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How to Check Instagram Engagement Rate (And Why It Matters)

Posted on 29th Jun, 2025.

TL;DR (The Short Version)

What is Engagement Rate?

Your engagement rate basically looks at how much interaction you receive on your post, versus how many followers you have. These interactions include likes, comments, shares, saves, story replies, sticker taps, profile visits, basically, any meaningful action that shows your followers are paying attention.

For example, somebody with only 100 followers who gets comments and likes from around 10 users every time has a high engagement rate because it's 10%. On the flip side, someone with 10,000 followers who gets only 100 likes per post has an engagement rate of just 1%, which is relatively low.

It doesn't mean you're a big creator, it's more of a measure of how engaged your audience is with your content. Likewise, a large creator (in terms of follower count), could have a poor engagement rate. So while follower count shows potential reach, engagement rate reveals actual impact.

Why is Your Engagement Rate Important?

Whether you’re an influencer, brand, or content creator, engagement rate is a key performance indicator. Here’s why it matters:

Authenticity Check: High engagement often signals that your audience genuinely cares about your content.
Brand Partnerships: Brands looking for influencers often prioritize engagement over follower count.
Content Effectiveness: It helps you understand what kind of content works and what doesn’t.
Platform Algorithms: Most social media platforms reward content with high engagement by pushing it to more users.

Bottom line: engagement is currency in the digital world.

That means if you plan on purchasing followers, it's always a good idea to purchase likes and views, too, so your engagement rate doesn't suffer.

How to Calculate Engagement Rate

The most common way to calculate your engagement rate is using your engagement and follower count. Try this formula:

Engagement Rate (%) = (Total Engagements / Total Followers) × 100

Where:

Total Engagements = likes + comments + shares + saves (or whatever actions you’re tracking)

Total Followers = your follower count at the time of the post

📌 Example:

You get 300 total engagements on a post, and you have 5,000 followers.

Engagement Rate = (300 / 5000) × 100 = 6%.

Some people prefer to calculate engagement based on reach or impressions, especially for ads or promoted content. But for regular organic content, followers are the standard benchmark, and if you're hoping to bag a brand partnership, this is the number they'll typically ask for.

Where to Find Engagament Data

Instagram provides analytics directly within the app if you have a Business or Creator account:

Go to your profile and tap the Menu (≡) in the top right.
Select Insights.
Tap on Content You Shared to view metrics for individual posts, Stories, Reels, and Lives.
Look for metrics like:

Likes
Comments
Saves
Shares
Profile visits
Story interactions (replies, sticker taps, link clicks).

If you only have a personal account, you'll need to switch to a business/creator account for more insights.

What is a Good Engagement Rate?

What is considered a good 'engagement rate' depends somewhat on your follower count. Micro-influencers will often have a more engaged following and naturally a higher engagement rate, because the smaller follower count means fewer followers make up a higher percentage.

For any size creator, an enagement rate of 5% is great and an average engagement rate is around 3.5%. Creators will followers in the millions might experience a smaller rate of around 1-3%, while accounts with fewer than 10k followers might enjoy an engagement rate of around 10%.

Remember, while engagement rate isn't the only metric to check, it can be extremely valuable, especially when it comes to checking which type of content best resonates with your audience.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to see engagement rate on Instagram?

Instagram doesn’t show your engagement rate directly, but you can calculate it by:

Checking the performance of a post via Insights.
Adding up the likes, comments, saves, and shares.
Using the formula: Engagement Rate = (Total Engagements ÷ Followers) × 100.

There are also some third-party apps that help you figure out your engagement rate.

What is a really good engagement rate on Instagram?

Anything above 5% is considered an above-average engagement rate for a creator of any sizes, especially huge influencers. An engagement rate below 1% (especially for smaller creators) is considered poor, and you should work to improve it.

Engagement is the most important metric to track on Insta, and knowing how well you're currently appealing to your audience can help you improve your reach. By understanding how to calculate it, where to find the right data, and how to improve your numbers, you’re setting yourself up for smarter, more effective growth on Instagram. You never know, before long you'll get that viral post!