What is TikTok engagement rate?
TikTok engagement rate is a metric that measures the level of engagement and interaction that your TikTok videos receive from viewers. It calculates the percentage of people who engaged with your content out of your total number of followers or views (Source: https://keyhole.co/blog/top-tiktok-engagement-rate-tips/).
Engagement on TikTok includes likes, comments, shares, follows, clicks, views, etc. A high engagement rate signals that your content resonates with your audience and keeps them engaged. It is an important metric because it indicates how captivating and high-quality your videos are.
Tracking engagement rates over time can help you identify trends and optimize your content strategy. You want to aim for consistently high engagement rates as that will lead to more video views, follows and better placement by TikTok’s recommendation algorithm.
Calculating your TikTok engagement rate
The formula for calculating your TikTok engagement rate is:
(Number of likes + number of comments + number of shares) / Total number of followers x 100
To calculate it, you’ll need to know the following numbers from your TikTok analytics for a specific video or your overall profile:
- Total number of likes on your videos/profile
- Total number of comments on your videos/profile
- Total number of shares of your videos/profile (also known as reshares)
- Total number of followers
Add up the total likes, comments, and shares, then divide that number by your total number of followers. Finally, multiply the result by 100 to get your engagement rate percentage.
For example, if you had a video with 100 likes, 50 comments, and 20 shares, and you have 1,000 followers, your engagement rate would be: (100 + 50 + 20) / 1000 x 100 = 17%
The higher the engagement rate, the more your followers are interacting with and sharing your content. An engagement rate of 5-10% is considered good for TikTok. Anything above 10% is considered excellent.
Where to find your TikTok insights
To access your TikTok Analytics, you’ll need to have a TikTok Creator account. This is different from a personal TikTok account. With a Creator account, you get access to TikTok Analytics which provides data and metrics to analyze your content performance.
To view your TikTok Analytics, open the TikTok app and tap on the “Profile” icon in the bottom right. Then tap on the 3 bars in the top right corner to open the side menu. Select “Analytics” to view your data.
The TikTok Analytics page provides an overview of your key metrics for the last 7 days by default. This includes views, likes, comments, shares, play time, and more. You can adjust the date range to go back 28 days or longer. The top chart shows total views and other engagement over time.
Scrolling down shows more detailed analytics and data. The “Content” section shows your top performing videos for the selected period. This lists each video with its views, likes, comments, shares, and watch time. You can tap to get a detailed analysis for each video.
The “Followers” section shows changes and growth of your follower count over time. The “Traffic” section shows sources of views and traffic to your profile and videos. This helps you identify where viewers are finding your content.
Overall, TikTok Analytics provides the key metrics and data points you need to understand your content and account performance. Having access is essential for monitoring engagement over time and making data-driven decisions. Check your Creator Account’s Analytics page regularly to stay on top of your TikTok presence.
Typical engagement rates on TikTok
Average TikTok engagement rate benchmarks can provide a helpful point of reference when evaluating your own performance. However, keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all metric, as many factors can impact engagement rate norms.
According to research by Rival IQ, the average engagement rate per follower across all TikTok accounts is 5.7% https://megadigital.ai/en/blog/tiktok-engagement-rate/. For branded business accounts specifically, Social Insider reports an average engagement rate of 17.96% https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/tiktok-benchmarks/.
Engagement rates tend to be higher for individual creators rather than brands. Niche content focused on a specific target audience also tends to perform better. The number of followers can also impact metrics, with smaller accounts often seeing higher engagement rates.
While benchmarks can provide a helpful guideline, it’s ultimately most important to track engagement over time for your own account and content. This allows you to identify what resonates with your audience and optimize accordingly.
How to improve your TikTok engagement
There are several best practices you can follow to create more engaging content on TikTok and improve your overall engagement rate:
For your videos, focus on creating content that aligns with current trends and challenges on the platform. Utilizing popular sounds, effects, and hashtags that are trending can help more users discover and interact with your videos. You should also aim to entertain or educate your audience by telling interesting stories or sharing unique skills and advice. Videos that elicit an emotional reaction or inspire people to comment tend to see higher engagement.
When writing your video captions, use keywords and hashtags strategically to improve discoverability. But make sure captions are still concise, catchy and conversational. Asking questions and prompting viewers to comment is an easy way to boost engagement. You can also @mention other popular creators to tap into their audience.
Leverage TikTok features like polls, Q&As and duets to get your audience actively participating. Respond to viewer comments, especially in the first hour after posting, to show you care about two-way communication. Going live and engaging with viewers in real time is another great engagement strategy.
Most importantly, post consistently and analyze your analytics to see which types of videos resonate best with your audience. Pay attention to when your followers are most active and aim to post at those high-traffic times.
By following these best practices for creating engaging content, you can organically improve your TikTok engagement rates over time.
Analyzing your top performing TikToks
One of the best ways to improve your TikTok engagement rate is to analyze your top performing videos and learn from them. Within TikTok’s analytics, you can view metrics like plays, likes, comments, shares, profile visits, follows, saves, and more for each individual video.
Sort your video analytics by engagement rate, and pay extra attention to the videos at the very top. Look at factors like the content itself, captions, sounds/music, hashtags used, and when it was posted. See if you can identify common themes among your most popular TikToks.
For example, you may notice certain types of videos get more engagement for your audience. Or find that videos posted at a specific time of day tend to do better. Use these learnings to refine your content strategy going forward.
You can also consider recreating similar videos that play upon the themes and strategies used in your top content. Repurpose the same sounds, captions, effects, etc. This allows you to double down on what’s already working while putting your own creative spin on it.
Analyzing your best TikToks gives you data-backed insights into what your audience responds to best. This helps inform what to make more of, and provides guidance for improving future content.
Measuring engagement over time
When it comes to engagement rate, consistency is key. While achieving a high rate for one TikTok video is great, you want to aim for sustained engagement across multiple videos over time.
To properly track your progress, measure your engagement rate month-to-month or even year-over-year. This will show you how your rate changes over longer periods of time, beyond just individual videos.
Pay attention to trends and seasonality as well. Engagement on TikTok can fluctuate based on real-world events, holidays, and other factors. Your rate may be higher or lower depending on the time of year.
By analyzing your engagement over the long-term, you can identify patterns and optimize your content strategy accordingly. Strive for steady improvement over time, rather than getting discouraged by short-term drops.
Consistently tracking engagement rates enables you to set realistic goals and celebrate when you achieve new milestones. With a data-driven approach, you can build an engaged community that keeps growing.
Benchmarking against competitors
One effective way to evaluate your TikTok engagement rate is to compare it against competitors in your niche. Finding the top accounts in your industry and analyzing their engagement metrics can provide a benchmark to aim for.
To start, search for relevant hashtags and keywords related to your niche to discover competitor accounts. Once you’ve identified the top channels, go to their profiles and view the engagement data on their posts. Take note of their follower count, views, likes, comments, and shares. According to this guide, examining competitors’ engagement rates helps you identify what good performance looks like in your industry.
By comparing your engagement to competitors in a similar niche, you can get a sense of where you stand. If your rates are lower, this indicates opportunities to improve your content and community interaction. Regularly benchmarking top accounts can motivate you to test new strategies and aim higher. While metrics vary widely between niches, maintaining an above-average engagement rate for your field suggests you’re on the right track.
Setting Engagement Goals
Having realistic engagement rate goals for your TikTok account is important for steady growth. According to industry benchmarks, a good goal for most accounts is an engagement rate between 3-7%. However, many top creators see engagement rates from 15-25% https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-engagement/.
When setting engagement goals, first take a look at your current engagement metrics in TikTok Analytics. This will give you a baseline to improve upon. It’s better to set smaller, incremental goals like improving your engagement rate 1% month-over-month rather than aiming for a huge increase all at once.
Consistency is key for improving engagement over time. Post videos regularly, engage with your audience in comments, and analyze your top performing content. Experiment with different video formats, captions, sounds, and hashtags to see what resonates best with your followers. Pay close attention to when your followers are most active and aim to post content at those high-traffic times.
While engagement rates will fluctuate from video to video, staying focused on producing high-quality content and engaging with your audience will lead to steady improvement over the long-term.
Key takeaways
TikTok engagement rate is an important metric that shows how well your content resonates with your audience. By calculating your rate, you can better understand what types of videos attract the most interest and engagement. This informs your content strategy and helps optimize for higher reach and impact.
Regularly monitoring engagement metrics reveals trends and patterns. You can track how your rate changes over time and benchmark against competitors or industry standards. Setting measurable engagement goals is key to evaluating success.
While vanity metrics like views and followers matter, engagement rate reflects genuine interest and community building. It highlights your ability to create relatable, sharable content. Focusing on thoughtful, quality videos that spark discussion leads to higher engagement in the long run.
