Engagement rate
The share of viewers who like, comment, share or save a video — the clearest signal of how much people actually care.
Engagement rate measures how strongly an audience reacts to a video, not just how many people saw it. For short-form, the fair formula is views-based: (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ views × 100.
It matters because reach is cheap on TikTok and Reels — the algorithm pushes your video to strangers for free. Engagement rate tells you whether those strangers actually cared, and that reaction is what earns more reach.
What’s good
Roughly 4%+ is solid on Reels (median ~7.5%), 9%+ on TikTok, and 4%+ on YouTube Shorts. Judge against accounts your own size — smaller accounts run higher.