Let’s jump straight into it. You’re a business and you’ve got a pretty hefty following on, let’s say, Instagram. You’re a local baker who makes phenomenal custom cakes. You’re pretty good at consistently taking photos or videos and posting every other day. You’re at a few thousand followers, do you really need help? It all depends, there is an even more important metric to look at other than the size of followers on instagram, it’s engagement. All of those followers mean nothing if you’re not getting engaged with or engaging with them.
On average, between 3% and 5% is a good benchmark. That seems like a relatively low number, but keep in mind if you have 3,000 followers on instagram, every time you post something to your account, not all of those followers see it. Roughly 6% of your followers seeing that post is the realistic number of your organic delivery. So of that 3000, your post likely going to be seen by about 180 of your users depending on time of day. Of those potential 180 users, at the lower end, just about 90 followers engaging with your posts is within the realm of good engagement. Around 150 followers and up engaging(liking, commenting, sharing, saving, etc…) with your content is a sign that your follower base is a good engaged crowd. Circling back to that initial 3000 follower base, if your content(for example) is getting about 30 likes and/or comments a post, your content is on the very low side of engagement. That’s 1% of total followers engaging with your content.
For a personal account, likes and engagement shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Remember, as a personal user, social media is just a way to connect/share with others and is not to be used as any kind of social benchmark. With that said, it’s a very different story when it comes to businesses. If you are really hoping to leverage social media platforms to hit new goals (brand awareness, more brick and mortar traffic, e-commerce, leads and sales, etc…), then you should be taking those social media engagement metrics very seriously. That’s why some brands put so much emphasis(as well as resources) on their social media platforms. Social media is your chance to relay your message to a new about your business. If your posts are consistently getting low engagement, then that’s unfortunate. As a business, take social media more seriously. Don’t go into the game feeling like your have one just because you think you had to, go into it knowing that social media could be expansion of your business.
Brad James Consulting is a full service social media management agency offering social accounts as well as paid advertising management. We also offer a variety of creative services like photography, videography, and copywriting. Let Brad James Consulting remove the stress and time consumption of social media and help you grow your brands and businesses. Contact us for pricing and services that fit your needs.