Questions about whether or not an engagement rate is “good enough” are some of the most frequently asked at Tagger. While we understand it’s tempting to simply offer up a number and call it a day, the truth is there’s no single answer to that question. There are so many things that affect the response, from the vertical of your brand, to which social platform(s) your campaign is on.
What you might not know is there are two data points that can immediately help you determine if an influencer has a “good” engagement rate for the type of campaign you’re looking to run: Content health, and category benchmarks.
- Content Health = how well a creator’s content is performing compared to other similar (“look-alike”) creators
- Category Benchmarks are based on the average engagement rate in a particular category or vertical (like beauty or travel), taking into account the influencer’s tier.
These data points are extremely helpful because average engagement rates vary by platform (Twitter is significantly lower than Instagram, for example) and by category (like fashion vs beverage).
If you’d like to take a deeper dive into how we define and measure these influencer marketing terms and data points, check out our Ultimate Influencer Marketing Glossary.
Deciding whether an engagement rate (ER) is “good” isn’t just about the number itself, it’s about how that ER compares to other creators in their same niche. To see how an influencer stacks up, take note of other creators on your campaign’s shortlist and see if they have similar ERs.
It’s also worth noting that if you have access to the right technology, you can use category benchmarks to inform what type of content you ask for in your campaigns. For example, an influencer’s engagement rate performance for video may far outweigh their performance for carousels, or vice versa. Taking it even further, their engagement of video may be higher on TikTok than it is on Instagram. All these factors inform how you perceive ER, and help you decide whether an influencer is a good investment for your brand.
Still stumped? You asked for it…
If you’re still stumped, there is a very generic “rule of thumb” number the industry at large accepts as a “good” engagement rate threshold, and that number is 2%. But again, this is an extremely generic number without any nuance taken into account. The ER you need will absolutely vary by category and platform.
If you want to see how we do it for your brand or vertical, request a live demo with our team!
