Engagement Rates Are Lying to You — Here's What Matters

If you’re still measuring your marketing success by engagement rates alone, it's like judging a Sunday roast purely by the number of Yorkshire puddings. Sure, it looks impressive — but it tells you nothing about the real quality underneath. 

Brands love to shout about "killer engagement rates" — 5%, 8%, 10% — but here’s the rub: engagement rates can be absolute nonsense if you’re not putting them in the right context.

A high engagement rate on a low-quality post? Useless. A low engagement rate on a strategic post that drives serious sales behind the scenes? Much more valuable. 

It’s time to stop obsessing over vanity percentages and start focusing on what actually moves the needle. 

Why Engagement Rates Alone Are About as Useful as a Chocolate Teapot 

On paper, engagement rate is a simple calculation: (likes + comments + shares) divided by your total followers, multiplied by 100. Sounds neat, tidy, scientific. 

Reality? Messy, misleading, and often downright deceptive. 

A post could rack up loads of likes because it’s funny, controversial, or flashy — but it might have zero impact on brand loyalty, sales, or trust. Meanwhile, a "quiet" post could land in the inboxes of decision-makers and lead to huge deals. 

Good marketing isn't a popularity contest. It's about impact. 

Context is King 

Engagement rates without context are meaningless. You need to ask: 

• Who is engaging? (Bots, randoms, your target audience?) 

• What are they doing after they engage? (Buying? Signing up? Ghosting?) 

• What was the goal of the content? (Awareness, action, loyalty?) 

If you're getting a tonne of engagement from people who were never going to become customers anyway, you're not winning. You're just playing to the wrong crowd. 

This is where UltimateCRM shines — tracking not just clicks and comments but actual relationship-building moments that drive real business outcomes. 

Why High Engagement Doesn't Always Mean Success 

We've all seen posts that go viral but make no difference to a brand's bottom line. Memes are great for laughs, but will they keep your sales team busy? Not unless you're selling punchlines. 

True success in digital marketing is about quality engagement: the conversations that lead somewhere, the relationships that build loyalty, the audience that actually converts. 

UltimateCRM was designed around this principle. It helps you see the real impact behind the numbers, not just the vanity buzz. 

Low Engagement Doesn't Always Mean Failure Either 

A post might have a "meh" engagement rate but still be doing heavy lifting behind the scenes. Maybe it’s nurturing long-term trust. Maybe it’s educating a warm audience that’ll convert next month, not tomorrow. 

B2B brands especially fall into this trap. Just because you're not getting hundreds of likes doesn't mean your content isn't working. The right few people paying attention are worth far more than a sea of indifferent followers. 

Good marketing is like planting a garden — some seeds sprout immediately, others take a season. UltimateCRM tracks those seeds, so you’re not uprooting perfectly good plants because you’re impatient. 

The Dark Side of Chasing High Engagement 

Chasing engagement for engagement’s sake can lead to desperate tactics: clickbait headlines, shock posts, controversy for the sake of attention. 

Sure, you might see a spike in numbers. But at what cost? 

• Damaging your brand reputation 

• Attracting the wrong crowd 

• Losing trust with your real audience 

Short-term gains at the expense of long-term success isn't clever marketing. It's a sugar rush — looks exciting, feels awful after. 

Building real, sustainable engagement takes strategy, patience, and a deep understanding of your audience. Not gimmicks. 

Engagement Quality Over Engagement Quantity 

A hundred thoughtful comments from real customers beat ten thousand likes from bots or randoms. 

Marketing that matters prioritises: 

• Real conversations over one-click likes 

• Depth over flash 

• Substance over spectacle 

UltimateCRM doesn’t just track numbers; it helps you spot which engagements actually mean something, so you can invest in growing them. 

How UltimateCRM Helps You Focus on What Matters 

Old-school CRMs and analytics tools often stop at the surface: impressions, likes, clicks. UltimateCRM digs deeper. 

It tracks: 

• Conversations that lead to conversions 

• Follow-ups that nurture loyalty 

• Relationships that grow revenue 

With UltimateCRM, you’re not guessing. You’re building smart, sustainable engagement strategies that actually work. 

What You Should Be Measuring Instead 

Ditch the obsession with percentages and start tracking: 

• Audience loyalty — Are people sticking around? 

• Meaningful engagement — Are the right people interacting? 

• Conversions — Are conversations leading to action? 

• Brand sentiment — Are you seen positively by your audience? 

UltimateCRM helps you measure these properly, giving you a real picture of success. 

Big Brands Get It Too 

Smart brands aren’t chasing likes — they’re chasing loyalty. 

Nike doesn't need every post to "go viral." They need people to feel connected enough to lace up another pair of trainers. Innocent Drinks isn’t trying to outpost everyone; they're creating a brand people genuinely love. 

It’s not about shouting the loudest. It’s about saying the things that actually matter — and listening when your audience talks back. 

Forget Engagement Rates — Focus on Real Results 

Chasing perfect engagement rates is like running on a treadmill — exhausting, repetitive, and ultimately going nowhere. 

Focus instead on building conversations, connections, and communities that actually move your brand forward. 

At Ultimate Marketing, we’re experts in spotting what works — and helping brands do more of it. 

It's not about doing everything. It's about doing the right things, the right way, with the right people. 

Stop sweating your engagement rates. Start investing in real marketing success.

✩ Wondering if your engagement numbers are telling you the full story? Let’s find out. Book a FREE marketing consultation and we’ll review your strategy, reveal what really matters, and show you how UltimateCRM keeps your brand focused on what counts. ✩