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In the age of social media, more people are looking for relevant and consistent content than ever. The frequency with which you want to post on social media posts, however, is subjective. It depends on the needs and goals of a business.
However, there are various parameters that can increase your engagement ratio. On the other hand, social media experts continue to face a dilemma when it comes to a constant need to post. Often, brands increase the frequency of posts and drive their followers away.
The trick is to create a balance of listening and sharing throughout social media posts. Before you schedule posting, find out as much as you can about your target market rather than make wild guesses. New variations, however, work on social media platforms.
Follow the Tide
As a brand, how you adapt to the social media paradigm can make all the difference. Whether it’s new audience demands or posting schedules, you must be ready to face anything in the realm of social media. On average, HubSpot’s report suggests that most marketers post between 1-6 times each week.
More social media followers tend to see and engage with something new. Therefore, focus on the quality of content as much as the consistency of posts. Once you have relevant content, your next step should be to pinpoint the exact frequency of posts on each social media platform.
Prioritize Consistency over Frequency
Often, the skewed social media data suggests brands to post more. Practically, your social media scheduling strategy should not mindlessly rely on algorithm data. Although social media algorithms can analyze hundreds and thousands of posts, your objective should be to find effective posting patterns.
You can, for instance, take a closer look at the timeframe and frequency of your competitors’ social media posts. It’s a great way to find out how the audience usually engages and what you can post to create more engagement.
Align Your Content
The more frequency of posts means more pressure to keep up the quality of content. Typically, this is where most of the problems associated with excessive social media posting start. However, it does not mean you should limit your promotional updates on social media platforms.
Instead, create a scheduling strategy that reflects your audience’s needs and conveys the intended message without too much posting. You can view engagement, community, and trust as three pillars of social media to drive more engagement.
In simple terms, read the room and understand that there’s a time and place to promote and market messages through social media posts. The more you focus on these three parameters, the better you can schedule your social media posts.
Ideally, you should expand your scope to come across more appealing to your users. As a result, it will also create a less burden to curate more content continuously. Before you quench the thirst of your social media audience, make sure to create more than just one scheduling plan.
It is imperative to understand that social media platforms don’t stop for anyone. It means status updates and tweets don’t have a long-lasting life. In fact, a tweet comes with a half-life of 18 minutes. Many businesses may view this number as a chance to post more tweets. Contrarily, it merely suggests that the online visibility of a tweet does not last for much longer.
Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, users tend to move on to other posts more quickly than you can think. Therefore, track how long your social media users are sharing and engaging a specific post. Think of it as an indicator of your content quality and frequency of posts.
Balanced Social Media Posting-Frequency: How Much Is “Too Much”?
You have to take into account what the data suggests about the current engagement ratio and what you already have in the scheduling. You should test new and existing scheduling strategies together. It would represent a starting point of your social media experimentation.
When it comes to the frequency of posts, there are a few major considerations attached to each social media platform:
According to the newest benchmark data, frequent posts on the Facebook page should equate with no more than two posts a day. It may sound straightforward to adapt, but it is one of the most effective rules for businesses that have pages with 10,000+ followers or likes.
That said, you should be realistic and realize that your ten thousand followers won’t lead to ten thousand likes. However, if you consistently post two times a day, it would increase your page’s overall engagement.
On the other hand, if you have less than 10,000 followers and post two times per day, you won’t be able to get past more than 50% engagement rate. A lot of it depends on the type and quality of your posts on Facebook.
Facebook posts with 40-50 characters create almost 90% engagement. For instance, many brands post once a week to boost clicks. It is an exclusive and long-term scheduling strategy that can double the engagement and increase traffic.
While the Instagram platform is part of Facebook, it requires different scheduling and frequency to post. With Instagram, active engagement requires more posts than Facebook. Still, you will need to follow a specific posting pattern on Instagram to see results.
Unlike other social media platforms where you can switch back-and-forth between scheduling patterns, Instagram requires a consistent posting pattern. For instance, if you start to post 2-3 pictures a day on your Instagram account, you will have to stick to that pattern rather than post once in a blue moon.
New businesses, for instance, are often not aware of this ruthless pattern and fail to keep up with the frequency of posts. Simultaneously, you have to make sure your Instagram account is as consistent as your other social media accounts.
There’s no magic potion; you have to create goals and figure out the frequency you can maintain over an extended period. After that, you will be able to maintain your Instagram presence effectively. The frequency of posts on Instagram can be tricky, but 125 characters are perfect to caption a post.
Your strategy and frequency to post on Twitter should be different from Facebook. Although users have the freedom to post as many tweets they like a day, brands, however, should follow a specific frequency of tweets to market or promote a message.
If your strategic move on Twitter is to garner more engagements on each post, you will need to post at least 5 times a day. Unlike Facebook, fewer posts create more engagement on Twitter. Conversely, if your strategic move on Twitter is to increase total responses, you can tweet between 10-12 times per day until you achieve your objectives.
Similarly, draft tweets with 71-100 characters to increase your chances of retweets. Without a strong and active Twitter engagement, Twitter users can unfollow a business within 2-3 weeks. However, don’t forget that the hallmark of Twitter content is quality. With Twitter, you need to socialize with users about your products or services rather than push for traditional promotional tactics.
YouTube
Just like other social media platforms, businesses have to be consistent on YouTube. However, it takes time and effort to remain consistent when it comes to video content. With YouTube, there is no such thing as a late scheduling strategy.
You can boost the engagement of your channel with a reliable posting schedule. Furthermore, you can post your future upload schedule to create more anticipation. On YouTube, however, the last thing you should make is an impractical commitment. Businesses can follow the same strategy as YouTube influencers and upload a new video per week.
Businesses have started to understand how different LinkedIn is from other social media platforms. For starters, it’s more formal and professional in tone and structure. Also, the frequency of posts has to be moderate. Besides, LinkedIn shortens your posts anyway with “See More.” It means don’t hesitate to post long-form content that may entice business professionals, executives, and industry leaders.
Best Posting Tactics You Need to Follow on Social Media
Continue to Add More Value
Your posts portray your image on social media accounts. And with more consistent posting comes more responsibility to add value throughout your content. You need to make sure the content you’re posting is digitally engaging.
For example, if a user visits your Facebook page for the first time, the content should not be boring at all. In fact, it should be good enough to influence new users to find out more about your brand.
Spend Money on Social Media Advertising
It seems social media platforms are always ready to embrace new updates. In many cases, it becomes harder to get your intended message in front of the target audience. The good news is that you can use social media ads to distribute and redistribute your message online without delays.
When you utilize social media ads, you can select which demographic the content should cater to. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend millions of dollars on social media ads. But often, you will need to invest in ads to get quick results.
Share Your Unique Story
That’s right; online users want to know what makes your business different from others. And an inspiring and exciting story can help you bridge the gap of communication with your customers. It is an effective way to forge a bond and connect with your target audience.
For instance, you can highlight how the idea for a certain product or service started. You can add interesting storytelling elements to capture the attention of users. With motivational posts, you can learn more about your audience. It is no wonder social media users view an official business response as a reassurance.
Trustworthy Brand Voice
Many visual and textual elements create a brand voice. It’s a promise you make to your customers through consistent posts on social media. You have to dig deeper and define the shared experience of your customers.
In the beginning, your brand may come across as amorphous, but more posts allow you to add that tangible value to your business. A trusted brand voice throughout consistent social media posts will protect your investments for years to come.
Avoid Crisis Management
As a business, you hope to avoid common crisis management issues. On social media platforms, however, you can expect to face more complicated issues in real-life situations. Therefore, strengthen your social networks and cast a long shadow over everything you post.
The more crisis management issues you avoid, the more transparency you can achieve on your social media platforms. Often, a trend turns a calm Twitter or Facebook presence into a chaotic environment. If that trending topic involves you, you can exemplify your business through effective responses.
Utilize the Best Social Media Tools
At some point, you will have to use a social media management tool like Buffer or Hootsuite or, our personal favorite, Sprout Social. Through social media scheduling applications, you can optimize your posts’ frequency and post at the perfect time. Furthermore, you can schedule content better and save valuable time.
Most social media tools have a similar set of features. Your focus should be on the flexibility to schedule posts and receive prompt analytical support. Through analytics, you can understand your target audience, improve the content, and create better posting schedules.
A Final Thought
Today, no business can afford to operate without a social media presence. However, mindless active presence does not account for much without the proper consistency of posts. In fact, social media scheduling has become a field in itself that continues to make brands stand out in the online marketplace.
Again, the temptation to post endlessly on social media should have some limitations. Your entire focus on numbers should not come in the way of where you want to reach. Remember, there’s a thin red line between informative and irritating. Therefore, always test, improve, iterate, and experiment with your social media posts to attract more attention.