How engagement is calculated in Metricool

Engagement in Metricool

Engagement in Metricool is a metric that measures the relationship between the interactions received and the reach or impressions of your posts, depending on the social network.

This metric allows you to see the level of interaction your content generates within the platform.

How is engagement calculated in Metricool?

You can configure the formula used to calculate post engagement in the Brand Settings (you can save the change for all your brands).

Available options:

• Ratio x 100: the applied formula will be interactions received per 100 people reached.

• Ratio x1000: the applied formula will be interactions received per 1000 people reached.

Note that for Twitter and LinkedIn, impressions are used instead of reach.

Although the formula may vary slightly depending on the social network, due to differences in available data through each API. You can find detailed explanations for each network in the following blog articles:

• Facebook

• Instagram

• X (Twitter)

• LinkedIn

• Pinterest

• Tik Tok

📝​ Note: Instagram specifics
For Instagram, the engagement shown in Metricool is always calculated using organic data.
Even if you connect your Meta Ads account to get promoted post data, this additional information does not affect the engagement calculation.
👉 The result is based exclusively on organic interactions (likes, comments, saves, etc.) in relation to the organic reach of your posts.

Engagement comparison with the previous period

In Analytics, within the summary section, the following data is displayed along with the comparison to the previous period:

• The current engagement value for the selected period

• The absolute variation compared to the previous period

• The corresponding percentage change

In the example shown:

• 134 corresponds to the engagement value for the selected period (configured as ratio x1000).

• +20.54 indicates the absolute variation compared to the equivalent previous period.

• (18.11%) shows the percentage change compared to the previous 31 days.

The comparison is automatically calculated using the equivalent previous period based on the selected date range.

The upward arrow icon indicates that the value has increased compared to the previous period.

Competitor Engagement

Competitor engagement is calculated differently from your own account.

Applied formula:

Average interactions / Number of followers × 100 (or ×1000)

In this case:

• The average number of interactions is used

• The number of followers is used as the denominator

• Reach is not used, as it is not publicly available for external accounts

If you want the data to be comparable, you can add your own account as a competitor.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my engagement decrease even if I have more interactions?
Engagement is a proportional metric. It is calculated based on the relationship between:

• Interactions

• Reach (or impressions, depending on the social network)

If reach increases in greater proportion than interactions, the engagement result may be lower, even if the total number of interactions has increased.

This behavior is due to the applied formula and does not indicate a data error.

Why is the engagement different from what I see on the social network?

Engagement may differ from what is shown on the social network for several reasons:

• Differences in the formula used

• Use of reach or impressions depending on the network

• Inclusion of organic data only (as in Instagram)

• API changes or platform limitations

Metricool calculates engagement according to the formula configured in your brand settings and the data available through each platform’s API.

Why is competitor engagement calculated differently?
Competitor engagement uses a different formula because reach is not publicly available for external accounts.

The applied formula is:
Average interactions / Number of followers × 100 (or ×1000)

In this case:

• The average number of interactions is used

• The number of followers is used as the denominator

• Reach is not used

For this reason, competitor engagement is not directly comparable to your own account’s engagement unless the same criteria are applied.

Can I change the engagement formula?
Yes.You can modify the formula from: Brand Settings → Settings → Engagement

Available options:

• Ratio x100

• Ratio x1000

The change can be applied to all your brands if saved as a general configuration.