of engagements received on the post and divide it by the reach of the post multiplied by 100.
You can also calculate your average ERR within a certain period or for a certain set of posts. To do this, you’ll need to take ERRs of the posts you’re assessing and divide that total by the number of posts.
What is the average Instagram engagement rate?
According to Rival IQ, the overall median Instagram engagement rate as of 2022 is 0.67%. This applies to accounts across all sectors, from hospitality to marketing to non-profit. In its report, Rival IQ also identified that the median posting frequency across all industries was roughly 4.5 times per week.
What is a good engagement rate on Instagram?
By default, one could argue that any engagement rate above the average of 0.67% is a good Instagram engagement rate. However, according to Rival IQ, some brands truly stand out, ranking in the top 25% of all Instagram accounts. The average Instagram engagement rate for the brands in the top 25% sits at 1.39% – more than double the overall average.
Interestingly, the median posting frequency among these brands is lower, coming in at roughly 3.5 times per week. As a result, a key takeaway from the report is that quality is not necessarily dependent on quantity/frequency – an important reminder for social media marketers.
How to get more engagements on Instagram
Given the importance of Instagram engagement, you might be wondering how to get more engagements on Instagram. Below, we break down some of the key dos and don’ts when it comes to increasing your Instagram engagement rate.
Instagram Engagement Rate – Dos & Don’ts
Do: Prioritize timing. Post at the optimal time to ensure the highest volume of your followers are online and will view your posts.
✨ Related article: Best times to post on social media
Don’t: Post too frequently. As we mentioned previously, quantity/frequency does not always equate to quality. Plus, posting too often can come across as “spammy”, which is the last impression you want to give to your followers.
Do: Learn from other social media platforms. For example, there are many tactics for boosting your engagement rate on Facebook that can be applied to Instagram as well. By cross-pollinating your social media growth strategies, you’ll create the most cohesive and comprehensive social media strategy possible.
Don’t: Use overly popular hashtags. As a general rule of thumb, aim to use hashtags with fewer than a million uses; this will ensure that your content isn’t getting buried in a sea of posts. The easier to find your content is, the more likely it is that people will have the chance to engage with it.
Do: Lead by example. One of the most effective ways to foster more engagement is to engage yourself. Interact with stakeholders’ Instagram accounts by liking, sharing, and leaving comments on their content. Doing so will increase your account’s visibility and convey that your brand is actively engaged on social media.
Don’t: Neglect opinion leaders. Make sure you identify opinion leaders within your sector to assess the strategies they are using on Instagram. Not only can you learn from their practices, but you can repurpose some of their tactics for your account.
Top 5 Instagram engagement rate calculator
Although there are several Instagram engagement rate calculators, we’ve rounded up our top five for you to consider using.
Collabstr
Collabstr is an online platform that connects brands with social media influencers and personalities. Here you can find and hire creators in a matter of seconds and even explore the people on the site through their specialization categories, such as beauty and travel.
Collabstr offers multiple free tools, including an influencer price calculator, an influencer campaign brief template, and its Instagram engagement rate calculator. Simply type in your Instagram handle and click Check. Collabstr will then generate a snapshot of your engagement rate, as well as average likes and average comments.
HypeAuditor
HypeAuditor is another useful website that features a free Instagram engagement rate calculator. It works very similarly to the previous one; you simply enter your Instagram handle and press Check to have your brief report generated.
If you scroll down, you’ll notice that HypeAuditor also provides some extra insights on why an Instagram engagement rate is so important and how you can increase yours. This section also answers some FAQs about Instagram engagement rates.
inBeat
inBeat has an excellent Instagram engagement rate calculator. It’s completely free and very intuitive. Enter your Instagram handle and select Check Profile. You will then be prompted to type in your email address to unlock your results; once you do this, you’ll receive a comprehensive report of your Instagram engagement metrics. This includes your Instagram engagement rate as a percentage, your average likes, and your average comments. Your likes per post and comments per post will be visible in a graph format, and you’ll be able to see your recent posts and their metrics. You can even explore stakeholders’ accounts by selecting Find Similar Creators.
Kicksta
You’ll find another handy Instagram engagement rate calculator on Kicksta. Here, you can calculate your engagement rate while also learning more about Instagram engagement metrics via the FAQ section under the calculator. Additionally, Kicksta offers plenty more informative resources on its blog, which is also free to access – no membership required.
Sociality.io
Sociality.io is your all-in-one social media management tool, complete with several capabilities, including the capacity to calculate your Instagram engagement rate. While the platform calculates your engagement rate for you, you will need an account to access this data. In the following section, we outline the steps to follow to access your calculated Instagram engagement rate via the Sociality.io Analytics module.
How to access your Instagram engagement data with Sociality.io
Accessing and reviewing your social media analytics is crucial in assessing your performance across engagement metrics. As a result, to identify your Instagram engagement rate, you’ll need to review your Instagram analytics (including Instagram Reel analytics). Fortunately, doing so is incredibly easy with Sociality.io.
To access your Instagram analytics via Sociality.io, simply follow these steps:
- Log into your Sociality.io account.
- Click on your Instagram account.
- On the left-hand side, select Analytics.
- Select the date range for which you’d like to see your social media metrics and click Apply.
- From here, you’ll see an overview of your Instagram data analytics, including follower count, follower growth, and of course, organic engagement rate per post.
Conclusion
When it comes to increasing your Instagram engagement rate, informing yourself of what it is and why it’s important is an excellent starting point. By familiarizing yourself with these definitions, calculations, and tactics for boosting engagement, you’ll have a better shot at surpassing the average Instagram engagement rate benchmark.
