Engagement Rates: The New North Star for CPG Digital Marketing Success

Finding ways to accurately measure digital campaign effectiveness is always a high priority for food marketers. But pinpointing conversions or calculating hard ROI can be elusive, particularly for top-of-funnel initiatives. And if you’re working with incomplete metrics, you won’t feel confident in your strategy or budget decisions.

More and more, marketers are leaning on engagement rates as definitive KPIs to measure their campaign’s success. Unlike click-through rates (CTRs), engagement rates focus on the quality of your audience’s interactions.

But how exactly does this metric work, and why is it becoming the new standard for digital marketing? Let’s explore the shift from click-through rates to engagement rates and their growing importance in today’s digital landscape.

Why Engagement Rates Are All the Rage

Engagement rate encompasses a variety of interactions beyond simple clicks. It includes likes, comments, shares, and other platform-specific actions that indicate a user’s genuine interest in your content. By focusing on these deeper interactions, you gain insight into how well your message resonates with your target audience.

Engagement rates reflect a more meaningful connection with your content. A high CTR might get users to your page, but engagement shows they’re actually interacting with your brand. This is the foundation for building brand affinity and fostering a sense of community around your products or services.

Components of Engagement

Understanding the components of engagement is key to leveraging this metric effectively:

• Likes: A quick indicator of content approval
• Comments: Reflect users’ thoughts and opinions, nurturing conversations
• Shares: Amplify your reach as users distribute content to their networks

It’s also important to remember that engagement is about quality over quantity. A smaller, highly engaged audience often proves more valuable than a larger, passive one. By prioritizing engagement, you’re setting the stage for improved brand loyalty and more effective long-term marketing efforts.

The Rules of Engagement Rates Vary Across Platforms

As you delve deeper into the world of engagement rates, it’s crucial to recognize that not all platforms are created equal. Each social media channel has its own unique criteria for what constitutes an engagement, leading to variations in reported rates that can significantly impact your strategy.

Take Facebook, for instance. It includes actions like three-second video views as engagements, a metric that might not even register on other platforms. This discrepancy can dramatically alter how you assess your campaign’s performance and tailor your content strategy across different channels.

Here are some other platform-specific nuances:

• Instagram prioritizes saves and shares over likes
• X (formerly known as Twitter) emphasizes retweets and quote tweets
• TikTok emphasizes likes, shares, and saves (i.e., how many users save a video to their “saved” folder)
• LinkedIn focuses on comments and reshares as key engagement indicators

By recognizing these differences, you can craft content tailored to each platform’s unique engagement ecosystem, maximizing your impact across the board.

Strategies for Boosting Engagement Rates

To elevate your engagement rates and create content that truly resonates with your audience, start by analyzing your past wins. Dig into the metrics of your best-performing content, paying close attention to engagement rates, shares, and comments. This will help you define what, exactly, makes your audience tick.

Once you’ve identified the elements that drive engagement, you can incorporate them into your future campaigns. However, you want to avoid simply replicating past content. Adapt these successful elements to current trends and evolving audience preferences.

Harnessing the Power of Humor

One particularly effective strategy for boosting engagement is using memes and humorous content. Food brands with a lighthearted “vibe” tend to have higher interaction rates across social media platforms. Memes, in particular, resonate well with younger audiences, making them more likely to share and engage with your content.

Humorous content can also encourage more conversations in the comments, strengthening a sense of community among your followers. For instance, our social media post for Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) featured a baked potato in a mousetrap, with the caption: “This would have gotten a lot of you.” Our target audiences “saw themselves” in the ad, and it sparked some hilarious replies in the comments, reinforcing a shared affinity for the beloved potato.

While comedy can be a powerful tool, make sure your content’s “sense of humor” aligns with your brand message and remains relevant to your audience. Don’t hop on a trend or meme unless it makes sense. The goal is to create content that not only entertains but also reinforces your brand identity and marketing objectives.

Connect With the Youths

Digital natives like Gen Z use social channels not just for entertainment, but as key tools in their decision-making. From product research to post-purchase sharing, social media influences every stage of their customer journey.

Younger Generations Seek Authenticity from Brands

To connect with younger generations, your content strategy must prioritize authenticity and relatability. This means moving away from polished, corporate messaging and embracing a more genuine, conversational tone. Engage with your audience as you would a friend, addressing their concerns and interests directly.

As you refine your approach to engaging younger audiences, keep in mind that they’re active participants in shaping brand narratives. Encourage user-generated content, respond promptly to comments, and create opportunities for your audience to feel heard and valued. This level of interaction not only boosts engagement rates but also builds the kind of brand loyalty that can weather changes in CPG trends and market fluctuations.

Setting Benchmarks: Industry Standards vs. High Performers

Understanding both industry benchmarks and exceptional engagement rates can help you set realistic goals for your brand’s digital marketing campaign.

It’s crucial to research platform-specific standards to gauge your performance accurately, as industry benchmarks vary widely depending on the platform and content type.

Keys to Exceptional Engagement

What sets high performers apart? It’s a combination of strategy and execution:

• Data-driven content creation: Analyzing past successes to inform future campaigns
• Platform optimization: Tailoring content to each social media channel’s unique engagement metrics
• Audience-centric approach: Crafting messages that spark genuine interest and conversation
• Consistent innovation: Staying ahead of trends and adapting to changing audience preferences

As you refine your strategy, keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Today’s record-breaking engagement rate could become tomorrow’s new standard. By continuously striving for improvement and focusing on creating genuine connections with your audience, you’ll be well-positioned to outperform not just industry benchmarks, but your own previous bests.

Embracing Engagement as a KPI with EHY

By prioritizing these Key Performance Indicators, you’re not just tracking numbers – you’re gauging the pulse of your audience’s interest and the strength of your brand’s connection with them.

As you refine your digital strategies, know that engagement isn’t just about likes and shares – it’s about creating lasting impressions that drive brand affinity and loyalty. EHY can help you consistently deliver content that encourages interaction, setting the stage for long-term marketing success. Connect with us today to discuss your food brand’s marketing goals.