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Difference Between Average Engagement and Average Engagement Rate

See how Average Engagement and Engagement Rate differ, and when to use each to measure content performance.

Julie Bevacqua avatar
Written by Julie Bevacqua
Updated over a week ago

Both Average Engagement and Average Engagement Rate help you understand how people interact with your content—but they answer slightly different questions.

  • Average Engagement tells you how many interactions you get per post, on average.

  • Average Engagement Rate shows how engaged your audience is, based on your follower count.


What Each Metric Tells You

Use this table to compare what each metric measures and when to use it in your analysis.

Metric

What it Measures

Best Used For

Average Engagement

Average number of likes, comments, and shares per post

Comparing post performance across a tracker

Average Engagement Rate

Engagement per post divided by number of followers

Comparing influencers or adjusting for audience size


Formulas

Here’s how each metric is calculated in Keyhole, based on the data available per platform.

Metric

Formula

Average Engagement

(Likes + Comments + Shares) ÷ Number of Posts

Average Engagement Rate

(Average Likes + Comments + Shares per Post) ÷ Number of Followers

⚠️ NOTE: Because Engagement Rate factors in audience size, it’s especially useful for benchmarking performance across accounts with different follower counts.


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