Frequency Strategies: How Often to Post on Social Media?

How often should you post on social media? 

This is a question that most of us have a hard time answering.  After all, as a marketer, you want to share valuable content without coming off as annoying.

So, for instance, after you get Twitter followers, how do you strike a balance between being informative and a nuisance? For better understanding, see the comparison between Tweet Attacks Pro vs Twesocial.

In this blog post, we look at the results of past studies to give you an idea of how your posting frequency on the different social media sites should look like.

How Often Should You Post On Facebook?

Many recommendations suggest that a post per day on Facebook is an ideal frequency strategy, while two Facebook posts are the maximum you should do daily. Unfortunately, this only works if you have many followers on the platform.

Hubspot studied Facebook brands with less than 10,000 fans and found out that these pages saw a 50% decrease in engagement per post if they posted twice per day. On the other hand, businesses that posted 1 to 5 times monthly experienced double growth in their engagement.

The only brands that saw an increase in the number of clicks after posting more than once daily were the ones with more than 10,000 followers.

The ideal number of posts you should share on Facebook also depends on the Facebook algorithm. The changes in the Facebook algorithm have led to content from family and friends being prioritized in users’ feed. This means that as a brand, you may find it challenging to get your content in front of your followers.

And posting more won’t help either.

Sotrender sought to see how post-reach was like with the new Facebook algorithm by checking 3,000 Facebook business users’ profiles. The results showed that organic reach decreased significantly for every additional post made by a business in a day.

So, unless you have a huge following on Facebook, we recommend you stick to posting one post per day or three to five posts weekly.

How Often Should You Post On Twitter?

Tweets have a short life meaning you can post more often on Twitter than on other social media sites. The average tweet has a lifetime of 15 to 20 minutes, and most retweets happen in the first hour after being posted. So, tweeting periodically may pay off.

In fact, some of the most popular Twitter accounts post as much as 100 times a day. However, you don’t necessarily have to post this often.   

According to data from a study done by Social Bakers, engagement on Twitter starts to drop after the third daily tweet. Response per tweet was also shown to increase at around the fifth tweet in a day before dropping.

Thus, if you’re looking to increase your engagement on Twitter, aim to send three to five tweets daily.

How Often Should You Post On Instagram?

The recommended posting frequency on Instagram is at least once per day and a maximum of three posts daily. Like on Facebook, your audience’s size on Instagram will determine how frequent your posts should be.

According to Neil Patel, consistency may also play a significant role in engagement on Instagram. If you’re used to posting thrice daily, don’t suddenly reduce your post sharing to only once, as this will see your reach and engagement drop.

We recommend that you start with a post daily on Instagram and aim for a maximum of three posts in a day.

How Often Should You Post On YouTube?

Again, just like on Instagram, the consistency of your posts is very crucial on YouTube.

It’s also recommended that you have a specific schedule for your YouTube posts which you should share with your followers. This allows your audience to anticipate your videos and keeps you on your toes when it comes to the frequency of your videos.

Since creating quality videos takes time, ensure your schedule gives you enough time to come up with quality content.

Past research indicates that posting a video weekly on YouTube is good enough. But since quality is essential on YouTube, ensure you don’t post poor videos just to have something uploaded weekly.

How Often Should You Post On LinkedIn?

LinkedIn recommends that you should share 20 posts monthly which are about one post every business day. Most LinkedIn users will be active on the platform from Monday to Friday, so the one post per business day makes sense.

Remember, LinkedIn is a professional site. So, ensure your content is strictly business-related.

In closing, the above recommendations are based on past research and advice. But you can always adjust them based on your engagement results. And don’t forget to pair your frequency social media posting strategy with quality content if you want to keep followers on your feed.