The average engagement rate on Instagram is one of the most relevant indicators to understand the performance of content on social media. Through it, it is possible to evaluate the relationship between the number of interactions that the content receives and the number of people who saw it. But what is the engagement rate, and why is it so important?
What is the engagement rate?
The engagement rate represents the percentage of interactions with the content, relative to the total number of people who viewed it. This interaction can be represented by likes, comments, shares or even saving the post to view later.
The importance of the engagement rate
Analyzing the average engagement rate on Instagram offers a valuable perspective on content performance. Through this metric, it is possible to identify the content that most arouses the interest of the target audience, adjust the content strategy based on this information and even compare the performance of your brand with that of competitors.
The performance of the engagement rate can be analyzed over time, allowing comparisons between different months and years. In addition, it is a useful tool to compare different rubrics and content typologies, helping to understand which formats are best received by your audience.
Average Engagement Rate on Instagram
The average interaction rate on Instagram can vary quite a lot depending on the type of post and the number of followers. Still, there are some studies that allow us to have a reference to analyze the Engagement Rate:
A study conducted by buzzmonitor.com, with more than 30,000 Instagram profiles, tells us that the average interaction rate is 4.7%. However, this statistic can vary according to the type of profile and sector. For example, “Public Figure” profiles have a much higher interaction rate (5.77%) and are counted in this average.
On the other hand, pages with more followers have a lower interaction rate. According to hypeauditor.com, the interaction rate of pages with more than 100k followers can drop to 1%.
According to websiterating.com, posts with photos have, on average, an interaction rate 44% higher than posts with video.
These pieces of information give us an overview of the average interaction rates on Instagram, but it’s important to remember that these rates can vary based on a series of factors, including the nature of the content, the target audience, the frequency of posting, and much more.
Comparison with Competition
Comparing the performance of the average engagement rate on Instagram between your company and the competition can be a challenge, as it is not always possible to have access to reliable competitor data. There are some tools that can help in this analysis, such as SEMrush, SocialBlade and Phlanx. These tools provide information on the performance of Instagram accounts, including the engagement rate.
The Effect of Advertising
Naturally, investment in advertising has a significant weight on the Engagement Rate. If, on the one hand, it can make it much lower (below 1%), if the objective of the investment is reach, traffic, conversions, or other than interactions, since it greatly increases the reach of the posts, for people who probably will not interact with the post (they will go to the site, for example), if we optimize the investment for the Engagement objective (prioritizing people who usually interact with the contents), for a highly relevant audience for our business, and for the format / placement of Post in Instagram Feed, we can make the engagement rate increase. Additionally, when we advertise online on the Meta Network we have access to much more granular data, which allows us to calculate the engagement rate more accurately and comparably between different brands, with different advertising investments.
Internal Study by BYD: Average Instagram Engagement Rate by Sector
Boost Your Digital (BYD), in its relentless pursuit of knowledge and innovation, conducted an internal study with 30 Instagram management clients. This study focused on the average monthly engagement rate on Instagram, both globally and segmented by industry, in online advertising campaigns.
The results, based on the first half of 2023, revealed interesting trends. On average, the total engagement rate was 23.09%, much higher than the averages mentioned above. However, when we analyze by sector, we see that there are significant differences.
For example, the Real Estate sector currently has the highest Engagement Rate, at 21.31%, closely followed by Tourism and Restaurants, with 20.95% and Health and Beauty, with 20.22%. On the other hand, E-commerce has the worst Engagement Rate, at 11.12%, with a very clear justification: the majority of these brands’ online investments go to Product Consideration and Sales Conversion, so most ads are optimized for Traffic to the Online Store and for Transactions/ROAS. As expected, B2B pages on Instagram also have a much lower Interaction Rate, at 12.81%.
NOTE: For the calculation of the engagement rate of this study, only the results of investments in online advertising in the Instagram Feed were analyzed, from campaigns with the objective of Engagement, from 30 brands of clients currently managed by BYD. The total interactions in the publications (reactions, comments, shares, and saves) in a given month were considered, over the reach (people who saw, at least, one post) in that month. Then, we calculated the average of the first 6 months of the year.
Unique Engagement Rate vs Total Engagement Rate
One of the most important aspects to consider when analyzing the engagement rate is how it is calculated. There are different approaches, all of them correct, but they can result in different values. BYD recommends the use of the unique engagement rate, which divides all interactions with a publication (or with a page), by the total number of people who saw that publication or page.
In contrast, the total engagement rate divides the sum of all interactions of a post or page, by the total number of impressions (the total number of times the post was viewed, regardless of the number of people).
For example, if a post was seen 120 times, by 100 people, and received 6 interactions, the total engagement rate would be 5%, while the unique engagement rate would be 6%.
This distinction is important not only when analyzing the performance of your own content, but also when comparing your average Instagram engagement rate with that of competitors.
Engagement Rate of a Post vs Total Page Engagement Rate
When analyzing the engagement rate, it is crucial to understand the difference between measuring the engagement rate of a specific post and the total engagement rate of the page. While both provide valuable insights, they offer different perspectives on content performance.
The engagement rate of a post is measured by the proportion of interactions on a single post relative to the number of people who have seen it. This metric can be particularly useful for analyzing the performance of specific content (or even sections/categories), helping to identify what types of posts are most appealing to the target audience.
On the other hand, the total engagement rate of the page considers all interactions on all posts of your page during a certain period (e.g., a month), divided by the total number of people who have seen those posts. Unlike the engagement rate of a post, this metric provides an overview of the audience’s interaction with the profile as a whole. It is natural for it to be significantly higher than that of a single post since the number of people who have seen any post on the page in a month is lower than the sum of the reach of all the posts in that month.
NOTE: It is important to ensure that we do not include the reach of stories in this page analysis, as it is much higher but with considerably fewer interactions.
These two metrics, when considered together, offer a complete picture of content performance on Instagram. Ideally, we should consistently analyze both to ensure that we are maximizing our content strategy on social media.
Considerations to be made when analyzing Instagram Engagement Rate
Meta Network has been significantly changing the way it calculates the engagement rate provided in the Insights. Currently, the formula used to calculate it is not disclosed. Therefore, it is crucial to exercise caution when comparing this engagement rate with those of other platforms and/or manually calculated rates (such as the one done by BYD).
Currently, BYD employs two methods for calculating the Engagement Rate:
1) Profiles with Ongoing Investment in Online Advertising: We ensure a regular investment in all Instagram posts, with a defined optimization goal to increase interaction. Subsequently, we use the information provided by Meta Ads Manager to create a customized metric in our reports:
2) Profiles without Investment: We use a tool called Whatagraph to create this customized metric.
Additionally, it is crucial to understand which interactions are being counted. Whether it is only comments, reactions, shares, and saves, or if it also includes other clicks or even views of videos/photographs. This is important because all these elements are included in the default Engagement metric of Meta Ads.
Conclusion: The Power of Average Engagement Rate on Instagram
Throughout this article, we have discussed the critical role that the average engagement rate on Instagram plays in evaluating the success of content produced on social media. We have seen that this metric is a valuable tool for measuring the audience’s interest and response to the content we share. Additionally, we have explored the importance of comparing engagement rates fairly, whether between different time periods, different types of content, or even among competitors.
Thanks to the internal study conducted by BYD, we have been able to provide an example of the average engagement rate on Instagram across different industries, highlighting the need to consider the specificities of each sector when analyzing these metrics. Lastly, but not least, we have differentiated between the engagement rate of a single post and the total engagement rate of the page, clarifying the relevance of each of these metrics for a comprehensive evaluation of content performance.
However, it is important to remember that while the average engagement rate on Instagram is a valuable metric, it should not be the only one to be considered. A balanced and integrated approach that takes into account various metrics and encompasses a holistic understanding of the target audience will continue to be the key to success on social media.
The digital era presents a constantly changing landscape, full of challenges and opportunities. With proper analysis and a precise understanding of metrics like the average engagement rate on Instagram, your company will be well-equipped to navigate this terrain and effectively reach the target audience. Boost Your Digital remains committed to providing the best strategies and insights to help our clients’ businesses achieve their defined objectives.
