Social Media Strategy 101: How Often Do I Post?

So much of our daily lives is spent online, so it’s no wonder that businesses have moved their marketing efforts to social media platforms. The right social media strategy gives any business the chance to instantly connect with their target audience and (when you do it right) market their products/services for free. And any interaction could be a potential lead or sale.

But if you think that’s an oversimplification to what marketing on social media is really like, then you’re right. There’s a lot more that goes into social media marketing than just posting a picture and getting all the interaction and sales in the world.

One of the first questions you’ll find yourself asking when creating your business’ social media marketing strategy (other than what content you want to post) is: how often should I post for the best results?

Your First Thought

For some reason, the first thing we all think is that the more often I post, the more often my audience will see my content. And if they see my content, then they’ll interact with me and boost my sales. We agree with Plato when it comes to content posting: “There is no harm in repeating a good thing.”

Unfortunately, that isn’t necessarily true. Posting multiple times a day, every day of the week (yes, even for Twitter) can actually reduce your engagement instead of increasing it.

Your Second Thought

Then you might think, okay, then if I do the opposite and only post once a day or twice a week it will fix the problem. Right?

But that’s a no once again. Not posting enough will also reduce your engagement and keep you from getting the interaction that you’re looking for.

Balancing the two for the “best” chance at increased engagement then becomes the central focus in your strategy, rather than providing relevant content or communicating with your audience.

So, What Now?

There is a lot of research out there that will give you the statistics for how much you should post on social media a day to get the most engagement. There are different amounts for different platforms (and different times) that are statistically ideal times to post.

Even if you use an automation tool and schedule your content to post at the perfect time, there’s still the possibility that you won’t get the results you’re looking for. Scheduling content to post at the ideal time isn’t the only thing that effects audience engagement.

Following the “best” practices for posting based off statistics can work, but it isn’t a guarantee. Every audience is different. The posting frequency that works for Nike won’t necessarily work for you and your business.

Our Posting Philosophy

Our philosophy here at Social for Good is that the frequency that you post is less important than posting authentic, engaging content that specifically targets your audience. Yes, some kind of consistent schedule for posting is always better than barely posting at all, but it shouldn’t be the sole focus of your social media marketing strategy.

But constantly spamming your audience with content probably won’t garner the growth that you want (and it might actually make you lose followers!).

Another way to ensure that you’re posting at the right frequency for your specific audience is by deep diving into your engagement metrics and understanding the online behavior of your ideal customer. This might seem intimidating, but research into your audience will provide you with beneficial information that’s specific to your business.

And I’ll leave you with one last thought: remember that engagement growth means that you must interact with your audience at the same rate they’re interacting with you. If you have an entire team specifically for social media, then it might be possible to constantly engage, even with a high frequency posting schedule.

But if it’s just you or you have a small team, constantly engaging with all that content will be difficult and time consuming. It’s better to post less and engage more than to drown in content and lose out on that personal connection with your audience.

Remember that there is no one size fits all strategy when it comes to social media marketing. Authentically showing up for and connecting with your audience with content that enriches their lives will always lead to lasting engagement.