Benchmarks: how good is good?

"Is a 4% engagement rate good?" The honest answer is: it depends. Industry benchmarks are usually marketing-blog nonsense. Here are real ranges, caveated.

Engagement rate

(Likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ impressions. Typical ranges per platform for small-to-mid business accounts:

• Instagram: 1–3% is typical. 3–5% is good. 5%+ is excellent.
• TikTok: 4–8% typical. 8–15% good. 15%+ viral territory.
• LinkedIn: 2–4% typical. 4–7% good. 7%+ excellent.
• Facebook: 0.5–2% typical for business Pages. 2%+ is good.
• X: 0.5–1.5% typical. 2%+ is good. (X engagement rates are lower than other platforms because impressions are inflated.)

Caveats: engagement rate depends heavily on account size. Small accounts (under 10k followers) often have higher rates than larger ones. Rates also vary by content format — carousels on Instagram routinely hit 6%+ while single images might do 1%.

Follower growth

Monthly growth rate (new followers ÷ total followers) for active, non-paid accounts:

• 1–2%/month: flat. Something's off.
• 3–5%/month: healthy. Most growing accounts.
• 5–10%/month: strong. Good content hitting.
• 10%+/month: rare. Either viral moment or deliberate paid-acquisition push.

Profile visit → follow conversion

• 5–8%: below average. Profile or bio needs work.
• 8–15%: typical.
• 15%+: excellent. Profile is clear, bio is strong, content matches.

Link click-through rate

• Instagram bio link: 0.5–2% of profile visitors
• TikTok bio link: 0.2–1%
• LinkedIn post with link in comment: 1–3% of impressions
• X post with link: 0.5–1.5%
• Facebook post with link: 1–3% (higher for boosted)

DM response rate (inbound)

• Under 1 per week per 10k followers: low. Your content isn't provoking action.
• 2–5 per week per 10k followers: healthy.
• 10+ per week per 10k followers: strong. You have a real relationship with your audience.

The big caveat

These are rough generalizations. Your actual benchmarks should beyour own previous numbers. Are you up or down vs last month? That's the only benchmark that matters day-to-day. Industry benchmarks are useful for a sanity check once a quarter — "we're way below what others in our niche are doing; diagnose why."

When benchmarks mislead

• Small-sample weeks. One viral post makes a whole month's numbers look great even if nothing else worked.
• Algorithm changes. Your numbers can change 30% overnight with no change in your work.
• Seasonal cycles. Every industry has them. Compare to the same month last year, not last month.