How often to post on your social channels

It’s something I hear often - how often should we post on our channels? Most of the answers you’ll hear are deeply unsatisfactory, either too broad or too vague. Things like, ‘post when you have something valuable to say’. For some organisations, that could literally mean never posting.

Remember, people follow your channels to see your content. That’s why they are there. So delivering it to them is kind of a minimum standard.

And if you think about following a social account as a bit like a contract, you have to live up to your side of the bargain. Which means supplying good content regularly.

So how often should you post? The answer is (of course) it depends.

But don’t worry, we can still narrow that answer down a lot, as ‘it depends’ doesn’t mean posting every hour on the hour, and it certainly doesn’t mean posting every now and then when you feel like it.

So read on.

By the end of this guide you’ll have a much better idea of what frequency will work for you, and why it’s crucial you pick a number and stick to it.

Respect the algorithm

This is rule number one, because the algorithm is not really something you want to mess with. And while each channel’s is slightly different and favours and rewards different things, it’s also pretty easy to find good guidance on this (Sprout and Hootsuite have good options). 

Generally, algorithms tend to favour consistent publishing rather than once in a blue moon, and spamming your audiences is never going to work. So posting regularly (at optimal times) and not too often or rarely, is going to help you.

That said, there are some councils getting excellent engagement posting 30+ times a week on Facebook, while others post a lot and get almost no likes or comments at all.

The flipside is that no organisation ever got good engagement by not posting at all (funny that).

Be realistic

You need to be able to deliver on whatever you decide, so be realistic about the frequency you choose.

If you have a lot of channels, that’s going to be a factor. Five channels x two posts a day = 3,650 posts a year. That’s a whole lot of posts, so keep that in mind if your social ‘team’ is 0.5 of a comms advisor.

Of course, decent evergreen content and advance scheduling will make any decision a lot easier to execute, but more posts also equals more comments (and more time responding).

If you’re a small comms team, then you might post less than big teams (although that certainly doesn’t have to be the case). And depending on whether you have appropriate after-hours support, you might not want to post too much on weekends - at least not anything controversial or that might draw a lot of questions and comments.

Consider your audience’s POV (and your boss’s)

If you were to go onto a brand’s Instagram and notice they hadn’t posted in 6 months, what would your initial reaction be? Would it be positive? 

The same goes for a restaurant you were checking out on Facebook. If it’s September and their last post was for their special Christmas menu, would that give you confidence they were even still open?

Now consider your boss or your boss’s boss. You know that occasionally they’re checking your pages, so what would they think if they scrolled back and saw big chunks of time where there were no posts at all? Would that give them confidence that everything was under control? 

Posting regularly and consistently reassures everyone that everything is fine and working as it should. Don’t overlook the importance of that.

Don’t hide behind quality

Yeah, I hear it all the time - I’d rather quality over quantity any day. And sure, that mostly holds true, but only up to a point. 

And seriously, can you not even come up with one decent idea each week? Really? If your social team pushes back on publishing for this reason, I’d push it right back on them.

Your content doesn’t have to be perfect - and even trying to make it so is a waste of time. Anyone who’s spent enough time creating and sharing content knows that the posts you put the most effort into often suck, and the quick and dirty ones soar.

So don’t use quality as an excuse for doing little or nothing.

Consistency is key

It’s a cliche in social that consistency is key, and for a good reason. IT REALLY IS KEY. 

It’s good for your audiences, who come to know what to expect from you. It’s good for the algorithm, and it’s good for you - consistency is a hallmark of professionalism. 

The other thing about posting regularly is that you get better at it over time. It forces you to constantly consider your audiences, what is working and what isn’t, and what you need to adjust to optimise your offerings. 

To make things easier, plan and create some decent evergreen content. The whole reason we develop content assets is so the social team doesn't have to reinvent the wheel every week. 

Consistently coming up with content is hard, that’s why you invest in processes to make it easier.

Analyse your audiences (and trust your gut)

No one knows your audiences like your team does, so use that knowledge and experience when determining how much content to share. 

Over time, social advisors develop this amazing sixth sense for what works, what doesn’t, what people want, and what they’ll rage against.

Of course, different audiences and demographics will have varying expectations for content frequency, so it’s helpful to analyse their behaviors and engagement patterns to determine an optimal number. 

But you probably already have a good feeling for this.

Do you still get good engagement if you post three times a day? Perhaps you get even better engagement if you do. Your social team will likely know either way.

Just give me a damn number

If you’ve come here for anything but ‘it depends’ advice, then here it is: 

As an absolute minimum, post on each channel at least once per week, every single week (no misses).

Is that the perfect amount? Of course not, you should probably be posting a lot more than that, especially on the channels where you have established, engaged audiences. 

Still want a number? Ok.

For Instagram and LinkedIn 3-5 posts per week is probably roughly about right, and for Twitter and Facebook you can go up to 2-4 times a day. One TikTok a week would be great, who knows about Threads.

Try that and review as you go.

Give yourself some wriggle room

As I’ve said, having a goal for the number of posts you will publish is essential. 

But you also need some leeway, because you’ll have good weeks and bad weeks, busy weeks and lean weeks.

So when deciding on your frequency, have a minimum and maximum for BAU times. Something like: 

On Facebook we will post 1-3 times a day Monday to Friday, once on Saturday and no posts on Sunday. On Instagram we will post 2-5 times per week, and never more than once a day. 

Even this much information is really helpful, as at the very least it is super clear.

And if you don’t have a number, what would your strategy even look like? “We will post whenever we come up with something great, have something to say, or otherwise feel suitably inspired”. Yeah, that would smell exactly like it sounded - like bullshit.

Hold yourselves to account

Whatever number you come up with, make sure you do as you said you would. That’s just good discipline and a basic level of professionalism.

What’s more, publishing goals are some of your only lead measures in social media, so make sure you have some. Otherwise it’s all lag measures like reach and engagement - by the time you add them up at the end of the week or month it’s too late to influence them. 

With lead measures you can absolutely influence them. ‘Post on x channel x times per week’. You can either do that or not do that, it’s completely within your control. And if you don’t do that, you should be called out on it.

The ball is in your court

So there it is, my not-really definitive guide to how often you should post on your social channels. 

Now it’s up to you. Get posting.

Got any questions or comments? Email me at seamus@seamus.nz