Facebook Engagement Rate Benchmarks


Last updated June 2023

Last quarter the average Facebook Engagement Rate was 6.11% (averaging across all countries, channels, and industries) according to our research.

This benchmark combines both organic and paid activity. Use our Facebook Engagement Rate Benchmarks to drill down into the performance of your posts and ads.

Compare your recent engagement rate to relevant trends, and find out if your performance is being affected by something other than your own work.

 

Top Tip: Engagement Rate is a better measure than the number of engagements as it can be used to compare campaigns with different levels of reach directly.

 

Facebook Engagement Rate Benchmark Tool

Use the drop-downs to filter results so that you can compare your results to those similar to you.

 

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Instructions (click to expand)

When using the drop-downs:

  • Filter results by Country, Channel, and Industry. When you leave filters to the default “All” position, the benchmark will include results from people who did not specify anything for that field (eg “All Industries” will include all the industries listed in the drop-down, as well as data from where the industry field was left blank).
  • Choose a single option by clicking the “Only” button next to any choice.
  • Select multiple options at once. Untick the “All” tickbox then tick the box by each option you would like to see included in the data.
  • Reset all filters.  Tick the top tickbox by clicking the “All …” tickbox.
  • To close a filter drop-down menu. Click elsewhere within the benchmark tool.


Notes:

  • Compare your results to the benchmark by using our Facebook Engagement Rate calculator in the left-hand column (desktop only).
  • As the above figures are self-reported we use multiple filters and levels of analysis to ensure the data is useful.
  • More options to break down the benchmark further (including by more countries) are coming as we gather more data.
  • We only show data with enough data points to make it useful. If you filter results it may make other filters unavailable.
  • The current quarter only contains data up to the end of last month.
  • If you notice this benchmark has stopped working, please let us know.

 

How should I use this benchmark?

The best use of this benchmark is as context for your results - if your engagement rate is following a general trend for Facebook activity then that is useful to know.

For example, if your engagement rate goes down suddenly one month and you see that this is repeated elsewhere, then perhaps it was not your campaign tanking but instead an industry-wide issue out of your control.

Similarly, if your engagement rate is suddenly really good one month (but so is everyone else's) then perhaps you are not a Facebook marketing genius after all! (You still might be though).

Adding benchmarks to reporting and forecasting can be very illuminating.

 

How do I compare my results to these benchmarks?

If you want to compare your results directly to the above benchmark, here is a simple guide to help you. If your results are...

  • above the Top 25% figure, you should be very pleased
  • above the Average Engagement Rate figure, you should be slightly pleased
  • below the Average Engagement Rate figure, you should be slightly disappointed
  • below the Bottom 25% figure, you should be very disappointed

Most results occur between the top 25% and bottom 25%, so if you are somewhere in the middle you are more or less doing ok.

Again, please note that the best benchmark is always your past performance. If you performed better compared to the same time last year then that is important. This benchmark is more useful for context than a direct comparison.

 

What do percentiles mean?

We included the 25th percentile (bottom 25%) and the 75th percentile (top 25%).

These work by putting all the engagement rates in order from smallest to largest, then choosing the numbers that are 25% from the bottom and 25% from the top.

We include these top and bottom 25% markers for a few reasons:

  • Most results occur between these top and bottom markers. If you are within this range, your campaigns are performing more or less as expected.
  • If you are performing below average then it is useful to know how far below it you can be before you should be concerned.
  • If you are performing above average then it is useful to know how much you should be celebrating.
  • If you are particularly good (or bad) at Facebook Marketing, then comparing yourself to the average probably isn't that helpful. By providing these extra sets of data, you can compare your results to benchmarks more relevant to yourself.

 

How is Engagement Rate calculated for Facebook?

The Facebook Engagement Rate equation is:

 

An image showing the Facebook Engagement Rate Formula, which is Engagement Rate = Engagements ÷ ReachClick to enlarge

Facebook Engagement Rate = (Engagements x 100) ÷ Total Reach

 

If you look at Facebook's own reporting on posts or within Ad Manager, this is the type of engagement rate it uses. It is therefore useful to measure this type of engagement rate as it is also what Facebook will use to decide how much reach to give to content.

Engagement Rate is a simple way to gauge interest levels. People will entirely ignore bad or dull content, so if your content is engaging that is generally a great first step.

 

Top Tip: The best benchmark is always your own past performance. Use this benchmark tool to add context and compare trends.

 

Find out more

 

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