How Often Should You Post on Social Media?

I thought I would address this question because it’s one of those questions that I hear a lot. Everyone is looking for a way to get a leg up on the competition and social media seems like the way to go. However, there’s no real understanding of social media because it’s made up of millions of individuals who all think differently, act differently, and see the world differently. So people come up with their best guesses and then use data to support those guesses.

With that in mind, here are my three favorite guesses.

The Social Media Strategy

My favorite social media comes courtesy of this post that appeared on Sendible. The writer says it’s not the time of the post that matters so much as two keys, consistency and quality.

“For example, if you decide you’ll post twice a day on Facebook, you know you need to create or curate content to fill that schedule. Your audience will know that they can visit your page at any given time and expect two fresh posts every 24 hours…There’s only one thing worse than not posting on social media, and that’s posting something that’s pointless. There really is no point in posting something just to fill a slot in your schedule…”

It’s hard to write something better than that.

Time Matters

A 2018 study by HootSuite was very exact in its research and broke things down by social media platform.

According to the study, the best time to post on Instagram is 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, in other words, lunchtime.

That same study also found posting on Facebook between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, as well as weekends from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., is the most beneficial for companies.

When it comes to Twitter, 3 p.m. Monday through Friday is ideal.

For LinkedIn, 7:45 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 5:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday were the best because you’re coming in just before most large brands post, which is on the hour.

All of these answers are really just a jumping off point. As HootSuite points out, social media posting is more complex than just picking a specific time because it’s also “…about knowing your audience, testing different times, and measuring results.” The industry a person works in can make a difference, as well as the time zone. If you’re the new kid on the block and you’re looking to gain traction against some more established companies, posting in “off-peak” times might also be a great answer.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Meanwhile, an article on Inc.com suggests it’s about bombarding the reader on social media. The article suggests one Facebook post per day (though I have heard arguments for two); 15 tweets on Twitter per day; 11 pins on Pinterest per day; 1 LinkedIn post per day; 1–2 Instagram posts per day.

That’s a lot of posts. In an instance like this scheduling posts is a must and so is repurposing. Repurposing is a pretty simple action, just take a Facebook post and make it into a cool infographic that you can pin on Pinterest then find a snappy way to tweet it out. A lot of posts doesn’t mean a lot of content, it just means finding new ways to say the same thing.

Truth be told, there’s no real right answer when it comes to posting on social media. Your best bet is probably a combination of all three.

The real goal is to find what works for you and stick to it. Frequency and reliability can be your best friends when it comes to building a brand through social media.

Written by Erika Towne