If I post on social media once a day, that's going to get me shares, engagement, and traffic to my website?
Probably…
How about if I scheduled twice a day or maybe three days. That should get me even better results?
Pause right there!
Is your head spinning because I know mine is with knowing that you're thinking that if I just keep adding more messages on social media, I will get better engagement, shares, and traffic?
The million-dollar question can undoubtedly take you on the road to nowhere.
"How often should I post on Social Media?"
There have been a lot of studies trying to answer that exact question.
So even that we have complied with those results below, it still doesn't mean that they are 100% fit for everyone from our own experience. We have seen times where we have reduced the number of messages for one client and then seen improvements across all their statistics. But these posting frequency suggestions are a good starting point.
Before we jump in the suggestions, there is one key component that is more important than when and how often you post. It's the quality of the content of your message and does the CTA engage the audience. If that isn't up to par, then it doesn't matter how many times a day you post because people will just not engage.
What is the frequency of posting on LinkedIn?
Recommendation:
1 Post per day
Best time to post:
10 – 11 AM
And look to add curated content or reshare content at least once every other day.
To reach approx. 60% of your followers on LinkedIn Buffer recommends posting 20 posts a month, which works out to approx posting once each business day.
And then HubSpot recommends a maximum of no more than five posts typically in a week.
What do you need to do to test that your new frequency is work?
Even that LinkedIn has spare analytics, it's enough to give you an idea if you are getting the necessary engagement based on your change in frequency. Review each of your messaging and see how each message engages the audience and try to increase and decrease the frequency to see if it makes a difference to the level of engagement you get.
What is the frequency of posting on Twitter?
Recommendation:
On the high side, 51 Tweets per day and one the low side 1 Tweet per day.
Best time to post:
8-10 AM and 6-9 PM
From Buffer's research, they recommend three tweets per day, whereas HubSpot recommends five tweets per day. But neither gave a maximum for the number of tweets in a day.
What do you need to do to test that your new frequency is work?
Twitter has its own analytics option, but make sure you turn it on. You can analyze the data to see what tweets got the best engagement and by how much. Try reposting the same tweet on different days and times to see how well it engages on those different days and times.
What is the frequency of posting on Facebook?
Recommendation:
1 -2 post per day
Best time to post:
1-4 PM
Buffer recommends posting twice a day before engagement dropped off. HubSpot recommends no more than 10 times per week.
What do you need to do to test that your new frequency is work?
Check out Facebook analytics called Insight and once there select Posts. Once there, you can see how well your posts have performed.
What is the frequency of posting on Instagram?
Recommendation:
1 -3 post per day
Best time to post:
8-9 AM
Buffer's data suggest that major brand share approx. 1.5 times a day.
From our experience, even when we have two similar clients, it boils down to testing different scenarios from frequency to times of the day and then reviewing the data to find what is the best fit for each client.
If you would like us to help you work out the best times of the day to post on Twitter for FREE, then email us at info@marketingmonarchs.com
About the Author
Jon Rivers – Jon has been recognized as a pioneer within the partner channel as a digital marketing expert for his leadership in helping partners develop social brands, marketing strategies, and content to drive successful marketing campaigns.
Before starting Marketing Monarchs, Jon spent many years working in the Microsoft Dynamics ERP ecosystem system. Jon serves on various boards, including Directions North America, IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners), and CMA (Channel Marketing Alliance).