Stop Chasing Vanity Metrics: The New Rules of Reels Engagement

The Core Concept
In 2025, "good" engagement is no longer defined by likes or comments. The Instagram algorithm now heavily favors Private Engagement (Shares to DMs, Shares to Stories, and Saves). For e-commerce brands, a high volume of likes with low shares often indicates content that is entertaining but not commercially persuasive. The shift is from "passive consumption" to "active distribution."

The Strategy
To maintain a healthy engagement rate (ER) despite industry-wide declines, brands must pivot to a Share-First Methodology. This involves creating content specifically designed to be forwarded to a friend (relatability) or saved for later reference (utility). I've analyzed hundreds of high-performing Reels, and they consistently prioritize value density over aesthetic perfection.

Key Metrics
Stop tracking Engagement Rate by Followers. The only metric that matters for Reels is Engagement Rate by Reach (ERR). Additionally, track your "Share Velocity" (how quickly a Reel is shared after posting) and "Save Rate" (Saves / Reach * 100). These are the true indicators of purchase intent and algorithmic longevity.

Weighted Engagement Rate is a measurement formula that assigns higher value to high-intent actions like Saves and Shares compared to low-effort actions like Likes. Unlike standard engagement rate calculations that treat all interactions equally, weighted formulas reflect the true algorithmic impact of specific user behaviors.

For performance marketers, this distinction is critical. A Reel with 100 shares is infinitely more valuable than a Reel with 100 likes, both for viral reach and conversion potential. By weighting these metrics, you get a clearer picture of content performance.

Public engagement metrics are in a structural decline across the board. As user behavior shifts toward private consumption in DMs, the "public square" aspect of Instagram is shrinking. This doesn't mean your content is failing; it means the conversation has moved.

According to recent industry analysis, the average engagement rate for business accounts has settled significantly lower than in previous years. While influencers might still see spikes, brands are facing a "pay-to-play" environment where organic reach is tighter [1].

The "Silent" Consumption Trend:

• Passive Viewing: Users are watching more video content than ever but double-tapping less.
• The DM Economy: The most valuable interactions are happening in Direct Messages, which are invisible to the public eye but highly visible to the algorithm.
• Save-to-Buy Behavior: For e-commerce, a "Save" is often a proxy for "Add to Cart Later." High save rates correlate strongly with eventual conversion.

In my experience analyzing D2C brand accounts, I've consistently seen that Reels with lower public like counts but high save rates often drive the highest ROAS when boosted as ads. The "vanity" of the metric is inversely correlated with its business value.

A "good" engagement rate is entirely relative to your follower count. As your audience grows, your engagement rate naturally decreases—a phenomenon known as the "law of diminishing returns" in social media. Comparing a brand with 500k followers to a creator with 5k followers is mathematically flawed.

Here is the breakdown of what constitutes a "Good" vs. "Average" Engagement Rate (by Reach) in 2025 for e-commerce brands:

Key Observation:
Notice that for a Macro account, a 1.5% engagement rate is considered "Good." If you are managing a large brand account and panicking because you aren't hitting the 5% you saw on a personal blog, you are chasing a ghost. According to Hootsuite, benchmarks must always be segmented by industry and size to be relevant [3].

Engagement Rate by Reach (ERR) is the only accurate way to measure Reels performance. Because Reels are designed to be discovered by non-followers via the Explore page and suggested feeds, dividing engagement by your follower count provides a distorted view of reality.

The Math:

• Follower-Based ER: (Total Engagement / Total Followers) * 100
• Reach-Based ER: (Total Engagement / Total Unique Reach) * 100

Why Followers are Irrelevant for Reels:
If you have 10,000 followers but your viral Reel reaches 100,000 people, a follower-based calculation will give you an artificially huge number (e.g., 50% ER). Conversely, if the algorithm suppresses a post and it only reaches 500 people, your follower-based ER will look terrible, even if every single person who saw it liked it.

Reach-based measurement tells you: "Of the people who actually saw this content, how many found it valuable?" This is the only signal that matters for creative optimization [4].

Micro-Example:

• Scenario A: 10k followers, 5k reach, 500 interactions. ER (Reach) = 10%.
• Scenario B: 10k followers, 50k reach, 1000 interactions. ER (Reach) = 2%.
• Insight: Scenario A is "stickier" content; Scenario B is "broader" content. Both have value, but they serve different funnel stages.

Private engagement refers to the "hidden" interactions that happen below the surface—specifically Shares and Saves. These metrics are the strongest indicators of content quality because they require higher friction and intent than a simple double-tap.

The Hierarchy of Engagement Signals:

1. Shares (The Virality Signal): When a user shares a Reel to their Story or a friend via DM, they are putting their own reputation behind your content. The algorithm treats this as a massive endorsement. High shares trigger the "suggestion engine," pushing your content to new audiences.
2. Saves (The Utility Signal): A save indicates that the user found the content valuable enough to want to reference later. For educational or product-focused content, this is the gold standard. It signals retention and future intent.
3. Comments (The Community Signal): Comments drive time-on-platform, which the algorithm loves. However, generic comments ("Great vid!") are weighted less than conversational threads.
4. Likes (The Vanity Signal): The lowest value interaction. It's easy to give and easy to fake.

How to Audit This:
Look at your Insights for your top 5 performing Reels of the last quarter. I guarantee you will find that the ones with the highest Reach were driven by Shares, not Likes. This pattern is consistent across almost every vertical I've analyzed in 2025.

To improve your engagement rate in a meaningful way, you must reverse-engineer why people share content. People share content to communicate something about themselves or to provide value to others. If your Reel is just a product showcase, no one will share it.

The 3 Pillars of Shareable Reels:

1. Relatability (The "This is So Us" Factor):
   • Content that articulates a specific feeling, struggle, or inside joke within your niche.
   • Micro-Example: A skincare brand showing the struggle of washing your face without getting your sleeves wet.
2. Utility (The "I Need This" Factor):
   • Content that solves a problem so effectively that the user saves it to remember the solution.
   • Micro-Example: A fashion brand showing "3 ways to tuck a chunky sweater" rather than just showing the sweater.
3. Status (The "I Know Cool Stuff" Factor):
   • Breaking news, industry secrets, or aesthetic inspiration that makes the sharer look in-the-know.
   • Micro-Example: A coffee brand explaining the science of extraction in a way that makes the viewer feel like a connoisseur.

Implementation Checklist:

• Does the hook address a specific person/problem in the first 3 seconds?
• Is the visual payoff clear even without audio?
• Does the CTA explicitly ask for a specific action (e.g., "Send this to your chaotic friend")?
• Is the loop seamless to encourage re-watching?

Engagement drops are rarely due to "shadowbanning" and almost always due to a disconnect between content strategy and audience intent. If your numbers are trending down, you are likely committing one of these fundamental errors.

1. The "Commercial" Trap:
Treating Reels like TV commercials. If your video looks like an ad within the first second, users will scroll. The aesthetic must match the native feel of the platform—raw, authentic, and fast-paced.

2. Ignoring the Audio Algorithm:
Using trending audio too late (after the arrow has disappeared) or using audio that doesn't match the pacing of the video. Audio is a search engine in itself; using the right track puts you in front of users actively engaging with that sound.

3. Inconsistent Pacing:
Dragging out the intro. The average attention span on Reels is less than 3 seconds. If you spend 5 seconds introducing yourself or your logo, you have already lost 80% of your potential engagement.

4. The "Ghost" Posting Strategy:
Posting and ghosting. The first 30 minutes after posting are critical. If you aren't replying to comments immediately to start conversation threads, you are signaling to the algorithm that the post is dead. Community management is part of the distribution strategy [2].