Glossary / Instagram

Industry terms

Engagement rate

Engagement rate is the share of people who interacted with your content (liked, commented, shared or saved) compared with how many followers you have or how many people saw it.

Also called: ER, engagement

By Aulto · Last reviewed

How is it calculated?

Usually: interactions divided by followers, or by reach, times 100. The two methods give different numbers, so say which one you mean.

What's a good engagement rate?

It depends heavily on account size, niche and format, so compare yourself with your own past posts and similar accounts rather than a single magic number.

Why do brands ask for it?

It suggests whether an audience actually pays attention, which matters more to them than follower count alone.

Example

A post seen by 10,000 accounts with 600 likes, comments, shares and saves has a 6% engagement rate by reach.

  • Reach

    Reach is the number of different accounts that saw your content at least once.

  • Rate card

    A rate card is a creator's price list for brand work, with a price for each format, like a reel, story or post, plus extras like usage rights.

  • Media kit

    A media kit is a creator's one- or two-page summary for brands: who they are, their audience, their reach and engagement, and past collaborations.

  • Auto-reply

    An auto-reply is a message sent automatically in response to a DM, comment or keyword, so people get an answer without waiting for someone to type it.

  • Carousel post

    A carousel post is an Instagram post with several photos or videos that people swipe through, up to 20 in one post.

  • Close Friends

    Close Friends is an Instagram list of people you choose; content shared to it is seen only by them and marked with a green badge.

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