What’s your Instagram engagement rate? Not sure (or kinda sure but want it to be better?) This blog is for you!

Below I’m going to break down 3 different ways to calculate your Instagram engagement rate quickly, easily, and accurately, AND I’ll also be sharing the exact Instagram engagement rate you should aim for based on your current follower count! Knowing this information will allow you to measure the success and effectiveness of your content, give you a goal to strive for, and ensure you become (or remain) the authority in your niche, on Instagram!

Prefer to watch the video version of this blog post? Check out my YouTube Video!

So what is an Instagram Engagement Rate?

Your Instagram engagement rate is a % that represents how well your content is performing. Of course, the higher the % the better, but your Instagram engagement rate says more than just that.. It also:

1. Tells you if the content you’re creating is resonating with your audience or not
2. Helps build authority in your niche, in the eyes of your audience (the more engagement you have, the more authority people will perceive you have)
3. Is used as a qualifying factor for brands and companies who might want to work with you.

We can use a simple calculation to determine your Instagram engagement rate, but let me set your expectations first.. It’s pretty hard to achieve a high engagement rate these days, BUT it’s not your fault! Rather it’s a by-product of how the Instagram algorithm works..

*Remember: if you have 1,000 followers that does not mean that all 1,000 will be shown your post. Because of this limitation, it makes having a drastically high engagement rate practically impossible to achieve (however there are plenty of ways to get the algorithm on your side & boost your engagement, which you can find here.)

* Related Post: How to Get More Likes on Instagram – 15 Proven Tips to Organically Increase Your Engagement!

What is a good Instagram Engagement Rate? 

As I mentioned, the higher your engagement rate the better, however it will drastically change based on the amount of followers you have (typically, the more followers you have, the lower your engagement will be!)

So, based on your follower count, here is the Instagram engagement rate I think you should have (or at least, be aiming for!): 

* If you have 0 to 5,000 followers you should have a 10 – 20%+ engagement rate.

* If you have 5,000 to 10,000 followers you should have a 5% – 10% engagement rate* .

* If you have 10,000 to 50,000 followers you should have 3% – 5% engagement rate.

* And finally, if you have at 50,000 or more followers you should have 1% – 3%+ engagement rate.

Now, of course, having higher engagement rates than these suggestions would be fantastic, but these are the general averages. So you at the very least want to be inside of them!

Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator

Now that you know what you should be aiming for, you need to know how to accurately calculate your Instagram engagement rate! There three different methods you can use that take into account varying elements of your post analytics.

To make this super easy, I’ve created a FREE Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator for you! All you have to do is click here to download a copy, input your numbers, and it will automatically give you your engagement rate per post, as well as an average engagement rate for your account as a whole.

The first method (and the first tab of the calculator I provided you) takes into account your current following and your total post interactions. Post interactions are a sum of the different actions a user can take on your post. This includes: likes, comments, saves and shares.

To find your Instagram engagement rate using this method, take the sum of the likes, comments, saves and shares (which you can find in your post analytics) from a recent post and divide it by your follower count, then multiply it by 100 to get a percentage.

Method 1 Calculation:

likes + comments + saves + shares / follower count x 100

This method is the most common and most accurate and I recommend it for when you’re trying to determine how your account is performing as a whole and also in relation to others in your niche.

The second method will calculate your engagement rate based on your post reach (rather than your follower count which we used in the first method). To find your Instagram engagement rate using this method, take the total of your post interactions and divide it by your post reach, then multiply it by 100.

Method 2 Calculation:

likes + comments + saves + shares / post reach x 100

This method could be considered slightly more accurate as it’s based specifically on how many people saw your post, which will give you a good idea of how well it’s performing, but I don’t personally think it’s the most appropriate way to represent your influence to brands that want to work with you.

The fact that your account is not reaching more people is a potential problem, and it shouldn’t be taken out of the equation if you’re using these numbers to help identify areas of improvement.

The final method is based off the amount of impressions your post received. This calculation is total post interactions divided by impressions and multiplied by 100. This method will likely result in a percentage lower than the previous calculation, but it is good for measuring the effectiveness of your content because it takes into account 100% of the times your posts was seen.

Method 3 Calculation:

likes + comments + saves + shares / impressions x 100

When using the methods above you can quickly figure out the engagement rate of each individual post on your feed but you really should be looking at your account as a whole as well.

To do this, download my Free Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator and input your numbers – not only will it show you the engagement rates of your most recent posts (which you can then compare against each other to see what type of content performs better for you), you’ll also see your overall account engagement rate based on the last 5 or 10 posts.

Then below that you will see an automatic calculation of your average account engagement over the last five and 10 posts, which will give you a good idea of how your account is performing overall!

Of course the higher, the number is the better, but don’t beat yourself up about it. If you can stay within the guidelines I shared with you at the beginning of this video, you’re doing a great job.

So there you have it, three ways to calculate your Instagram engagement rate and an Instagram engagement rate calculator you can use to easily keep an eye on your engagement rate! Don’t forget to download your copy here!