TikTok engagement in 2025: Calculator, tips, and strategies to win

TikTok continues to lead in social media engagement, with over 1.5 billion active users and interaction rates that outpace most other social media platforms.

But while the audience is there, getting real engagement — likes, comments, shares, and views that actually mean something — takes more than just showing up.

In this article, you’ll find everything you need to earn higher engagement rates on TikTok in 2025. We’ll walk you through:

• A free TikTok engagement rate calculator
• Updated industry benchmarks for 2025
• Actionable tips based on what’s working right now
• Insights into how the TikTok algorithm is evolving — and how to work with it

Whether you’re managing a brand TikTok account or building your own following, this guide will help you boost engagement, improve visibility, and build stronger connections with your audience.

What is TikTok engagement?

TikTok engagement refers to any action users take to interact with your brand on the platform. That includes likes, comments, shares, saves, watch time, and video completion rates.

Together, these metrics shape your overall engagement rate and influence how your content performs in the algorithm.

TikTok engagement metrics

Here’s a breakdown of the metrics that contribute to your TikTok engagement rate:

• Like: Users can tap the Like button or double-tap a video. This also saves the video to the Liked tab on their TikTok profile for future viewing (which can be public or private).
• Comment: Comments allow users to interact directly with creators and each other. Creators can enable or disable comments on a per-video basis.
• Share: TikTok’s share feature lets users cross-promote videos, sounds, or accounts within TikTok or to other platforms (like Instagram or Messenger).
• Save: Users can bookmark posts to private or public collections, which is helpful for surfacing popular or valuable content..
• View: A view is counted as soon as the video starts playing. Replays, loops, and repeat views all count.
• Video completion rate: The percentage of users who watch your video from beginning to end. It’s calculated by dividing completed views by total number of views.

 TikTok uses both watch time (the total amount of time people spend watching your video) and completion rate to decide which videos to boost in the algorithm. The longer people watch and the more of your video they complete, the more likely it is to appear on other users’ For You pages.

If your content resonates with viewers, you’ll see more engagement in the form of likes, comments, shares and follows, which will also help push your video to the top of the pile.

Why TikTok engagement matters in 2025

But does engagement really matter? In a nutshell, yes.

Although engagement rates for Instagram Reels surpassed TikTok in Q1 2025, TikTok is usually known for its high engagement rates.

Engagement is a measure of visibility, and it can be directly linked to your brand’s return on investment (ROI). Here’s how that works:

1. Tracking comments, messages, shares, and other engagement data provides your business with consumer research data to help shape your marketing decisions.
2. With this information, you can make informed decisions about marketing campaigns, reward programs, and even future products for your business.
3. When your content is designed to target your followers, they are more likely to like, save, and share your posts, which increases your brand visibility.
4. The more you iterate and hone your strategy, the easier it is to create impactful content with a high average engagement rate, leading to better ROI. Win-win!

How to calculate engagement on TikTok

TikTok engagement rates are a measure of how successful your content is in engaging with the app’s users. There are many ways to calculate engagement rates, but here are the two formulas we like best:

((Number of likes + Number of comments) / Number of Followers) * 100

or

((Number of likes + Number of comments + Number of shares) / Number of Followers) * 100

TikTok engagement calculator

Don’t want to do the math yourself? Use our free TikTok engagement rate calculator to find out how your content stacks up.

Here’s how to quickly find your TikTok engagement rate:

1. Open TikTok. Find the post you want to measure (don’t get distracted by your FYP!).
2. Select your industry. Choose from the dropdown menu. If yours isn’t listed, select “Other.”
3. Enter your stats. Add your follower count, total likes, and comments from the post.
4. Click “Calculate.” The calculator will instantly show your engagement rate.
5. Compare to benchmarks. Use built-in industry benchmarks to see how you stack up.

What your TikTok engagement rate means

On TikTok, anything above 2% is generally considered a good engagement rate. If you’re beating that, you’re ahead of the curve.

But numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. Industry, audience size, and goals all shape what counts as “good” for your account. For example:

• Entertainment and fashion tend to see higher engagement than finance or B2B.
• Smaller accounts often have higher rates because of closer audience relationships.

That’s why our calculator includes industry benchmarks, so you’re always comparing apples to apples.

Tools to measure and optimize engagement

Want to monitor and improve your TikTok performance? These three tools make it easy to track engagement, spot trends, and optimize your social marketing strategy.

TikTok Creator Analytics

TikTok Creator Analytics offers a built-in dashboard to track your performance across video views, profile visits, and audience demographics.

You’ll find it in TikTok Studio, alongside your Creator tools, including:

• Comment review
• Unlimited Sounds library
• Creator Academy (a great resource for tips and tutorials)

To calculate your engagement rate, head to the Analytics tab, gather your stats, and plug them into our calculator.

Pro tip: TikTok Analytics only includes data for the last 28 days, so check your numbers regularly.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite lets you create and schedule TikTok videos, track your performance, and optimize your content — all without leaving the platform. No more bouncing between apps or losing time to FYP distractions.

You also get access to:

• OwlyWriter AI for smart captions, hashtags, and content ideas
• Best Time to Publish recommendations tailored to your audience
• Integrated analytics across TikTok and other platforms

Mavekite

Mavekite is a freemium TikTok analytics tool that lets you track any profile, video, song, or hashtag. It’s great for quick checks and high-level insights.

Note: You’ll need a paid plan to unlock full reports, export data, or access deeper metrics.

TikTok engagement trends and algorithm updates

TikTok engagement statistics for 2025

Still on the fence about TikTok? These 2025 stats show just how powerful the platform can be for audience engagement and reach:

1. TikTok has 1.590 billion monthly active users

1.59 billion people use TikTok every month, and Statista predicts that number will climb to 1.9 billion by 2029. It trails Facebook and Instagram in size, but not in engagement.

2. The TikTok user base spans several age brackets

TikTok’s audience spans a broad age range:

• Women 18–24: 14.1%
• Women 25–34: 14.6%
• Men 18–24: 16.6%
• Men 25–34: 20.7%

Translation: Whatever your demographic, they’re probably here.

3. Nearly half of TikTok’s users are only there to consume content

48% of U.S. TikTok users have never posted a video. They’re here to watch, not create, making it a prime space to reach passive, high-intent viewers.

4. 52% of consumers who make a purchase after seeing TikTok ads were only exposed to the ad on TikTok

52% of people who buy after seeing a TikTok ad were only exposed to it on TikTok. They didn’t see it anywhere else — not on YouTube, not in search, not on Instagram. That’s a rare level of platform exclusivity.

TikTok algorithm updates in 2025

TikTok currently defines its For You algorithm as “a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find content and creators you love … powered by a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user.”

Two concepts are central to how the FYP works: curated and interests.

Curated: TikTok’s For You page is tailored to each user, so no two FYPs are alike. The algorithm gathers a huge amount of information, including videos you’ve liked or saved, content that you’ve marked as “Not Interested” or reported as inappropriate, how long you’ve spent watching videos, and so on.

The algorithm uses all those inputs to predict which videos you’re likely to watch and engage with and adds them to your feed. The more a user scrolls and interacts, the more curated their FYP becomes.

Interests: There are tons of interest groups on TikTok (think #BookTok or #MomTok). The algorithm favors content that clearly aligns with these audiences. Gaining lots of visibility and traction within your core audience is key, which Hootsuite’s Social Trends 2025 Report highlights as a key shift. This is also known as micro-virality, or the rise of videos that go viral within niche communities rather than the platform at large

The takeaway? Focus on relevance over reach. Videos that resonate deeply with a niche audience are more likely to be promoted, rewatched, and shared, especially within tightly-knit communities.

8 proven tips to boost TikTok engagement in 2025

Increasing engagement on any social media channel can be tricky. Luckily, TikTok is thriving with daily active users, engaged consumers, and creative content.

Before we dive into the details, here’s a quick overview of the top ways to improve your TikTok engagement in 2025. These tips are backed by platform insights, best practices, and real results.

1. Engage to earn engagement

Interacting with other TikTok users is a surefire way to build engagement. TikTok’s community thrives on reciprocity, and active engagement with others tells the algorithm that you’re an account worth putting on people’s FYP.

But does it actually work?

The numbers don’t lie: 76% of TikTok users say brands that post or reply to comments on TikTok feel like part of the community, and 68% of TikTok users say brands should use the comments section to better understand their audience.

Here’s how to do it: Spend 10-15 minutes daily liking, commenting, and sharing videos from accounts in your niche or your followers.

Don’t just reply with an emoji — try to post something that sparks further conversation, like the NFL does in this comment:

You can also reply with a question to increase your chances of striking up a conversation:

You can also leave a positive comment that is sure to make someone smile:

Positivity in the comments? We love to see it!

2. Perfect your three-second hook

A strong beginning captures people’s attention, and the best TikToks draw in viewers with something different, original, or attention-grabbing within the first three seconds.

To find a good hook for your content, start by figuring out an interesting angle for the content you want to share. What makes your content original or different? Remember to keep it honest and relatable.

Next, build your hook. If you’re solving a problem, try something like, “Do you struggle with X?” or “Am I the only one who has this problem?”

To share a hack, you might start with a quick shot of the end result to give the audience a preview of what’s to come before diving into your tutorial.

This hook implies that the video will share a must-have tip for small business owners, inviting users to stop and watch:

Read More