Glossary
Engagement rate
Engagement rate (ER) is the ratio between the interactions generated by a social content piece (likes, comments, shares, saves) and its exposed audience (reach, impressions, or follower count), expressed as a percentage.
Also known as
- engagement rate
- ER
- engagement rate
There are **3 competing formulas** for engagement rate, a source of constant confusion: (1) **ER by reach** = interactions / reach (the most accurate), (2) **ER by impressions** = interactions / impressions (often lower since it counts repeat views), (3) **ER by followers** = interactions / follower count (the most used for benchmarking but heavily biased for large accounts where only 1-5% of followers see any given post).
2026 benchmarks by platform (Rival IQ, Hootsuite, Phlanx): **LinkedIn** average ER ~2.9% (top quartile >5%), **Instagram** ~0.5% by followers / 4-6% by reach, **TikTok** ~5-9% by reach (the highest), **X/Twitter** ~0.05% by followers (the lowest), **Facebook** ~0.07% by followers. On B2B LinkedIn, a post above 5% ER by reach is considered viral for the niche. Any cross-account comparison must always specify which formula was used.
In the getchatsocial.com product
getchatsocial.com exposes engagement rate per post (`get_post_analytics`) and compares it to the account's niche benchmark (`brandyze_whats_working`) to identify overperforming patterns.
FAQ
What engagement rate should you target on B2B LinkedIn?
Average B2B LinkedIn engagement rate 2026: ~2.9% (measured by reach). A post above 5% by reach is considered viral for the niche. Below 1%, content is underperforming.
Why does my engagement rate drop as my audience grows?
It's mathematical: only 1-5% of your followers see each post (social algorithm). The more followers you have, the more diluted the share that sees each post becomes. This is why "ER by reach" is more meaningful than "ER by followers" for large accounts.