How often do you post on social media? Do you feel like you’re never posting enough online? Well, here’s some good news for you. The number one criterium on how often you should post online is that you should only post as often as you have quality content.
Okay, but is that really an answer to the question? How much quality content should you strive for? In the rest of this blog, I’ll be going over the available research to try and give you an idea of how much your business should post online.
And, always remember that it’s better to be active on fewer social media sites than it is to be inactive on all of them. And, these guidelines should be seen as maximums. For example, you don’t want to post more than 2 times per day on Facebook, as the extra effort isn’t worth (or may even hurt) any additional bump in engagement.
TLDR; Overall, posting between 1 and 2 posts online per day on each platform is about the average. But, each platform has some differences. Keep reading for more specifics. One platform that is way different is YouTube, where the recommendation is for 1 video per week.
Target: 1-2 posts per day
Posting more than 2 times per day on Facebook can lead to a drop in engagement, according to Hootsuite1. Posting too frequently can cause your new posts to push your old posts out of the way, leading to fewer people seeing them.
The average business posts something like 1.3 posts per day, so out of every 3 days, they might post 2 posts on the first day and 1 post on the next 2 days each.
‘Too many updates’ is also cited as a leading reason people unfollow a page, according to Constant Contact2.
Also, keep in mind, for people to see your events, make sure you post them at least 5-10 days before the event date. This is also due to the way the Facebook algorithm black box works, but it takes time to do its magic2.
Target: 2 feed posts per week, 2 stories per day
“During Instagram’s Creator Week in June 2021, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri suggested that posting 2 feed posts per week and 2 Stories per day is ideal for building a following on the app.”1
Instagram specifically suggests posting stories daily. And, for best engagement, post things on Instagram when your followers are online2.
Target: 1 post per day
There is some conflicting advice about how often you should post on LinkedIn. Older advice suggests that engagement drops off if you post more than 1 time per day2, but newer studies1 suggest that up to 5 posts per day will continue to improve engagement.
Target: 1-5 posts per day
We all know some power Twitter users who Tweet hundreds of times a day. The good news is you don’t have do that to be active on Twitter!
A 2013 survey2 found that 3 Tweets per day resulted in the best engagement for the effort, and that’s still right in the middle of the recommended number of daily Tweets1.
Target: 1-5 posts per day
Pinterest is not the same kind of social network and what might flood your followers’ feeds somewhere else, won’t inconvenience them the same way on Pinterest2. In fact, many users search Pinterest and having up a lot of posts will only help you appear in more search results.
YouTube
Target: 1 post per week
The recommendation5,6 is to post 1 time per week on YouTube. And, this is realistic as video take more time and effort. And, for the effort versus engagement tradeoff, posting good, quality content weekly will help you build your following.
In conclusion, some social media networks are more work than others. But, if you spend some time planning and set up a social media scheduler, you can streamline your efforts for maximum effect. And, remember, posting a fewer number of quality posts is better than posting a greater number of less engaging posts.
Finally, you always want to go back and look at how your posts have performed. This will help you understand the topics that do well, what didn’t do very good, and maybe inspire new ideas you can try.
If you’re not sure where to start online, or what to post, or you just want someone to do it for you, check out our services.
References and Further Reading
- How often to post to social media in 2021. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. (2021, June 16). https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-often-to-post-on-social-media/.
- Perssico, A. (2021, January 8). How often to post on social media (Instagram, Facebook, and more). Constant Contact. https://blogs.constantcontact.com/how-often-post-social-media/.
- Lee, K. (2020, July 24). Best frequency strategies: How often to post on social media. Buffer Library. https://buffer.com/library/social-media-frequency-guide/.
- The best times to post on social media in 2021. Sprout Social. (2021, July 29). https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/.
- Myers, L. (2021, August 2). How often to post on social media: 2021 Success Guide. Louise Myers Visual Social Media. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from https://louisem.com/144557/often-post-social-media.
- Clark, D. (n.d.). How often should I upload to YOUTUBE 2021 – my experiments. Tips and tricks for YouTube content creators. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from https://www.socialvideoplaza.com/en/articles/youtube-upload-schedule.
