How to Calculate Engagement Rate for Instagram Stories
Unlike feed posts where likes and comments are the primary metrics, Instagram Stories rely on active interactions. To truly understand how your ephemeral content is performing, you need to measure how many people took action after viewing your slide.
The Instagram Story Engagement Formula
The most accurate way to calculate this metric is by using Reach rather than followers. Reach represents the number of unique accounts that actually saw your story. The formula is:
function calculateStoryEngagement() {
var reach = parseFloat(document.getElementById("storyReach").value);
var replies = parseFloat(document.getElementById("storyReplies").value) || 0;
var shares = parseFloat(document.getElementById("storyShares").value) || 0;
var stickers = parseFloat(document.getElementById("storyStickers").value) || 0;
var resultArea = document.getElementById("story-result-area");
var percentageText = document.getElementById("engagementPercentage");
var interpretationText = document.getElementById("interpretation");
if (!reach || reach <= 0) {
alert("Please enter a valid Reach number greater than zero.");
return;
}
var totalInteractions = replies + shares + stickers;
var engagementRate = (totalInteractions / reach) * 100;
// Display Logic
resultArea.style.display = "block";
resultArea.style.backgroundColor = "#fff0f6";
percentageText.innerHTML = engagementRate.toFixed(2) + "%";
var message = "";
if (engagementRate = 1 && engagementRate = 3 && engagementRate < 6) {
message = "Great job! Your audience is very engaged with your story content.";
} else {
message = "Excellent! This engagement rate is way above industry benchmarks.";
}
interpretationText.innerHTML = message;
// Smooth scroll to result
resultArea.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'nearest' });
}