What is engagement rate?

In short: Likes, comments, shares and saves divided by views (or followers), shown as a percentage.

Engagement rate shows how many people did something with your video instead of only watching. The by-views version, (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ views × 100, is best for judging one video. The by-followers version is what brands and published reports often use.

Brands look at engagement rate when they decide what to pay for a sponsored post, so it's worth tracking even before you're monetized.

Example

Say a video gets 500 likes, 40 comments, 30 shares and 30 saves, for 600 interactions. It had 20,000 views, and you have 8,000 followers (hypothetical numbers). By views: 600 ÷ 20,000 × 100 = 3%. By followers: 600 ÷ 8,000 × 100 = 7.5%. Same video, two different rates. Neither is wrong, but you can only compare a rate with others worked out the same way, so say which method you used whenever you share the number.

Tips for creators

• Pick one method, by views or by followers, and stick with it. The two rates aren't comparable, so mixing them makes your trend meaningless.
• Share your average across recent videos with a brand, not your single top post. An honest number is easier to defend in a negotiation.
• If your app doesn't show saves, leave them out every time rather than guessing. Changing what you count from video to video distorts the comparison.

Common questions

What is a good engagement rate on TikTok?

One published benchmark, Quid's 2026 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, puts the median at 2.01% per post on TikTok and 0.30% on Instagram. It divides by followers and covers company accounts, not individual creators, so use it as rough context only.

Why is my engagement rate over 100%?

That happens with the by-followers method when a video reaches far more people than follow you and gets more interactions than your follower count. It is one reason the by-views method is better for judging a single video.

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All 29 glossary terms · Reviewed on 2026-11-05.