So you’re wondering how often you should post on social media?
Every platform is different and has a different audience and method of reach. So naturally, there are differences for each. But how much is too little, or how much is too much?
Well, below I have a quick summary, followed by some more expansive information on each platform. So, let’s dig in.
The numbers
Please keep in mind that these are the optimal frequencies for posting on social media but are in no way a concrete rule.
Not meeting these numbers doesn’t mean you’re wasting your time with Social Media. I often don’t meet these as the business doesn’t always revolve around your social media presence. You should always test and determine which frequency is best for you.
But here are some guidelines to start! But always remember, quality and engagement are more important than frequency.
Below are the recommended frequencies to post on Social Media:
- Twitter: 14 times a day on weekdays & 7 times a day on weekends (3 per day is considered low)
- Facebook: Once or Twice per day (no less than once or twice per week)
- Instagram (feed posts): Once or Twice a day (no less than once or twice per week)
- LinkedIn: Once a day (once per week is considered low)
- Pinterest: 10 or so per day (3 is considered low)
- YouTube: Once or Twice per week
I also have a video covering this on YouTube here.
Let’s look a bit deeper at that…
14 times a day on weekdays & 7 times a day on weekends (3 per day is considered low).
Twitter is very straightforward. You tweet, it hits the feed of your followers mostly in chronological order – meaning whoever is around close enough to your post time will see it if the timing is right.
They have added some algorithmic changes to show some popular tweets in recent years, but it’s still recommended to tweet very frequently to reach your followers and take advantage of their timing.
This means it’s not a sin to tweet about something more than once to reach people who are online at different hours. You can also use mentions and hashtags to move past the feed and into people’s notifications and other areas of Twitter.
The sky is the limit with Twitter. You can post well over 50 times per day and be safe!
Once or Twice per day (no less than once or twice per week)
Facebook is a tough one because reach is usually quite poor for Facebook pages, but frequency still counts. If you underdo it you become inactive and less likely to reach people, but overdo it and people get sick of you or don’t engage as much.
Sharing a quality post once per day is solid, twice at most. This way you make sure it’s quality and get some decent engagement and you only have to fight for one spot in someone’s feed (due to the competitive algorithm).
One tip is to post videos and images mostly to grab attention. If you’re posting a link, consider an image instead and pop the link in the comments (stating that the ‘link is in the comments’).
Once or Twice a day (no less than once or twice per week).
Instagram is more flexible than Facebook. Daily posts are great but you can get away with 2 or 3 per week when posting to the feed. Carousels and videos are a popular medium.
It’s recommended you put a bit of effort into stories though, to keep people engaged. You can easily share other’s posts or even your own in your stories to keep things moving.
Once a day (once per week is considered low).
LinkedIn’s feed works well with a lot of it’s formats being similar to Facebook. Video seems to work well on LinkedIn and many have had success with long-form posts that are 2000 words or more!
Due to its simple feed design and user base, a daily post is a solid marker to follow.
10 or so per day (3 is considered low)
Pinterest works best as a search engine, so when you post you can design your images for their search function. I highly recommend an active approach to Pinterest if you decide to go with it, manually submitting your posts every day not just onto your boards, but into various group boards to spread your reach.
Stick with tall, vertical images to grab attention. Since the average Pinterest user sees a lot of images at once in their feed, then don’t be afraid to post a lot of images daily.
YouTube
Once or Twice per week
YouTube requires less frequency but that is because the media posted takes longer to consume.
On most of the above platforms, you’ll spend maybe a minute if you really dig into a post, but on YouTube videos go from 3 minutes to 15 or 20 minutes in most cases, meaning people have less time to watch everything.
Post with this in mind but also cater for search as you’ll get most views from outside of your subscriber’s feeds (in most cases) and keep it consistent. When people do actually want to follow your work they will be expecting videos at the usual time you post. So set a schedule and stick to it!
Final Thoughts
Doing some or all of these platforms can keep you busy. It helps to sit and plan your social media posts as you’ll save a tonne of time.
Another thing you can do is set up some auto-posting so when you post on one platform it goes to another.
Here’s an example of how it could work using IFTTT:
- Set up Facebook to automatically post whatever you post to Instagram
- Set up Twitter & LinkedIn to automatically post whatever you share on Facebook
- Anytime you publish a blog post or video to YouTube, set up an Auto tweet on Twitter.
- You get the idea
This means if you put one post on Instagram, it’d automatically share to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can setup little systems like this to get your content reaching further and reach those frequencies more easily.
But in many ways, it can be more effective to directly focus on one or two platforms instead so it’s really up to you.
The important things quality over quantity and make sure you engage your audience.
I hope you found that useful, if you have any thoughts please leave them below! Thanks for dropping by :)
