Check Influencer Engagement: Get the Unfiltered Picture

If content is king, engagement is the throne that legitimizes the king’s power. Brands interested in collaborations often look beyond an influencer’s follower numbers. They analyze engagement rates to measure the influencer’s ability to connect with audiences in a meaningful way and drive results. How do they check influencer engagement rates?

What Qualifies as an Engagement?

On social media platforms, engagement is any measurable and meaningful interaction between a creator and their audience. Engagement typically comes in the form of post likes, comments, and shares. On TikTok, creators can further enhance interactivity through Duets, Stitches, and challenges.

An influencer marketing campaign can also specify what qualifies as an engagement, depending on the campaign goals. The campaign may specify the required action social media users need to make to count as engagement. For example, the required action may be clicking a link in the post or making a purchase directly from the post.

Here’s a quick run-through of other forms of engagement that brands can use to calculate engagement rate: 

• Link clicks. The link can lead to a landing page, web store, or an app download. With a powerful pitch, an influencer can generate link clicks from a post, which a brand can track to measure how well the post is performing. The link may also be an affiliate link that directly converts into sales. 
• Branded hashtag engagement. A creator may promote a brand, product, campaign, or event using a branded hashtag. The brand can use these custom hashtags to see how many of the creator’s followers use the hashtag. 
• TikTok Duets, Stitches, and challenges. These unique interactive videos expand engagement opportunities through direct participation in the original content. They may count as shares, but they have greater potential to go viral and stimulate more active participation from audiences.

What Does an Influencer’s Engagement Rate Tell You?

The simplest way to look at engagement rate is as the relationship between one’s audience and the audience’s response. When you look at an influencer’s engagement rate, you’ll see how well their audience receives their creator’s content and the strength of their influence. You can measure audience response based on their likes, comments, and shares. 

The audience’s engagement with the creator demonstrates active interaction that goes beyond simply viewing the creator’s content. The level of engagement, i.e., the number of likes and comments, tells you whether or not the content was compelling enough to elicit a response. 

If a creator receives consistent, positive engagement from their fans, the creator has active followers who thoroughly appreciate their content. It also indicates that the creator knows how to connect with their audience effectively and nurture their relationship.

A high engagement rate is an excellent measure of the creator’s content’s relevance and value. When the creator speaks, their audience watches and listens and shows their appreciation and support through likes, comments, and shares.

A high engagement rate represents a high ROI potential for brands looking to tap into creator-led campaigns. They can expect the creator to use their influence and relationships to drive brand/product awareness, sales, website traffic, etc.

How To Check Influencer Engagement Rate

Are you wondering how to check an influencer’s engagement rate? The most common way to calculate the engagement rate is by getting the total number of post engagements, dividing it by the number of followers, and multiplying by 100. The formula for this is as follows:

Engagement rate = ((Likes + Comments + Shares) / # of Followers)) x 100

You can calculate the average engagement rate of a single post or the total engagement rate of all posts within a specific period.

Calculating the rate of engagement based on a creator’s follower count is not always accurate, however. Influencers may have fake followers. Their actual reach, or how many people see their posts, is often lower than their follower numbers. The volume of audience response using follower numbers may be more indicative of reach than engagement.

On TikTok, considering views instead of followers may give you a more realistic picture of audience engagement. Calculating engagement based on views is especially helpful for campaign posts. You can use the following formula:

Engagement rate = ((Likes + Comments + Shares) / Total number of Views)) x 100 

You can also get the engagement rate for a branded hashtag campaign, a hashtag challenge, or any custom hashtag created for a promotional post. The formula will be:

Engagement rate = ((Likes + Comments + Shares) / Number of posts using the hashtag)) x 100

If you’re shortlisting creators for a potential collaboration, there are sites offering engagement rate calculator tools. These tools are also useful if you’re a creator curious about how well the competition is doing. When checking levels of engagement, you should also find out industry standards for different types of influencers, e.g., nano-, micro-, and macro-influencers.

Grow Your Influence With Highly Engaged Fans

To have a powerful influence in your niche, you need fans who are always eager to receive what you offer. When you share a piece of content, its relevance and value are like kindling that sets it ablaze to attract attention. When you get viewers who are genuinely interested, their interest is the fuel that produces high engagement. 

TikTok’s straightforward strategy of matching users with content based on their interests makes it easy for creators to connect with suitable audiences. The highly intuitive recommendation algorithm allows them to focus on what they do best — creating content around their passions and building a community around shared likes, beliefs, and content appetites.

If you’re a creator hoping to collaborate with a brand, make it a habit to check influencer engagement rates in your industry against yours. If you need help growing your influence and keeping up with the competition, sign up for a High Social plan. High Social’s advanced, proprietary AI technology doubles your AI-powered, audience-targeting advantage. You’ll reach more interested users who will likely become highly engaged fans. Start growing your TikTok today!

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