How Often Should Your Business Post on Social Media?
From Facebook posts to tweets to instagram stories and more, the world of social media can be an overwhelming place!
When done strategically, however, posting on social media for your business can improve the overall effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts.
This begs the question we hear quite often from clients:
“How often should I be posting on social media for my business?”
The answer will depend on a number of factors.
Hint: The number (and content) shouldn’t be the same across all social media channels.
Is Posting Organically on Social Media Still Worth My Time?
If you’ve been working in social media for any amount of time, you likely know that organic (non-paid) social media reach is steadily declining. This makes it difficult to get your content in front of your audience.
So, is posting on social media even worth your precious time as a marketer?
Yes.
Why? In addition to visiting your website, many people head to a business’s social media to research and compare you to your competitors.
If you haven’t been active on social media in months, you show a lack of motivation, organization, and dialogue.
Not exactly how you want to be perceived, is it?
If You’re Looking for a Number of How Many Times to Post…
We know some of you are looking for us to tell you exactly how many times per week your business should post on various social media channels. Truth is, if you Google this question, you’ll find different answers depending on the source.
What we can tell you is that the number will depend on which social media platforms your business is using.
For example, chronology-based social media platforms, such as Twitter (X), often benefit from a higher frequency of posting. The more you post, the more impressions you’ll have.
However, this high-frequency posting strategy doesn’t work as well for algorithm-based social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, which favor quality over quantity.
So what’s the bottom line?
According to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report, the amount businesses post on social depends on the platform — which makes sense based on our experience.
Source: HubSpot
While you could stop reading now, know there is SO. MUCH. MORE. to these numbers!
Just because other businesses are posting daily on TikTok or multiple times a week on LinkedIn, that doesn’t mean they are actually seeing success with this strategy.
A Breakdown of Social Media Channels
Which platforms deserve more posts? Are there optimal times to post? Does it depend on the channel?
Below, we break down the ideal posting frequency for the top four social media channels should incorporate into their digital marketing strategy.
HubSpot found that businesses that posted more than five times per week on Facebook (about once per workday) were no better off than those that posted five times or fewer per week on Facebook. This reinforces the fact that quality trumps quantity when it comes to posting on Facebook.
A good target for posting on Facebook is two to three times per week.
Facebook Considerations
If you know anything about posting content on Facebook, you know that organic social media reach on the platform continues to dip. In fact, it’s estimated that only 5.5% of your Facebook page’s followers will actually see your post in their news feed, unless it receives a lot of engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments).
What we do know is that posts that incorporate video typically have a higher organic reach (nearly 10 times higher) than Facebook posts that only use images.
So if you haven’t used video in your Facebook marketing yet, now’s the perfect time to start!
Instagram is similar to Facebook in that it is an algorithm-based platform. Therefore, the quality or relevance of an Instagram post will directly influence how many people see the post in their feed.
While posting once a week on Instagram is a good goal for marketers, we recommend using Instagram Stories much more frequently. Stories appear in pure chronological order, as opposed to the algorithm-based posts in the Instagram feed.
Instagram Considerations
Instagram is one of the most hashtag-friendly social media platforms. Using hashtags can help your content get discovered by those who don’t follow your business on social media.
X (Formerly Twitter)
The number of how many tweets people can see a day and what tweets people see has changed quite a bit lately. It’s really up to you and your team whether you think posting on Twitter is worth the time anymore; but if you do, the average life of a tweet is only about 18 minutes, so try to post as consistently.
X Considerations
Twitter is another hashtag-friendly social media platform. Do a little research of relevant hashtags to incorporate into your tweets to increase your reach.
YouTube
Video content continues to rise in popularity, making YouTube a prime choice for businesses.
Begin by posting a video to YouTube once or twice a month, and increase your frequency as you become more familiar with the platform. Plus, you can share your YouTube videos on other social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram!
YouTube Considerations
You don’t need to hire a professional videographer to start posting on YouTube. All you need is someone willing to talk in front of a camera!
Don’t know what to make a video about? Here are our top suggestions:
- Walkaround videos, highlighting impressive features of your office or your products
- How-To videos, such as “How to Connect Your Smartphone to Your Vehicle’s Bluetooth System”
- Community videos, such as event previews and recaps
Key Takeaways for Posting on Social Media
Keep in mind the suggestions above are just that: suggestions. Posting on social media will look different depending on your industry, goals, audience, and more.
The good thing about social media is that it’s easy to try new things! If your current posting schedule isn’t working, try something new. Continually evaluate your social media engagement and traffic, and make adjustments as needed.
With that, here are our final nuggets of social media posting advice:
- Use a social media scheduling platform. Stay organized, and keep track of your social media posts all in one place. Need suggestions on a social media scheduling platform? Read this post!
- Don’t just “set it and forget it”. After you publish a post on social media, your work isn’t done. Engage with your online audience, and promote dialogue.
- Get specific. Why are you posting something? What value does it add to your audience? If you can’t answer that question, you should rethink why you’re posting something.
Step Up Your Social Media Presence with Facebook and Instagram Ads
We’ve hinted at it throughout this post, but as organic social media reach continues to decline, it becomes increasingly more difficult to get your content in front of your audience.
Facebook and Instagram ads allow you to begin where organic social media ends. With paid ads, you can engage customers at their personal stage of the sale.
Plus, you can more easily measure return on investment (ROI) when you advertise online instead of just posting organically.
Set the Right Social Media Schedule with 9 Clouds
While important, your social media presence is just one aspect of your digital marketing strategy.
Feeling overwhelmed by social media and your dealership’s digital marketing in general? We’re here to help!
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