Understanding Engagement Rate
Overview
Engagement rate measures how actively people interact with your content. It answers the question: of the people who saw your posts, how many took action?
How It Is Calculated
Engagement Rate = (Total Engagements ÷ Reach) × 100
Engagements include:
- Likes (or reactions)
- Comments
- Shares (or reposts)
- Saves (or bookmarks)
- Clicks (Facebook)
On Instagram, we use Instagram's own total interactions count when it's available.
The denominator is Reach. Reach counts unique accounts on Instagram, but it's a view count on Facebook and YouTube, so engagement rates on those platforms tend to look lower. See Understanding Reach.
For a period, Social Cascade adds up all the engagements and all the reach for posts published in that period, then divides. It isn't an average of each post's rate.
Where to Find It
- Click Analytics in the left sidebar.
- In the Overview section, the Avg. Engagement Rate card shows your engagement rate for the selected period, for all platforms combined.
- The Reach & Engagement section shows how engagements built up over the period (Cumulative Engagements).
- Click any post in the Content Performance list to see that post's engagement rate.
The platform filter in Content Performance filters the post list only. It doesn't change the cards at the top. To compare platforms, filter the list or open individual posts.
What Is a Good Engagement Rate?
Published healthcare industry data (Rival IQ, 2024) puts the typical engagement rate for healthcare accounts at about 0.7% across platforms:
| Platform | Typical range (middle half of accounts) | Median |
|---|---|---|
| All platforms | 0.35%–1.15% | 0.72% |
| 0.22%–0.68% | 0.45% | |
| 0.65%–1.85% | 1.17% |
Above the top of the typical range, your content is outperforming most healthcare accounts.
Tips for Improving Engagement Rate
- Ask questions. Posts that invite a reply get more comments.
- Use a clear call to action. Ask people to share, save or visit your site.
- Post when your audience is active. On Pro, Premier and Enterprise plans, check the posting-time heatmap in the Insights section.
- Respond to comments. Conversations in the comments keep a post active.