Engagement rate measures the share of people who interact (likes, comments, shares, saves) relative to the number of people who saw a post, rather than the raw number of interactions. It allows posts to be compared against each other even when their reach differs. Relying only on the number of likes can be misleading, since a post seen by many people but with few likes has a low engagement rate, even though it looks “popular” in absolute terms.
Why the number of likes alone is not enough
Two posts can have the same number of likes but very different reach: one seen by a small, highly engaged audience, the other seen by a much larger but less interested one. Engagement rate makes it possible to tell these two situations apart and to know which content genuinely interested its audience, rather than relying on a raw number.
How an SME can use this rate to adjust its content
By tracking the engagement rate of its posts over time, an SME can identify the topics and formats that genuinely interest its audience, and steer its content calendar toward them, instead of continuing to publish formats that generate little reaction despite good reach.
In summary
Engagement rate is a relative indicator that measures the quality of interest a post generates, not just its audience size. For an SME, tracking it regularly helps steer the content calendar toward what genuinely works with its audience, rather than relying on appearances of popularity alone.