The formula for the calculation:
ERR = number of reactions / reach × 100%
The default assumption is that the higher the coverage rate, the better, but there are nuances.
How it differs from ER
When discussing engagement, there are differences in terminology.
Some experts use the term ER as a generic name for all engagement metrics. They separately distinguish different formulas for calculating ER, including coverage.
In other cases, ER refers to a specific way of calculating engagement rates – by the number of subscribers, when the number of reactions is divided by the number of subscribers. In this case, the version of engagement calculation by reach is called the reach ratio, or ERR.
In this approach, ER helps measure the engagement of the community as a whole. The higher the engagement ratio, the more interested the audience has gathered in the channel and the more interesting the content is to them.
ER is the best KPI to start working with an account when you’ve just gained your first few hundred subscribers. Before you sell them something, build a community, drive traffic to your site, it’s important to get your audience used to interacting with your content in principle. So even if your long-term goal is different, at first it is recommended to pay special attention to ERR.
ERR, on the other hand, shows how interesting the content was to the users who saw it. It does not matter whether they are subscribers or not.
Why do you need coverage rate
In the early days of social networks engagement was only counted by subscribers. This was justified by the mechanics of the feed:
- only subscribers could see the posts;
- all subscribers were shown all the posts.
The number of views then depended on the time of publication, but it remained more or less stable. But user reactions were determined by the content. The Engagement Ratio (ER) showed how good the author’s contact with the audience was.
Social networks evolved and, over time, there were two big innovations in their work:
- Algorithmic feeds. Now most subscribers see only a portion of the posts. Now it’s considered normal if a published post is seen by 30-50% of subscribers. And the bigger the account, the less coverage.
- Targeting and recommendations. Some of the posts are now seen by users who are not subscribed to the community. This was possible before through reposts. But with the advent of recommendations, there are more of these users. And now every community can order ads and buy views.
