With over 1 billion monthly active users and 3 billion global installs, TikTok has quickly become one of the most engaging social media platforms in the world. Not only does the platform bring huge crowds, it also has the highest engagement rates on social media.
For marketers, TikTok opens up a world of consumers who are not only highly engaged, but also constantly active. Does that mean you can come out and post some content and start seeing results? I am sorry, no.
Being successful on TikTok requires organic likes, shares, comments, collaborations and more. This type of engagement isn’t platform specific, but securing it will look different than on Instagram or Facebook.
In this article, we will teach you how to calculate TikTok engagement rates and give you simple tips to increase engagement on the platform. We’ll only focus on actual engagement here, so you won’t find any information about buying likes or participating in engagement pods (here’s how this works for us on Instagram).
What we will do is teach you how to measure your success on TikTok (with an easy-to-use TikTok engagement calculator) and how to support yourself when your engagement rates fall short. If you’re ready to take the next steps, read on.
What does TikTok engagement mean?
Before we dive into our TikTok engagement calculator, let’s first define what we mean by “participation”.
For the most part, anything that catches someone’s attention can be considered an engagement. This includes likes, comments, shares and views.
User interactions are listed as the most important factor in customizing the TikTok For You page. This means that the more users like, share, comment and engage with your content, the more likely you are to be found organically.
Marketers looking to increase the success of their TikTok campaigns will want to focus on analyzing these metrics and optimizing them over time. Here’s a quick rundown of what these engagement rates can tell you:
- Comments: What are people saying about your video? Do they provide feedback or just leave a simple message? Reviews can be a great way to gauge how people react to your content.
- Shares: How many times has your video been shared? This shows how effective your video can be.
- Love: How many people liked your video? This is a good indicator of how popular your content is and how far it will reach.
- View: How many people watched your video? Use this to determine if your content is appearing in user feeds and attracting their attention.
- Total game time: Do people watch your video till the end? This could be a sign that you are keeping them busy. This metric can be particularly helpful when comparing your content to competing content.
You can find the full list of TikTok analytics and metrics here.
Is engagement high on TikTok?
TikTok is known for its high organic engagement rates. In fact, research has shown that TikTok engagement is 15% stronger than other platforms.
What makes TikTok so interesting?
The app prides itself on promoting authenticity, joy and unique experiences for its user base. This may sound jargon, but a 2021 Nielsen study found that 53% of TikTok users think they can be themselves on the platform. Another 31% think the platform “raises their spirit”. Globally, an average of 79% of users think TikTok content is “unique” and “different”, even when it comes to advertising.
If an app makes you feel good, is excited about finding new content, and gives you space to be uniquely creative, you’ll want to come back for more.
How to calculate engagement on TikTok
TikTok engagement rates are a measure of how well your content engages with the app’s users. There are many ways to calculate engagement rates, but here are two of our favorite formulas:
((Number of Likes + Number of Comments) / Number of Followers) * 100
or
((Number of Likes + Number of Comments + Number of Shares) / Number of Followers) * 100
If you want to calculate your TikTok engagement rates using this formula, you can find likes, comments, following and sharing metrics on the TikTok Analytics platform.
What is a good TikTok engagement rate?
Average engagement rates on most social media channels are around 1-2%. But that doesn’t mean you have a glass ceiling. On Moyens I/O, we’ve seen engagement rates of up to 4.59% on platforms like Instagram.
Good engagement rates for TikTok vary between brands and industries. According to our research, a good TikTok engagement rate can range from 4.5% to 18%.
It’s important to keep in mind that engagement rates are often higher for brands and creators with more followers. For example, Justin Bieber saw TikTok engagement rates of up to 49%.
@Justin bieber ♬ maejor jingle bell rock remix – Justin Bieber
There are many factors that can affect your TikTok engagement rates, so it’s important to experiment with different content and see what works best for you. If you think your TikTok engagement rates are too low, don’t worry! Below are some tips to help you increase your engagement.
TikTok engagement calculator
Now that you know what to look for, use this simple Tiktok engagement calculator to measure your performance (click the blue box below to access).
To use this calculator, open a Google Spreadsheet. Click the “File” tab and select “Create a copy”. From there you can start filling in the fields.
If you want to calculate engagement rates on a single post, simply add “1” to “No”. Posts” section.
If you want to calculate engagement rates between multiple posts, you can set the total post count as “No. Posts” section.
How to increase TikTok engagement: 5 tips
Increasing engagement on any social media channel can be difficult. Fortunately, TikTok thrives on daily active users, engaged consumers, and creative content.
Here are five ways to increase your TikTok engagement.
1. Use the Q&A feature
In March 2021, TikTok released a new feature that allows creators to add question and answer sections to their profiles. This functionality is available to all users and can be found under your bio.
Questions can be submitted via a submission box, which will then display them on the creator’s page. Users can also like comments in this window.
After the questions are posted, the creator can respond to them with a video. This is a great way to create highly relevant content for your followers and increase engagement.
Tip: Make sure you answer as many questions as possible! The more you engage with your audience, the more they engage with your content.
To use TikTok Q&A, follow these steps:
1. Go to your TikTok profile and click on the three lines in the upper right corner
2. Click Creator tools
3. Click Question answer
4. Add your own questions or answer others’ questions
2. Reply to comments with video content
We all know that engaging your audience through comments and messages is an important part of increasing engagement. While many social platforms restrict comments to text only, TikTok has added video replies to its list of features.
Replying to comments with video is a fun way to surprise your audience and make them feel seen. They will appreciate that you respond to them personally and interact with them through the platform.
Plus, it offers lots of opportunities for humor!
To reply to a comment with a video, follow these steps:
- Go to the comments section of one of your videos and click the comment you want to reply to.
- Click on the red video camera icon that appears on the left
- To choose Record or To upload and add your video in the comment
@tik tok Would you like to reply to a comment with a video? Now you can! Now available for all users!
♬ original audio – TikTok
3. Use analytics to inform new content
TikTok analytics provide a wealth of insights into who watches your content and how they interact with it. This information can help you create new, unique content that you know your target audience will love.
Start by understanding the demographics of your audience: their age, gender, and location. Knowing this information will help you share relevant content that specifically appeals to them.
You can also use analytics to see which of your videos are the most popular and what type of content resonates with your audience. This information can help you create more of the same genre or try new genres and styles.
Once you have a good understanding of your audience, it’s time to engage with them.
Like and comment on their posts, respond to comments and DMs, and follow accounts you like and relate to. This will help you promote your account to a wider audience and others will be more likely to engage with your content.
4. Take advantage of Stitch and Duet features
Stitch and Duet are two completely unique features only available on TikTok. These highly engaging tools can go a long way in increasing engagement rates on TikTok and are really easy to use.
The Stitch feature allows you to embed part of someone else’s video into your own video. Videos can be cut to the length you want and then filmed with the content you want to add.
The best way to use this feature is to ask a question in your video that will encourage people to Stitch with you. This will help increase engagement and start conversations with other users.
Here’s an example of Stitch at work:
@nigelwhitington Check out the #stitch with @nasouin git content btw 🙂 #fyp
♬ original sound – BLM
The duet feature lets you add your content to another user’s video. Duets often contain videos of them singing and dancing, hence the name.
In a Duet, both videos are played side-by-side in the app, so you can see both videos at the same time. They’re also great for reaction videos, pretend videos, and skits.
The popularity of duet chains is also growing. A Duet chain happens when multiple users create a Duet together. The more creators join, the more popular the chain becomes. You can see examples of these chains by searching #DuetChain on TikTok.
@shaunwhite #duet with @bigbizvizz I definitely got full coverage ✍️ #TikTokPartner #LearnOnTikTok
♬ original sound – Austin Vizz
5. Interact with other users
According to TikTok, 21% of users feel more connected to brands that comment on other people’s posts. An additional 61% likes when brands join a trend.
If you want to increase your TikTok engagement rates, start by interacting with other users. Comment on their videos, like their posts and respond to their comments.
This will help you build relationships with the community and create a more personal connection with your followers.