How often you should post to social media

The logical conclusion might be, “the more I post, the more people see it.” Thinking this way, posting daily would seem to make sense. The (not so) simple answer: sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.

The tricky thing about social media is that each platform shows content to individuals in different ways based on a number of factors. Some platforms show posts chronologically (the most recent is shown last), while others use algorithms (calculative processes) to try to reward quality content with visibility, or try to match the right content with the right people.

Essentially, algorithms control who sees what, when. The frequency you post to a platform, and the quality of content you post, are the top two factors within your control that will be considered in algorithms.

Here is a brief breakdown to help you wrap your head around the basics of algorithms and understand how frequently you should post on different platforms:

Twitter: The more, the merrier

1-3 times a day

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‍While Twitter did introduce some algorithms into their feed a couple years ago, the post structure is still mostly chronological. This means the more you post, the most visibility you’ll get.

Instagram: Consistency is key

Whatever you can manage

Instagram’s algorithm is complicated, because it considers the habits of both the poster and viewer. There are many articles about trying to “beat the Instagram algorithm,” but for a business starting out the best advice is to post quality content, consistently. According to conversion whiz Neil Patel in his Forbes article on posting frequency, your Instagram reach may drop if you switch from a high posting frequency to not posting as often. This could be because Instagram values quality, relevant content, so if your frequency drastically changes, your reach also will too. So, whether it’s three times a day or three times a week, just make sure you keep that frequency consistent. For an idea of when to post, check out your “Audience” Insights on Instagram to see the days of the week and times of day your audience is most active.

LinkedIn + Facebook: Post no more than five to keep your content alive

2-5 times a week

According to a social media posting experiment by Daria Marmer at HubSpot, your return on investment will drop if you post more than times per week on LinkedIn. It makes sense when you think about it: LinkedIn doesn’t want its users’ feeds to be swamped with content from just one page, so if you post more than once a day, it could do more harm than good (meaning your posts won’t reach as many users). If you overpost to LinkedIn, you may not get the value expected from the time it took to create and share your content.

Facebook’s algorithmic approach is similar to LinkedIn’s: don’t “cannibalize” your own posts by overposting. Rather, try to post quality content to increase your engagement with your followers. The more engagement you have, the more visibility your posts will get.