Benchmarks — Social
Social media engagement rate benchmarks
Competitive engagement rate is 1.5% to 3.5% on Instagram, 1.5% to 4% on LinkedIn, 0.5% to 2% on Facebook and 2% to 5% on TikTok. Follower count and content format move every one of these bands.
The grading bands
Likes, comments, saves and shares per post, as a share of followers.
Tap the band you sit in and it follows you around the benchmarks.
| Grade | Range | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Developing | Under 1.5% | Below typical for the platform. Usually a content format problem (static posts under-perform video and Reels) or a stale posting cadence. |
| Competitive | 1.5% to 3.5% | Normal range for a business account posting regularly with a mix of formats. |
| Leading | 3.5% and above | Strong for the platform overall, and typical for smaller, more engaged accounts. |
What moves the bands
Follower count
Nano accounts under 10,000 followers commonly run 2.5% to 4% engagement. Accounts over a million followers often run 0.3% to 0.5%. This is a structural feature of the metric, not a performance signal on its own.
Content format
Video and short-form content (Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn native video) consistently out-perform static image posts on every platform that has a video product.
Industry
Financial services and professional B2B categories often see their strongest engagement on LinkedIn. Consumer, nonprofit and lifestyle brands often perform best on Instagram and TikTok.
Posting consistency
Accounts that post on a predictable schedule are rewarded by most platform algorithms with more consistent distribution, which shows up as more stable engagement rate over time.
How we set these bands
How we set these bands
Published engagement rate studies vary by 1 to 2 percentage points per platform depending on methodology and which accounts are sampled. We set these bands on the overlap between the credible studies and our own experience running organic social for Australian clients, wide enough to carry that measured disagreement rather than presenting one source's number as settled.
One published figure sits well below these bands and belongs to a different population. Socialinsider's 2026 global Instagram average (0.48%) is measured across a dataset dominated by very large accounts, where engagement as a share of followers compresses sharply (see the follower-count modifier above). Our bands are set for typical Australian business accounts, from the hundreds to the low tens of thousands of followers, on the same measure: total engagements per post as a share of followers. Very large accounts should grade against the modifier, not the headline band.
Our take
Our take
If you're not crushing your own Instagram Reels, what makes you think TikTok is going to be the platform for you? Chasing a new channel to fix a content problem you haven't solved on the one you're already on just spreads the same weak performance across more places.
Engagement rate is a diagnostic, not a scoreboard. It tells you whether the content is actually landing with the people who already chose to follow you, which is a cheaper and faster signal than waiting to see if it drives revenue.
Frequently asked
Between 1.5% and 3.5% of followers per post is competitive. Above 3.5% is strong. Smaller accounts (under 10,000 followers) typically run hotter, often 2.5% to 4%, so don't panic if your rate looks lower as your following grows.
Related
Marketing Dictionary
Engagement is a signal, not the goal.
These bands tell you if the content is landing. Our take connects it to whether the channel is actually worth the time you're putting in.
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