Instagram Engagement Rate: Everything You Need to Know
Learn what the metric means, how to measure it, and what the average engagement rate is on Instagram, as well as Flick’s best practices to boost your engagement on Instagram.
Posted 6 months ago
Written by
Mackenzie TaylorPosted 6 months ago
Alongside simpler metrics such as your follower count, the number of impressions, and link click-throughs, tracking your engagement rate on Instagram is an important way to measure growth.
With that said, we’ve put together this guide to everything you need to know about engagement rates on Instagram. Learn what the metric means, how to measure it, and what the average engagement rate is on Instagram, as well as Flick’s best practices to boost your engagement on Instagram. Let’s dive right in…
What Is The “Engagement Rate” Metric on Instagram?
Engagement rate is a metric that tracks how much your audience interacts with your content. Your Instagram engagement rate is the total number of users who like, comment, share, or save a post, divided by the total amount of users who saw that post.
Why Is Engagement Rate On Instagram Important?
Engagement rate is arguably the most important Instagram metric to focus on for two reasons:
- When measured alongside the number of impressions, it provides real data on how much users like your content.
A high engagement rate means you are creating content that your audience wants to see. Knowing which of your posts, stories, IGTV, and Reels garner the most engagement allows you to drive your content strategy based on real results.
When users engage with your content, it indicates that you have a good relationship with them, shows their affinity to your brand, and gives you credibility in your niche. Engagement can also facilitate referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, especially if your audience is tagging other users in comments or sharing your content.
- Engagement is linked to the algorithm, so Instagram will give greater visibility to posts that already have a high engagement rate.
Getting high engagement rates on Instagram will help your content get better reach. This is because the algorithm is more likely to show your content to users who consistently engage with it, and to users who engage with similar content from other accounts.
So, the higher your engagement rate, the better its visibility will be, driving even higher engagement, especially when combined with an effective Instagram hashtag strategy.
The Instagram algorithm’s assessment of your engagement rate and promotion of your post depends on a few different factors. How recently your post was shared, your existing relationship with the users engaging with your content, and your users’ past behavior in terms of interaction and overall app usage are all taken into account.
How To Check Engagement Rate On Instagram
If you have a Creator or Business account on Instagram, you can check your engagement metrics on Instagram Insights. Here you’ll find the number of likes, comments, shares, saves, and profile visits, as well as your reach and impressions data. You can then use these insights to calculate your engagement rate.
How to Calculate Engagement Rate On Instagram
There are a few different ways to calculate engagement rates on Instagram. As a rule, the metric is worked out based on the number of interactions with your content divided by another metric like reach, impressions, or followers.
Flick’s powerful Instagram Analytics tool calculates your engagement rate for you, based on your number of followers. We then track it automatically over time, allowing you to monitor improvements based on your content and hashtag strategies.
If you’re not using an analytics tool like Flick, you’ll have to check your metrics via Instagram Insights to work out your engagement rate.
Looking for a free engagement rate calculator? Here’s the equation we use:
(Likes, comments, and shares per post)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– X 100
Total number of followers
Best Practice for Calculating Engagement Rate
While engagement rate provides critical insight for measuring your success on Instagram, you should always consider it in the context of your other metrics. For example, 500 likes and comments make for high engagement on a post with just 1,000 impressions, but it’s not so impressive on a post seen by 50,000 people.
Below are the most important Instagram Analytics you should monitor alongside the engagement rate for growth:
- Average engagements per post: the average amount of engagement you get across all posts in a given time period
- Average reach per post: the average amount of reach you get across posts in a given time period.
- Number of posts: the total amount of feed posts you made in a given time period.
- Reach rate: the average reach of your feed posts, compared to the number of followers you have in a given time period.
What Is The Average Monthly Engagement Rate?
The average monthly engagement rate on Instagram is currently 14.6%. Flick’s Analytics Suite includes access to Instagram Analytics Open Benchmarks, meaning that you can monitor and compare your engagement rate to live metrics on 40,000+ other accounts on Instagram.
What Is A Good Engagement Rate on Instagram?
While we’ve included the average engagement rate on Instagram above, it’s worth noting that the metric can vary hugely depending on your industry and number of followers.
So, here’s a guide to understanding what is good and bad engagement on the platform based on accounts with more than 15k followers:
Instagram Engagement Chart
| < 1% | very low engagement |
| 1 – 6 % | low engagement |
| 6 – 12 % | average engagement |
| 12 – 20 % | high engagement |
| > 20 % | very high engagement |
Has Engagement Rate on Instagram Changed Over Time?
The average engagement rate is ever-changing, which is why it’s so important to keep tracking your own metrics over time and comparing them to other accounts using Open Benchmarks.
How Can I Improve My Engagement Rate On Instagram?
- Create quality content: Use your engagement rate to inform your content strategy. Take inspiration from your own (and your competitors’) posts that have shown high engagement to make posts you know your audience will love.
The key to using hashtags for growth on Instagram is including the right balance of niche and high-reach keywords relative to your account’s performance. This is known as the Instagram ladder hashtag strategy and it’s seen great success amongst Flick users and across the platform.
- Write conversation-starting captions with compelling CTAs: Give users a reason to respond. That could mean asking them questions and posting answers or actioning their feedback to show you value their input. Or, it could involve providing some sort of reward when they click through or interact: for example, travel influencers could offer a free city guide via the link in their bio.
- Cultivate a great relationship with your audience: Maintain proactive and reactive communication with your followers. Respond and reply to their comments. Tag users in your comments before they see the post to encourage their interaction.
- Cross-share your content: Increase your reach and therefore the chances of users engaging by sharing posts on your story, IGTV, and Reels to your feed, and so on. You could also leverage your other social media platforms by sharing on TikTok, for example, and encouraging followers to join you on Instagram.
- Post consistently and at the right time: Timing is key and the Instagram algorithm seems to reward consistency. Use Flick’s Instagram Analytics to define when your followers are most active online and post them to maximize engagement opportunities.
- Make sure collaborators also have high engagement: If you’re considering working with other influencers or brands, check their average engagement rate to gauge how successful your collaboration will be.
Track Your Engagement Rate With Flick
Engagement rate is one of the most important metrics to track on Instagram. It gives a clear indication of how much your audience likes your content and allows you to create an informed content strategy. Not only that, but the Instagram algorithm recognizes and grants greater visibility to posts and accounts with high engagement rates. It’s a no-brainer, really!
Sign up now for a free 7-day trial of Flick and track your engagement rate as it grows with our powerful Analytics Suite.
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