HypeAuditor Digest

The easiest way to use the benchmark is to take a creator you are considering and compare them with creators of a similar size in the same market. The table below breaks both metrics down by country and follower tier.

For example, among US creators with 50K–500K followers, our benchmark shows a 3.88% median Engagement Rate, with median Average Views of 12.4K.

These are medians, not targets or minimum requirements. A median simply means that roughly half of comparable creators are above that level and half are below it.

Now imagine you are considering a US creator with 150K followers who averages 30K views and has a view-based ER of 5%.

Both metrics are above the median for comparable creators.

That doesn't automatically mean you should sign them, but it's a useful indicator that their content is outperforming peers of a similar size in the same market, and a good reason to shortlist them for a closer look.

I would not use either metric in isolation.

Average Views tells you about distribution power: how much attention the creator’s content typically manages to generate.

Engagement Rate tells you about engagement efficiency: how strongly people interact with the content once it reaches them.

Looking at both gives you a more useful read on where a creator stands:

There is another reason to keep both numbers in mind.

A 3% Engagement Rate on 1,000 views and a 3% Engagement Rate on 100,000 views represent very different levels of audience response.

The percentage may be identical, but the absolute scale of engagement is not.

Brands increasingly take content that's already published organically and put paid media behind it, through Instagram Partnership Ads or similar tools. Organic performance can act as an initial creative signal here.

A Reel that significantly outperforms the typical views for comparable creators has already shown an ability to attract attention without paid distribution. I would start testing with content like this before spending the budget behind weaker performers.

I'd treat this as a creative pre-test, not a guarantee, since targeting, objective, and placement still decide paid results. Given a few assets to pick from, I'd start with whichever already showed it could attract attention on its own.

There is one more thing that benchmarks cannot tell us.

A high Engagement Rate tells you that people are reacting. It does not tell you why they are reacting.

A Reel may generate lots of comments because people love it. It may also generate lots of comments because it is controversial, confusing or attracting negative reactions.

So once the numbers flag an interesting creator or piece of content, the next step is qualitative: open the Reel, read the comments and understand what exactly is driving the engagement and whether that response is appropriate for your brand.

A 4% Engagement Rate can be strong for one creator and completely normal for another. It depends on factors such as follower size, market, and platform.

That’s why I would compare a creator’s views and ER with similar creators in the same market and follower range, rather than judging the number on its own.

Our benchmark is designed to supply that missing comparison, helping marketers identify creators and Reels that stand out from comparable content before moving on to the equally important questions of brand fit, audience quality, content quality, and campaign objectives.