Engagement rate matters more than reach in most cases because it shows whether an audience actually listens. Reach only wins when the goal is pure awareness. For action and trust, pick engagement over raw size every time.
My team is split on a creator with huge reach but weak engagement. What matters more when choosing an influencer, reach or engagement rate?
Engagement, almost always. Reach is potential and engagement is proof. I would rather pay for an audience that responds than one that merely exists.
The only time reach wins outright is a top of funnel awareness blitz. For anything that needs people to act, engagement is the better bet.
It depends on what you are buying but most of the time engagement wins. Reach is how many people could see the post. Engagement is how many actually reacted. A million-reach creator with dead comments delivers a billboard nobody looks at, while a smaller creator with real engagement delivers an audience that listens and acts.
There is one case for reach: a pure awareness goal where you just need a lot of eyeballs and you are willing to pay for raw scale. Even then, a low engagement rate on a big account is a sign of bought followers, so it is rarely the bargain it looks like.
You do not have to pick blind. Flinque shows reach, engagement and a fake-follower score side by side, so you can find creators who have both real size and a genuinely engaged audience instead of trading one for the other.
Be suspicious of huge reach with tiny engagement. That gap is the sound of bought followers rather than a quiet but loyal audience.