What is engagement rate? Formula for UGC creators
Engagement rate: Engagement rate is the percentage of viewers (or followers) who interact with a post through likes, comments, shares or saves. It shows how strongly a video landed.
Engagement rate is the percentage of people who interact with your video after seeing it: likes, comments, shares and, in some versions, saves. It shows how strongly a video landed, not just how far it spread. On TikTok, the common version divides by views.
How it works
Engagement rate = (likes + comments + shares) ÷ views × 100
That’s the TikTok formula Sprout Social uses (Sprout Social). Some people add saves. Others divide by followers instead of views, a habit carried over from influencer marketing.
Dividing by followers makes little sense on a new brand account. The For You feed shows videos to people who don’t follow the account, so a post can reach far more viewers than the account has followers (TikTok). A per-follower rate would look inflated. Per-view is the fairer measure for short video.
Example
A video gets 20,000 views, 900 likes, 60 comments and 40 shares.
(900 + 60 + 40) ÷ 20,000 × 100 = 5%
These are example numbers, not a benchmark. Compare against your own past posts, not someone else’s account.
Engagement rate vs views
On a CPM deal, you’re paid on views, not likes. A video can earn well with modest engagement if lots of people watch it. So for pay, track views and watch time first. Engagement rate still tells you things views can’t:
- Comments show intent. “What app is this?” means the hook and demo did their job.
- Shares spread the video. A share puts it in front of people who never saw it in their feed.
- Brands ask for it. Pitches and reports often include it, especially for posts on your own account.
Why it matters for UGC creators
Put engagement rate in your UGC portfolio next to views, calculated the same way every time, and say which formula you used. When a brand compares creators, a clear number with a stated method reads better than a big number with none.
If engagement is high but views are low, the video works for the people who see it. The problem is reach, which usually starts with the opening seconds. Check your hook rate.
Related terms
- Watch time: Watch time is the total time viewers spend watching a video. Average watch time divides it by views, showing how far a typical viewer gets before scrolling away.
- Hook rate: Hook rate is the percentage of impressions that turn into at least a 3-second video view. It measures how well the opening of a video stops people from scrolling past.
- UGC CPM: UGC CPM is a pay model where a brand pays a creator a fixed amount for every 1,000 views their videos get, so earnings rise with total views.
- UGC portfolio: A UGC portfolio is a collection of a creator's sample videos, results and contact details, shared as one link so brands can judge their style and fit before hiring.