About metrics calculation in Lumen

  • Aug 26, 2026
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  Article updated: June 22, 2026

About metrics calculation in Lumen

Make sure you fully understand the relevance of your results and analytics by mastering the metrics. This article provides an overview of the metrics that are most commonly used in your Lumen project.

Engagement

Engagement is calculated when someone has engaged with an article or post. The following table describes how Lumen calculates engagement for each data source type.

Engagement calculation by platform
PlatformEngagement calculation
BlogsSum of comments on the article and number of posts of the URL.
ForumsNumber of comments on the article.
News sitesSum of Facebook shares of the URL, comments on the Facebook shares, Facebook reactions (Likes), and shares of the URL on X.
FacebookSum of shares, reactions, and comments.
Facebook InsightsSum of shares, reactions, comments, and link clicks on the post. Link clicks represent the number of times people clicked anywhere in the post without generating a story, which can include photo views, video plays, and expanding to read a post.
InstagramSum of likes and comments.
Instagram InsightsSum of likes and comments.
LinkedInSum of likes, shares, and comments.
X

Sum of reposts, likes, quote posts, replies, and bookmarks.

X bookmarks are included in the engagement calculation for results published from July 1st, 2024 onwards.

Prior to July 1st, 2024: sum of reposts, likes, replies, and quotes.

Prior to January 1, 2024: sum of reposts, likes, and quotes.

Prior to June 13 , 2023: sum of reposts and likes.

PinterestSum of comments, repins, and reactions.
YouTubeSum of likes and comments.

Engagement rate

The engagement rate is the number of user interactions that occur with your social media page. The following table describes how Lumen calculates engagement rate for each social media platform.

Engagement rate calculation by platform
PlatformEngagement rate calculation
Facebook(Sum of shares, reactions, and comments) / (Number of followers) X 100.
Facebook Insights(Sum of shares, reactions, comments, and link clicks) / (Number of impressions) X 100.
Instagram(Sum of likes and comment) / (Number of followers) X 100.
Instagram Insights(Sum of likes and comment) / (Reach) X 100.
LinkedIn(Sum of likes, shares, and comments) / (Number of followers) X 100.
X(Sum of reposts, likes, quote posts, and replies) / (Number of followers) X 100.
Pinterest(Sum of comments, repins, and reactions)/(Number of followers) X 100.

The Daily Engagement Rate represents the average engagement rate per day. The engagement rate is calculated for each day within the selected time period, these values are then summed up and the sum is divided by the number of days from the selected time range.

The Average Engagement Rate represents the average engagement rate per post. The engagement rate is calculated for each owner post from the selected time period, these values are then summed up and the sum is divided by the number of posts.

Potential reach

The potential reach metric represents the number of people who might have seen an article or post. The following table describes how Lumen calculates potential reach for each data source type.

Potential reach calculation by platform
PlatformPotential reach calculation
BlogsNumber of Semrush monthly unique visitors.
ForumsNumber of Semrush monthly unique visitors.
News sitesNumber of Semrush monthly unique visitors.
FacebookNumber of Page likes at the time the post was published.
Facebook Insights

Number of Page Likes at the time the post was published.

The post's actual reach ('Facebook Reach') represents the number of people who saw your Page's post on their screen. Each user is counted only once, regardless of the number of times they saw the post.

The profile's actual reach ('Total Reach') reflects the total number of people who have seen any content from your Page or about your Page. This includes content published on your Page, Facebook Ads, and promoted posts that lead people to your Page. Each user is counted only once, even if they saw the same content multiple times.

InstagramNumber of followers of the account.
Instagram Insights

Potential reach is the same as the post's actual reach.

The post's actual reach ('Instagram Insights Reach') represents the total number of unique Instagram accounts that have seen the post or story.

The profile's actual reach ('Total Reach') reflects the total number of times any media object (that is, a post, story, or promotion) has been uniquely seen. This also includes ad activity generated through the API, Facebook ads interfaces, and the Promote feature.

LinkedInNumber of followers of the LinkedIn page.
XNumber of followers of the account.
PinterestNumber of followers.
YouTubeNumber of video views.

Predefined scores

Lumen provides three preconfigured metrics at the result level (when applicable) in both Quick Search and Topic Insights. They include:

  • Estimated reach - provides a realistic estimate of how many users may have viewed your content.
  • Engagement rate - reflects how actively your audience interacts with your content, as a percentage value.
  • Earned media value (EMV) - calculates the ROI on your content, based on the Cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM), in dollars.

You can enable or disable these metrics in your project settings, under General Settings.

Estimated reach

The following table describes how Lumen calculates estimated reach for each data source type.

Estimated reach calculation by platform
PlatformEstimated reach calculation
News sites and blogs

Lumen multiplies the article’s Monthly Unique Visitors (MUV) number by a percentage value, depending on the number of unique visitors.

Monthly Unique Visitors (MUV)Reach factor
Less than 1M2.5%
1M - 5M1.5%
5M - 50M1.25%
50M - 300M 1%
More than 300M0.5%

Forums

Lumen multiplies the article’s Monthly Unique Visitors (MUV) number by a percentage, depending on the number of unique visitors.

Monthly Unique Visitors (MUV)Reach factor
Less than 25K0.56%
25K - 100K0.35%
100K - 1M0.20%
1M - 5M 0.16%
5M - 10M0.13%
10M - 25M 0.4%
25M - 50M0.02%
50M - 100M0.0004%
100M - 250M0.00005%
More than 250M0.00001%

Facebook and Facebook Insights

If available, Lumen takes the reach value directly from Facebook Insights. If not available, Lumen estimates reach using the following formula:

(Engagement / 1.2) * 100

If Paid Reach is available, Lumen uses that value instead of estimated reach.

Facebook Reels(Engagement / 1.2) * 100
Facebook Ads ChannelPaid Reach
Instagram

If available, Lumen takes the reach value directly from Instagram Insights. If not available, Lumen estimates reach using the following formula: 

(Engagement / 3.5) * 100

If Paid Reach is available, Lumen uses that value instead of estimated reach.

Instagram hashtag

(Engagement / 3.5) * 100

Instagram Ad ChannelPaid Reach
TikTok Insights

If available, Lumen takes the reach value directly from TikTok Insights. If not available, Lumen estimates reach using the following formula: 

  • If engagement is less then 200K, then estimated reach = (Engagement * 28) * 0.7
  • If engagement is more then 200K, then estimated reach = (Engagement * 10.5) * 0.7
ThreadsViews * 0.7
XPost impressions * 0.7
Bluesky(Engagement / 0.07) * 0.7
LinkedInLinkedIn Insights impressions * 0.7
YouTube

Lumen multiplies the video's total number of views by a percentage value, depending on the number of views.

Total viewsReach factor
Less than 150k0.9%
150K - 1M0.8%
1M - 10M 0.7%
More than 10M0.6%

YouTube shortsViews * 0.8
PinterestEngagement / 5.4) *100 * 0.7
Reddit

For Reddit posts: Total votes * 15

For Reddit comments: Total Votes * 6

Engagement rate

The following table describes how Lumen calculates engagement rate for each data source type.

Tip: Sometimes, the engagement rate can spike into the thousands when an author with a very small following receives high engagement. You can use the reach: operator to focus your analysis on posts with broader visibility (for example,  reach:>1000).

Engagement rate calculation by platform
PlatformEngagement rate calculation
News sites and blogsEngagement / Number of Semrush Monthly Unique Visitors
ForumsEngagement / Number of Semrush Monthly Unique Visitors
Facebook and Facebook Insights Engagement / Number of followers
InstagramEngagement / Number of followers
TikTok InsightsEngagement / Number of followers
ThreadsEngagement / Number of followers
XEngagement / Number of followers
BlueskyEngagement / Number of followers
LinkedInEngagement / Number of followers
YouTube and YouTube shortsEngagement / Number of views
PinterestEngagement / Number of followers
RedditEngagement / Number of Semrush Monthly Unique Visitors (MUV)

Earned media value (EMV)

The following table describes how Lumen calculates earned media value for each data source type.

Earned media value calculation by platform
PlatformEarned media value calculation
News sites and blogs(Estimated Reach / 1,000) * 0.76
Forums(Estimated Reach / 1,000) * 0.76
Facebook and Facebook Insights

If available, Lumen uses Facebook Insights post impressions to calculate earned media value:

(Facebook Insights post impressions / 1,000) * 8.96

If post impressions are not available, Lumen uses the estimated reach metric to calculate earned media value:

(Facebook estimated reach / 1,000) * 8.96

Facebook Reels(Facebook estimated reach / 1,000) * 8.96
Instagram

If available, Lumen uses Instagram Insights post impressions to calculate earned media value:

(Instagram Insights post impressions / 1,000) * 8.96

If post impressions are not available, Lumen uses the estimated reach metric to calculate earned media value:

(Instagram estimated reach / 1,000) * 8.96

Instagram hashtag(Instagram estimated reach / 1,000) * 8.96
TikTok Insights

If available, Lumen uses TikTok views to calculate earned media value:

(TikTok views / 1,000) * 6.27

If views are not available, Lumen uses the estimated reach metric to calculate earned media value:

(TikTok estimated reach / 1,000) * 6.27

Threads(Thread views / 1,000) * 8.96
X(Post impressions / 1,000) * 5
BlueskyNot available
LinkedIn(LinkedIn Insights impressions / 1,000) * 6.59
YouTube and YouTube shorts

(YouTube views / 1,000) * 3.53

Pinterest(Estimated reach / 1,000) * 3.12
Reddit(Estimated reach / 1,000) * 0.76

Trending score

The trending score indicates the acceleration of the engagement on a specific story over time. Results that are rapidly getting more engagement get a higher score, so you can more easily discover breaking stories on specific topics.

The scores are categorized as follows:

  • 0-3: the article is not trending (or not trending anymore).
  • 4-6: the article is trending slightly.
  • 7-10: the article is really trending, right now.

Net sentiment

Net sentiment provides an approximation of how people feel about a specific mention.

Net sentiment = (Number of positive posts - Number of negative posts) / (Sum of positive and negative posts)

Learn more about sentiment analysis in Lumen.

 

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