In 2025, Instagram continues to garner higher engagement rates than Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), but the landscape is shifting. Organic engagement continues to decline across all social media platforms, a trend that began in 2024.
For marketers, this means that staying on top of what constitutes a good engagement rate on Instagram can feel like a moving target. To ensure you’re in the know about the latest metrics and best practices, we’re looking at how to measure Instagram engagement accurately and what the current benchmark is for a good engagement rate across various industries.
We’ll also spotlight a few standout brands excelling on the platform, providing you with actionable insights to boost your own Instagram engagement rate.
How to measure Instagram engagement
At Rival IQ, we define engagement as measurable interaction on organic and paid social media posts. Instagram metrics include likes, comments, shares, and reactions.
Instagram engagement rate is calculated based on all of these interactions divided by total follower count. Here’s the formula to calculate your brand’s Instagram engagement rate:
Instagram engagement rate = [engagement total] / [total number of followers]
While there are a few different ways to calculate engagement rate, we find that dividing by the number of followers paints a more accurate picture of how your brand’s engagement rate stacks up against similar brands in your industry — regardless of audience size.
What is a good engagement rate on Instagram in 2025?
According to our 2025 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, the overall median engagement rate on Instagram is 0.36%. This median rate applies to all industries, from food and beverage brands to sports teams and nonprofits.
When it comes to how often you should be posting, we found that, on average, brands across all industries post a little over four times per week.
For top-performing brands, their engagement rates on Instagram are even higher. Our report found that the overall median engagement rate on Instagram for brands in the top 25% is 1.05%. These brands also post at the same frequency at around 4.7 times per week.
So while 0.43% is the overall median engagement rate, 1.02% or higher is considered a good engagement rate on Instagram for brands that want to aim higher.
Overall rate across industries:
- Median engagement rate: 0.36%
- Median posting frequency: 4.5 posts per week
Overall rate for brands in the top 25%:
- Median engagement rate: 1.02%
- Median posting frequency: 4.2 posts per week
Instagram engagement rate by industry
While the median Instagram engagement rate is a great starting point to benchmark your own data, every industry is a little different.
Let’s take a look at some of the industries performing at an above-average rate and see what they’re doing right so you can take note of a few ways to boost your brand’s own Instagram engagement rates.
Higher Education
- Higher Education Median Engagement Rate: 2.1%
- Higher Education Median Posting Frequency: 4.07 posts per week
Schools and universities consistently outperform every industry on social media (check out our latest report if you’re interested in detailed insights on Higher Ed benchmarks).
Higher Ed has the highest Instagram engagement rate across all industries at 2.1%. This rate is 5.8x the all-industry median and nearly twice as high as the second-highest-performing industry, which is Sports Teams at 1.3%.
While this number is impressive, it also means that schools have to get creative if they want to stand out above their fellow educational establishments on Instagram. And one of the most effective formats they’re using? Carousels.
Not only are carousels the most popular post type among Higher Ed brands, they’re also the most engaging. Their photo-album style makes them a perfect way to celebrate milestones and spotlight students. Plus, from an algorithm standpoint, each frame of a carousel can be served to users until they interact with it, making it a powerful driver of engagement.
A great example of an Instagram post with high engagement comes from Pepperdine University, one of the notable Higher Ed brands in our benchmark report.
This carousel post celebrating “college hard launch day” — a UGC-style roundup of real students announcing they were headed to Pepperdine — earned nearly 71K impressions and an engagement rate of 7.06%, or 3.4x higher than the median rate for the higher education industry on Instagram. By leaning into user-generated content, Pepperdine not only tapped into a student trend but also made its content instantly relatable and shareable.
North Dakota State University also made it to our list of notable Higher Ed brands, thanks in part to stellar carousels like this one celebrating the NDSU Class of 2025. The post earned a 6.48% engagement rate by follower, which is more than 3x the average Higher Ed rate for the year.
Similar to Pepperdine’s UGC approach, this post centered on real students, but with professional grad photos. Celebration posts like these drive engagement because they spotlight people directly connected to the community. Not only do the featured students engage, but so do their families, friends, and classmates, amplifying reach and interaction.
Both of these examples display how schools and universities consistently secure a good engagement rate on Instagram by highlighting real people and authentic moments. Whether through UGC or official campus photography, posts that celebrate student life and milestones create a sense of pride and connection — the kind of content that followers can’t help but like, comment on, and share.
Sports Teams
- Sports Teams Median Engagement Rate: 1.3%
- Sports Teams Median Posting Frequency: 19.78 posts per week
Sports teams tend to perform well on Instagram with a median engagement rate of 1.3%. Sports teams also post the most often out of all industries, which makes sense given that the content typically includes real-time game highlights and frequent team updates during the playing season.
Videos are a winning strategy for most Sports Teams on Instagram. Reels and other video formats are the perfect way to relive big plays and give fans a front-row seat to the action. If you want to earn top engagement, we’ve found that videos bring in higher engagement rates than any other post types for Sports Teams, with carousels close behind.
Take the Wallabies, the Australian men’s national rugby union team. A Reel capturing Suaalii’s first Wallabies try earned a whopping 10.5% engagement rate — more than 8x the Sports Teams average — along with 906K impressions and plenty of encouraging comments. Capturing a milestone moment, the post was one that fans were eager to engage with.
While play-by-play updates are a great use for social media, supporting a meaningful cause can also work like a charm. This post from NHL team the Seattle Kraken showcased players and coaches in limited-edition jerseys that were auctioned off through One Roof Foundation to benefit hockey access programs and scholarships for girls, combining team pride with community impact.
The carousel post earned an impressive 13.5% engagement rate by follower, which is more than 10x the Sports Teams average.
Another way that Sports Teams can earn engagement from fans is by tapping into buzzworthy conversations and hashtags. Using hashtags associated with major events is one effective way to boost reach and engagement. As you can see in the chart below, fans also love a quick trip down memory lane, with hashtags like #throwbackthursday and #onthisday being some of the most popular Instagram hashtags for Sports Teams.
Influencers
- Influencer Median Engagement Rate: 0.576%
- Influencer Median Posting Frequency: 4.5 posts per week
Influencers are another industry that earns above-average engagement rates on Instagram. Influencers and creators use the platform to share their creative content, provide product recommendations, and give followers a glimpse into their personal lives. For this group, carousels, photos, and Reels all perform at similar levels, giving influencers flexibility in how they connect with their audiences.
While highly produced Reels and polished photos can help influencers earn likes, comments, and shares, sometimes the most engaging content is also the simplest. One example of this comes from influencer Gerard Adams. The post below received viral levels of engagement with over 5.19 million impressions, 300K likes and comments, and a mind-blowing engagement rate of 54.2%. That’s nearly 94x the median for influencers!
The Reel was simple, featuring a short podcast clip discussing the three types of friends everyone needs. So why did it work? Adams paired a highly relatable topic with a direct call to action, inviting followers to “tag a friend who fits the description” in the caption. The content sparked conversations, shares, and tags because it hit on a universal theme — friendship — while giving viewers a simple way to participate.
This example highlights an important lesson for influencers: Authenticity and interactivity win. If you can create content that feels genuine, taps into shared experiences, and directly encourages engagement, you’re more likely to see results that outperform the norm.
Nonprofits
- Nonprofits Median Engagement Rate: 0.561%
- Nonprofits Median Posting Frequency: 4.18 posts per week
Marketers at nonprofits have the important job of using Instagram to secure donations, engage volunteers, or simply raise awareness about their organization’s mission. And achieving high engagement rates can have a direct impact on those initiatives.
Like many other industries on Instagram, nonprofits found success in using carousels to send a message and earn more engagement. This post by Pancreatic Cancer UK earned the nonprofit an incredible engagement rate of 138%, which is a whopping 246x higher than the average rate for nonprofits on Instagram. The post featured a striking installation of 797 pairs of running shoes laid out to honor the 797 lives lost to pancreatic cancer each month in the UK.
It’s also worth noting that the above was a joint post in partnership with the London Marathon, which has a massive audience of 450K Instagram followers compared to Pancreatic Cancer UK’s 19.8K. That collaboration amplified reach far beyond the nonprofit’s own audience, showing the power of partnering with larger organizations or influencers to extend impact.
Another nonprofit embracing this strategy is the ASPCA, which teamed up with TV personality Ariana Madix to spread awareness about The Rescue Effect, a campaign focused on helping more animals find homes. The carousel post announcing her involvement earned an 18.3% engagement rate by follower — 33x the industry median.
Both examples also highlight a common best practice for this industry: pairing eye-catching visuals with informative captions. For nonprofits, carousel posts work well because they allow space to tell a story. The photos draw people in while the detailed captions provide the context and emotional depth that drives action.
With so many worthy causes vying for attention and fundraising dollars, nonprofits are more pressured than ever to demonstrate their value. But by combining powerful storytelling with strategic partnerships, nonprofits can turn their Instagram presence into a movement.
How to increase Instagram engagement
If you’re feeling inspired to up your Instagram engagement after seeing the examples above, here’s a recap of the tactics these brands used to achieve their great engagement rates.
- Embrace carousels: Carousels have proven to be the most engaging post type for most industries, so don’t be afraid to mix those into your content strategy along with static images and Reels.
- Collaborate to extend reach. Whether it’s a nonprofit teaming up with a major event or a brand partnering with an influencer, collaborations can expose your content to audiences far larger than your own.
- Lean into popular hashtags, holidays, and trends: If you’re feeling stuck coming up with fresh content ideas, turn to trending hashtags and holidays to capture engagement. Using Rival IQ, you can even see which hashtags people are engaging with in your industry.
- Look to the competition: The best way to benchmark your engagement rate is to compare it with similar brands in your industry rather than the all-industry average. Doing this helps put your content and engagement rates into more context.
Want to dive into up-to-date metrics and social content from top brands in your industry? Explore our live social media benchmarks.
Wrapping it up
To sum it up, the median engagement rate for all industries on Instagram is 0.36%, with brands posting about 4.5 times per week on average. Hitting that median means you’re keeping pace with most industries — but if you truly want to stand out, you’ll need to aim higher.
To achieve a good engagement rate on Instagram, lean into what’s proven to work for your brand while experimenting with different post types. As long as you continue to measure and assess what your audience is engaging with, you’ll be on your way to reaching stellar engagement rates on Instagram in no time.
This post was originally published in July 2022 and has since been updated.
