How often should your business post on social media? Let’s take a look at each major platform and its best posting practices.
It depends.
I know, probably not the answer you were looking for. But it’s coming.
Like many other things, posting on social media doesn’t have a “one-size-fits-all” solution. Your content on LinkedIn isn’t going to look the same as what you’re posting to TikTok, so your posting schedule should look different too.
So, how often should your business post on social media? Let’s take a look at each major platform and its best posting practices.
Facebook may feel like the platform of generations past, but it is still the largest and most popular social media platform in the world (with almost 3 billion active users).
Most studies will recommend you post once a day on Facebook, maybe twice. But not more than twice. This graph from Hubspot shows that if your page has less than 10,000 followers, posting more than once a day can decrease your engagement.
Graph: Hubspot: How Often Should You Post on Facebook? [New Benchmark Data]
But we also see in this graph that pages with less than 10,000 followers get the most clicks per post when they post between 1 and 5 times a month. Is this a case of “less is more?”
Facebook stories are another great avenue. Because they are different than regular posts and disappear after 24 hours, there is no hard and fast rule for how often to post. What matters most is that you utilize this tool when possible! Even though they are temporary, they are in a prominent location on a user's Facebook page and provide a great way to get attention and increase engagement.
Again, many factors go into the best posting strategy for your business, including how active your audience is, their interests, the quality of the content you have to share, and the value social engagement has for your business.
So, here’s what we would recommend as a starting point for your business.
Good Facebook Posting Strategy: 3x a week
Ideal Facebook Posting Strategy: once a day
Let’s talk about Instagram next. There are three major posting avenues on Instagram: the typical post, Instagram Stories, and the newly introduced Instagram Reels.
For Instagram posts, the value will be similar to that of Facebook. Once a day is great, and twice a day isn’t bad if you have high-value content and regular engagement to do so. If you post less frequently, you may have a harder time reaching your audience based on Instagram’s algorithm.
Like Facebook, Instagram Stories are a great way to feature new posts, increase brand awareness, and drive engagement in an accessible way. Try regularly interacting with your audience through stories!
Adding Instagram Reels into your posting strategy is undoubtedly a best practice. Instagram recommends 4 to 7 Reels per week. One important reminder is to treat your Reels like a post. You don’t need to post 7 Reels a week AND two regular posts each day. Find a good balance based on what your audience responds to!
Good Instagram Posting Strategy: 3x a week, posts + Reels
Ideal Instagram Posting Strategy: 7x per week, posts + Reels
LinkedIn, the most professional and serious of all the social media platforms, is unique but powerful. This platform should not so quickly slide down the priority list just so you can make a video for every new TikTok trend, especially as a business. Companies that post weekly on LinkedIn see a 2x higher engagement rate than those posting infrequently.
Why post on LinkedIn? Publishing valuable content on LinkedIn positions you as an expert in your industry. It’s a great place to attract new business, quality employees, valuable connections, and more.
On LinkedIn, it is generally recommended to post between 1 and 5 times a day. More frequent posting can lead to more followers and higher engagement. Here is what Influencer Marketing Hub claims as the best posting times for LinkedIn:
Chart: Influencer Marketing Hub: 40+ of the Most Important LinkedIn Statistics for 2022
But, we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, quality over quantity. What posts are currently getting the most engagement? What comments are people making on your posts? Is something important (such as an event or promotion) happening?
All of these questions can help you build out a strategic LinkedIn posting plan.
Bonus tip: LinkedIn posts with images get 2x higher engagement than text-only posts.
Good LinkedIn Posting Strategy: once a day
Ideal LinkedIn Posting Strategy: 2+ times a day
Your Twitter posting strategy will look the most different based on the platforms we’ve named so far. Think double digits. Per day.
Unlike these other platforms, there is no clear daily maximum. Different sources and articles will give slightly varying recommendations, but you can find suggestions to tweet anywhere from 3 times a day to 20 times a day.
That’s a lot.
Why should you post on Twitter so much more frequently? Think of tweets as leftover raw sushi. After 24 hours, it’s eat or toss. It’s got a very short “shelf-life.”
Facebook posts, on the other hand, may be more like bananas. If you get them at the right time, you have a few days before the brown spots begin to appear. After a week or so, they aren’t fresh anymore but are still fine to eat.
To stay relevant on Twitter, you need to stay active. But it doesn’t have to be perfectly curated, fancy content each time. Ask questions. Make polls. Share a news article. Post a meme with the caption, “Friday mood.” Just make it relevant to your business and its personality.
Good Twitter Posting Strategy: 2-3 times a day
Ideal Twitter Posting Strategy: 5+ times a day
If you’ve never been an early adopter when it comes to social media, TikTok might seem intimidating. You can’t post the usual content since it’s an entirely video-based platform, and engagement seems to be the most dependent on what’s trending.
To be fair, we are still learning about TikTok. Although it launched in 2016, it didn’t start gaining popularity in the US until 2019. So as far as social platforms go, it’s still pretty young.
Let’s start with what we do know about TikTok. TikTok is the most engaging social media app, with an average session length of 10.85 minutes. To compare, that’d double the average session length on Pinterest (5.06 minutes), which holds the number 2 spot.
Your best strategy is to get creative, be authentic, and aim for consistency. It’s better to post a few times a week every week than to post multiple times a day and then disappear for a month.
You also need to find your niche. Decide what you’ll post about, and stick to it (preferably something surrounding your expertise in your industry).
Good TikTok Posting Strategy: once a day
Ideal TikTok Posting Strategy: 2-3 times a day
Honestly, this is easier said than done. If you aimed for the ideal posting strategy for each platform, your team would have to create almost 100 unique posts each week. You’d need a social media team the size of a small army to do that each week, every week.
Maybe you do have a small army, or maybe you’re planning to get there one day. Until then, focus your efforts on where your audience visits the most. There are long-time Facebook users that have never heard of TikTok, and there are Instagram users that consider Facebook right next to MySpace on the things-of-the-past shelf.
It’s simple, really: find your audience, make content they’d be interested in, learn what works, and do more of it.
If you want an extra hand, we can help! We provide social media strategy and content creation services to businesses in various industries on these platforms. Let’s talk!
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