One of the ongoing challenges for agencies and brands is accurately assessing an influencer’s true performance. While the Engagement Rate (ER) is a widely used indicator, interpreting it correctly requires knowing which version of the metric you are reviewing.
At SocialTalk, we provide three distinct engagement rate calculations to give you a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of each influencer’s impact:
Engagement Rate by Followers (ERF)
Engagement Rate by Reach (ERR)
Engagement Rate by Impressions (ERI)
Below, we outline how each is calculated, along with their advantages and limitations.
1. Engagement Rate by Followers (ERF)
Formula:
ERF = (Engagements / Total Followers) X 100
Pros:
Simple and widely recognized metric.
Useful for top-level comparisons across influencers.
Works even when reach and impression data are unavailable.
Cons:
Can be misleading for influencers with inflated or inactive followers.
Doesn’t reflect how many users actually saw the content.
May undervalue creators with smaller but highly engaged audiences.
2. Engagement Rate by Reach (ERR)
Formula:
ERR = (Engagements / Reach) X 100
Pros:
Reflects actual viewer engagement.
More accurate when evaluating content effectiveness.
Ideal for understanding the impact among the audience who saw the post.
Cons:
Requires access to reach data, which may not always be available.
Can vary significantly depending on content visibility and algorithmic distribution.
3. Engagement Rate by Impressions (ERI)
Formula:
ERI = (Engagements / Impressions) X 100
Pros:
Best for performance-focused analysis.
Useful to measure engagement on content shown multiple times.
Helpful when analyzing frequency effects and saturation levels.
Cons:
Influenced by impression count, which can dilute the rate.
Doesn’t differentiate between unique users and repeated views.
Which Should You Use?
Each engagement rate type serves a different purpose, depending on your analysis goals:
Use Case | Recommended Metric |
General benchmarking or initial review | ER by Followers |
Measuring content appeal among actual viewers | ER by Reach |
Evaluating ad fatigue or repeated exposure impact | ER by Impressions |
With SocialTalk, you can use these metrics seamlessly when analyzing influencer profiles and performance.