Engagement in marketing: what it is, how to calculate it and how to improve it (with examples and free tools)

Engagement is one of those magic words in digital marketing that everyone mentions, but few people know how to explain properly. And we all turn to Google (well, ChatGPT these days) to ask: how to calculate the engagement of…

And, surprise: it’s not just about “likes”.

In this article, I’ll explain what engagement really is, how to measure it on each social network, what the average benchmark rates are (with up-to-date sources), and how you can improve it using UGC content.

But if you’re the kind of person who asks ChatGPT even how to fry an egg and you don’t want to read much (I assure you, this article wasn’t made with AI), here are HICARI’s engagement and marketing calculators directly:

Engagement measures the level of connection your followers or audience have with your brand (they may not follow a profile and still contribute to a piece of content’s engagement). In other words, how many people don’t just see you, but interact with you: commenting, saving, or sharing.

Therefore, you need to bear in mind that there are 2 types of engagement:

• Engagement of an account (profile)
• Engagement of content

Use case “engagement of an account or an influencer content creator”: a profile with 5,000 followers and 10% engagement is worth more than one with 50,000 and 2%. Because engagement is what demonstrates interest, affinity, and trust. And without trust, there is no conversion. That account may have gained 20k followers from 5 videos that went viral at the time, through giveaways, and grown its follower count like wildfire, but its content doesn’t connect as much today.

Use case “engagement of published content”: a carousel-type piece of content has 5% engagement and a reel reaches 15% engagement, even though carousels normally have a better engagement rate. This may indicate the quality of the video and/or that your audience or followers are looking to consume more video-based content.

The basic formula is very simple:

But keep in mind: the denominator (followers, reach or impressions) varies depending on the social network or what you want to measure. That’s why, at HICARI, we’ve created these automatic calculators that do all the work for you:

• Engagement Calculator for Instagram
• Engagement Calculator for TikTok
• Engagement Calculator for Facebook
• Engagement Calculator for LinkedIn
• Engagement Calculator for YouTube

Just enter your metrics and the tool gives you your engagement rate automatically. Free and hassle-free. By the way, we also have an ROAS calculator, ROI calculators and even a conversion rate calculator.

To find out whether your content is killing it, compare it (sources: SocialInsider, Brandwatch, RivalIQ):

Sources:

• SocialInsider Benchmarks 2025
• Brandwatch Engagement Data 2025
• RivalIQ 2025 Social Media Benchmark Report

Tip: don’t compare yourself with a fashion brand if you sell software. Benchmarks are guidelines, not competitions.

This one’s easy:

By promoting every piece of content.

Many brands tend to compare content and/or profiles with similar ones and only look at the cold numbers, but… do you know whether your competitor runs ads on their posts? That completely changes the rules of the game.

Comparisons, as my mother always said whenever I compared things for my own good, are odious (but not when she did the comparing…). Be extremely careful with this.

The data is clear: UGC video is the format that generates the most engagement (don’t yet know the best UGC platform in Spain?). Content made by real people increases CTR and interaction to incredible levels, a thousand times more than corporate content (how to create a social media content plan).

And it makes sense: people connect with people, not logos.

Examples:

• Real user testimonial (“I tried this software and it changed the way I work”).
• Spontaneous customer review on video.
• Mini-vlog such as “a day using this service” (ideal for tourism or apps).
• “How to use…” recorded on a mobile phone, with no filters.
• Offers / campaigns: sharing the company’s latest news. For example, with Black Friday videos.
• Entertainment / lifestyle: entertaining audiences with general content related to the company’s industry and category.

At HICARI, you can order anything from a single video for €70 to video packages that help you save, such as 3 to 6 UGC videos per month from €350, with an account manager to advise you on scripts, strategy and creators. This ensures a constant flow of authentic, social media-optimized content for paid campaigns and more…

And this is the million-dollar question.

1. Post consistently, not hurriedly. Consistency beats volume. We discuss this in the podcast: posting frequency.
2. Use UGC videos: natural, human and without overproduction.
3. Build a community: respond, interact and share genuine opinions.
4. Take care of the first 3 seconds: that’s when viewers decide whether to keep watching or scroll.
5. Measure, adjust, repeat: engagement is developed, not improvised.
6. Use our calculators to track your progress each month.

Engagement can be bought temporarily (giveaways, collaborative content with influencers…), but it is built through authenticity, consistency and content that delivers value. And UGC is the most direct way to achieve it. Use HICARI’s free calculators to measure your engagement, optimize your posts and turn your followers into real fans. Because in the end, on social media, the winner isn’t whoever posts the most. It’s whoever connects the most.