By now, social media marketing is no longer optional. If your business doesn’t have an active presence on social media, your customers may tune out.
That said, posting too often isn’t the solution either. This leaves your followers feeling overwhelmed, making them more likely to unfollow you. For best results, you need to have a strict posting schedule for each of your social media platforms.
What should these schedules look like? Here are the numbers for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn!
Out of all the platforms here, Twitter is the most unforgiving when it comes to marketing.
The reason: tweets only last an average of 15-20 minutes. After that, your followers’ feeds will have received enough posts that yours will drop to the bottom. This is also why most retweets happen within an hour of getting published.
Your Twitter usage should depend on your social media strategy. If you’re looking for higher engagement on individual tweets, go for one to five tweets per day. If you just want to get your name out there, tweet periodically throughout the day.
As of a while ago, Facebook prioritises content from family and friends in news feeds.
This is bad news for brands—and cranking up your posting volume won’t help much. Instead, you’re better off sticking to the “two posts per day” rule. This has been the sweet spot for maximising engagement for many years now.
This rule does have one exception, though. If you have less than 10,000 followers on Facebook, one post per day should suffice.
Instagram isn’t always a great fit for business social media posts. This is why even the top brands only average 1.5 posts per day.
This is another example where the ideal posting frequency depends on audience size. If you have a smaller audience, posting 1-2 times a day should be perfect. The more followers you have, the more you should post.
Also, consistency matters more than frequency on Instagram. If your audience expects three posts a day, anything less will cause a drop in engagement. In other words, find the frequency your social media team can maintain and stick to it.
Most people visit LinkedIn during the standard workweek. If you post once per business day, this comes out to 20 posts per month.
With LinkedIn, the thing that matters most is the type of content you’re sharing. Your main goal should be to educate your audience. This can involve anything from sharing the latest industry news to tips for being more productive.
If you stick to industry news and job announcements, your engagement should be fine. Still, try not to share more than two posts a day. You can post on Saturday and Sunday, but expect to see a drop-off in interest.
Make the Most of Social Media
Keep in mind that the above numbers are rough estimates based on industry research. To find the right strategy for your business, take a look at your analytics. The data will tell you whether you need to scale your posting back or pump it up.
Can’t afford to dedicate resources to your social media strategy? Consider outsourcing it to our team of social media experts! Contact us here—we’ll get back to you soon.
