Engagement rate is the number of interactions a post receives divided by the number of people (or views) it could have received them from, multiplied by 100. The basic formula is engagement rate = engagements ÷ audience × 100, and the only real decision is what you use as the "audience": reach, impressions (or views), or followers. This guide explains each version, works through examples and tells you which to use when.
Key takeaways
- Every engagement rate formula is engagements divided by an audience number, times 100. The audience number is what changes.
- By reach tells you how compelling a post was to the people who actually saw it. It is the best default for comparing posts.
- By impressions or views matches how X and LinkedIn report engagement rate, and suits paid and video content.
- By followers is easy to calculate for any public account, so it is useful for comparing with competitors, but it ignores reach from non-followers.
- Write down which formula and which engagement actions you used, and never mix formulas in one report.
What counts as an engagement?
Before choosing a formula, decide which actions you count. Networks define engagement differently:
- X's activity dashboard help page defines engagements as the total number of times a user interacted with a post, including clicks anywhere on it, reposts, replies, likes and link clicks.
- LinkedIn's Marketing API documentation describes its engagement figure as organic clicks, likes, comments and shares over impressions.
- Instagram's media insights documentation defines total interactions as likes, saves, comments and shares (minus unlikes, unsaves and deleted comments).
So "engagements" on X include clicks, while Instagram's total interactions do not. For your own reports, pick a consistent definition. A common choice is likes (or reactions) + comments + shares + saves, with clicks added where the network reports them.
The four main engagement rate formulas
1. Engagement rate by reach
Formula: engagements ÷ reach × 100
Reach is the number of unique accounts that saw a post. Instagram's documentation, for example, defines reach as the number of unique users who saw the media at least once. This formula answers: "Of the people who saw this, what share interacted?"
Worked example: an Instagram carousel reached 3,200 accounts and received 140 likes, 12 comments, 9 shares and 39 saves.
- Engagements: 140 + 12 + 9 + 39 = 200
- Engagement rate by reach: 200 ÷ 3,200 × 100 = 6.25%
Use it when: comparing your own posts with each other, testing formats or posting times, and judging content quality. It corrects for the fact that some posts are shown to far more people than others.
Limitation: reach is only visible to the account owner, so you cannot use it for competitors.
2. Engagement rate by impressions (or views)
Formula: engagements ÷ impressions × 100
Impressions count every time a post is shown, including repeat views by the same person. X's help centre defines engagement rate in exactly this way: the number of engagements divided by impressions. LinkedIn's API engagement metric is also calculated over impressions.
Worked example: a LinkedIn company post had 5,400 impressions, 61 reactions, 8 comments, 4 reposts and 89 clicks.
- Engagements: 61 + 8 + 4 + 89 = 162
- Engagement rate by impressions: 162 ÷ 5,400 × 100 = 3.0%
A note on Instagram and Facebook: Meta has moved towards a "views" metric. Instagram's API documentation marks impressions as deprecated for media created after 2 July 2024 and defines views as the total number of times the media has been played on Instagram. If you report on Instagram, use views as the denominator where you previously used impressions, and note the switch in your report so older figures are not compared like for like.
Use it when: reporting on X and LinkedIn (so your numbers match their dashboards), analysing paid campaigns that are bought on impressions, and measuring video where views are the main metric.
Limitation: because impressions include repeat views, this rate is usually lower than the rate by reach for the same post. A post that people see several times can look less engaging than it really is.
3. Engagement rate by followers
Formula: engagements ÷ followers × 100
This compares interactions with the size of the account rather than with the actual audience for the post.
Worked example: a TikTok video received 1,250 likes, 85 comments, 140 shares and 325 saves. The account has 24,000 followers.
- Engagements: 1,250 + 85 + 140 + 325 = 1,800
- Engagement rate by followers: 1,800 ÷ 24,000 × 100 = 7.5%
Notice a problem: on video-first networks, a large share of views can come from people who do not follow you. If that video was shown to 60,000 accounts, the engagement rate by reach would be 1,800 ÷ 60,000 × 100 = 3.0%. The follower-based figure flatters the post because it ignores most of the audience.
Use it when: comparing with competitors or influencers (follower counts and public engagements are visible to anyone), or when you only have public data.
Limitation: it ignores non-follower reach and tends to decline as follower counts grow, even if content quality stays the same.
4. Average engagement rate per post
Formula: sum of each post's engagement rate ÷ number of posts
This gives a single figure for a period, such as a month. Calculate each post's rate using one of the formulas above, then average them.
Worked example: five LinkedIn posts in October had engagement rates by impressions of 3.0%, 2.4%, 4.1%, 1.9% and 3.6%.
- Sum: 3.0 + 2.4 + 4.1 + 1.9 + 3.6 = 15.0
- Average engagement rate per post: 15.0 ÷ 5 = 3.0%
An alternative is to divide total engagements by total reach (or impressions) for the period. That weights large posts more heavily, which is useful when you care about overall audience response rather than the typical post. Choose one approach and stick with it.
Use it when: reporting monthly or quarterly performance, comparing networks or tracking a trend over time.
Formula comparison at a glance
| Formula | Calculation | Best for | Main weakness | Works for competitors? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By reach | Engagements ÷ reach × 100 | Comparing your own posts and formats | Reach is private | No |
| By impressions / views | Engagements ÷ impressions (or views) × 100 | X, LinkedIn, paid and video reporting | Repeat views lower the rate | No (except public view counts) |
| By followers | Engagements ÷ followers × 100 | Competitor and influencer benchmarking | Ignores non-follower reach | Yes |
| Average per post | Sum of post rates ÷ number of posts | Monthly and quarterly reports | Hides individual outliers | Depends on base formula |
Which engagement rate formula should you use?
Use this simple decision guide:
- Comparing your own posts? Use engagement rate by reach.
- Reporting on X or LinkedIn, or on ads? Use engagement rate by impressions so your numbers match the platform.
- Reporting on video (Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts)? Use views as the denominator, and add a reach-based figure if you have it.
- Benchmarking against competitors or vetting creators? Use engagement rate by followers, since it is the only one you can calculate from public data.
- Summarising a month or quarter? Use average engagement rate per post, built on one of the formulas above.
Whichever you choose, add a short note to every report stating the formula and the actions counted. Two people calculating "engagement rate" differently can produce numbers that differ by several times for the same post.
How to calculate engagement rate in a spreadsheet
- Export or copy each post's metrics from the network's native analytics into a sheet: date, network, post link, likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks, reach, impressions or views, followers on that date.
- Add a column for total engagements, for example
=SUM(D2:H2)across the action columns you count. - Add a column for engagement rate by reach:
=I2/J2*100if total engagements are in column I and reach in column J. - Repeat for impressions or followers if you need them.
- Use
=AVERAGE()on the rate column to get the average per post for the period.
Keep a link to each live post in the sheet so you can check context later. PilotPost shows a link to each published post, which makes it quick to open the native analytics for that post. PilotPost does not calculate engagement rate itself, so this spreadsheet approach is the way to track it.
Tips to make your engagement rate more meaningful
- Compare like with like. Do not compare a Reel's view-based rate with a text post's reach-based rate.
- Wait the same amount of time. Collect metrics at a fixed point, for example seven days after posting, so newer posts are not at a disadvantage.
- Look at the mix, not just the total. Saves and shares often signal stronger interest than likes, so track them separately too.
- Pair it with other metrics. Engagement rate is one of several social media KPIs. A post with a lower rate but many link clicks may still be the one that drives sales.
- Use it to plan. Feed your best-performing pillars and formats back into your content calendar.
Once you know which posts work, the next step is publishing more of them consistently. If you want to schedule them across your networks from one place, you can create a PilotPost account.
FAQ
What is the formula for engagement rate?
The general formula is engagements divided by an audience figure, multiplied by 100. The audience figure can be reach, impressions (or views) or followers, depending on what you want to measure. For comparing your own posts, engagement rate by reach is usually the most useful version.
Should I calculate engagement rate by reach or by followers?
Use reach when you are analysing your own content, because it reflects the people who actually saw each post. Use followers when you need to compare with other accounts, because follower counts and public engagements are the only data available for accounts you do not manage.
How does X calculate engagement rate?
According to X's help centre, engagement rate is the number of engagements divided by impressions. Engagements include any click on the post, such as reposts, replies, likes and link clicks. That is why X engagement rates can look different from rates you calculate yourself using only likes and replies.
Do saves and shares count as engagement?
Yes, in most definitions. Instagram's total interactions metric includes likes, saves, comments and shares. Whatever you include, use the same set of actions every time so your numbers stay comparable.
Why is my engagement rate lower when I use impressions?
Impressions count every time a post is shown, including repeat views by the same person, so the denominator is larger than reach. The same number of engagements divided by a larger number gives a lower percentage. Neither figure is wrong; they measure different things.