It’s the question that launched a thousand sleepless nights: “How often should I post to social media?”

Of course, there’s much, much more to a successful social media strategy than just posting the optimal number of times: it’s not a magic formula, let’s get that straight.

Still, there’s a lot of pressure on to find that sweet spot of frequency. You don’t want to overwhelm your followers or feel like you’re spamming the news feed. You also don’t want to be forgotten or miss opportunities for exposure.

But how much is too much? How much is too little? (And then once you’ve figured that out, when’s the best time to post?)

Well, good news: you can stop your social posting panic spiral. We’ve got all the info you need about exactly how often you should be posting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to really optimize your reach — without annoying your followers.

We dug into the research and grilled our own social media team for insights to discover the ideal number of times a day (or week) to post for each platform. Here’s a quick summary of what we found, but read on for more in-depth details:

• On Instagram, post between 3-7 times per week.
• On Facebook, post between 1 and 2 times a day.
• On Twitter, post between 1 and 5 Tweets a day.
• On LinkedIn, post between 1 and 5 times a day.

Every social media account is unique, so testing and analyzing your results is absolutely key. But read on for a detailed breakdown of some general rules of thumb to use as a starting point… then, you can let the great experiment begin.

How often to post on Instagram

It is generally recommended to post to your Instagram feed 2-3 times per week, and no more than 1x per day. Stories can be posted more frequently.

During Instagram’s Creator Week in June 2021, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri suggested that posting 2 feed posts per week and 2 Stories per day is ideal for building a following on the app.

To keep up with your competitors (or frenemies!) it’s probably good to note that businesses post 1.56 posts to their feed per day. This might seem like a lot, but a social media content calendar can help make regular posting a breeze!

The Hootsuite social media team’s current strategy is to just post to the main feed 2 to 3 times each week, and to Stories 2 to 3 times a week.

“Think about how often your audience wants to hear from you,” says Brayden Cohen, social marketing team lead. “Focus on building a regular cadence: you can grow your followers by 2x by simply posting every week consistently, compared to those who post less frequently than once a week.”

Key Instagram statistics to keep in mind when posting:

• Instagram has 3.76 billion visits every day
• 500 million people use Stories every day
• The average user spends 30 minutes a day on Instagram
• 81% of people use Instagram to research products and services
• 63% of American users check Instagram at least once day

View all the latest Instagram statistics here, and details on Instagram demographics here!

How often to post on Facebook

It is generally recommended to post 1 time per day, and no more than 2 times per day.

In fact, some studies have even found a drop in engagement if you’re posting more than that… so don’t get too post-happy. Aim for quality over quantity.

The average Facebook Page shares 1.55 posts per day. So, for Hootsuite’s social goals, 1 to 2 posts per day is just right.

“Daily posting will grow followers 4x faster than posting less than once a week. Makes sense: more visibility,” says Brayden.

To keep that regular content coming, it’s a good idea to create a content calendar to stay organized. Try out our free content calendar template, or play around with the Hootsuite Planner tool.

Key Facebook statistics to keep in mind when posting:

• Facebook is the world’s third most-visited website
• More than half of American users check Facebook several times per day
• The average user spends 34 minutes per day on Facebook
• 80% of people access the platform using mobile only

Get some more fascinating numbers in our breakdown of the latest Facebook statistics and Facebook demographics.

How often to post on Twitter

It is generally recommended to post 1-2 times per day, and no more than 3-5 times per day.

Of course, there are plenty of power users out there… accounts posting 50 or 100 times a day. If you’ve got the time, we’re certainly not going to stop you.

But to keep your brand’s presence active and engaged on Twitter, you really don’t need to drop everything and commit to a FT gig Tweeting.

In fact, for the general @Hootsuite channel (where the audience is followers, customers and prospects), the Hootsuite team posts one thread of 7 to 8 Tweets daily, plus one other post. On our @hootsuitebusiness channel (aimed at supporting Enterprise initiatives), they stick to 1 to 2 Tweets daily.

Finding a typo in a post that's already generated a ton of engagement too. The worst.

— Hootsuite (@hootsuite) June 10, 2021

For the team, that’s more than enough to drive engagement and growth.

Remember that, however frequently you’re posting, the best practice is to follow the rule of thirds:

• ⅓ of tweets promote your business
• ⅓ share personal stories
• ⅓ are informative insights from experts or influencers

Find more Twitter marketing wisdom over here.

Key Twitter statistics to keep in mind when posting:

• One-quarter of American users check Twitter several times a day
• Watch time on Twitter has increased 72% since last year
• 42% of American users check Twitter at least once day
• The average time a user spends on Twitter is about 15 minutes per visit

Check out our complete list of 2021 Twitter statistics (and explore our guide to Twitter demographics while you’re at it!)

How often to post on LinkedIn

On LinkedIn, it is generally recommended to post at least once a day, and no more than 5x per day.

LinkedIn itself has seen brands that post once a month gain followers six times faster than those who keep a lower profile. That pattern continues with more frequent posting: companies that post weekly see twice the engagement, while bands that post daily gain even more traction.

Hootsuite tends to fall on the more-frequent end of that spectrum… in fact, the social team increased their daily posting on LinkedIn in 2021: from two posts per day to three, and sometimes up to five depending on campaigns and events.

“The increase in posting cadence has also meant an increase in engagement rate,” says Iain Beable, social marketing strategist. “This however is more reflective of the type of content we are creating. Generally, if you increase cadence, there is a good chance you may see a drop in engagement rate as there is more content. As we have seen an increase, it shows the content we are creating is more relevant to our audience and more engaging. “

To make sure your posting strategy is aligned with your engagement goals, keep track of LinkedIn analytics with a social media management tool like Hootsuite.

Source: Hootsuite

Explore ideas for building your LinkedIn brand with our LinkedIn marketing guide.

Key LinkedIn statistics to keep in mind when posting:

• 40 million people use LinkedIn to search for jobs each week
• Companies that post weekly on LinkedIn see a 2x higher engagement rate
• 12% of American users check LinkedIn several times a day

Here’s the full list of 2021 LinkedIn statistics (and LinkedIn demographics, too.

How to know the best posting frequency for social media

As with all things social, finding the best frequency to post on any platform is going to require some trial and error.

“I personally have always found the topic of how many times per day should I post a little over-thought and definitely secondary to the quality of the content one is publishing,” says Iian.

“Increase in key performance metrics such as clicks and high quality engagements (comments and shares over likes) is fundamentally due to whether a piece of content adds value to me as the reader.”

In a nutshell: The quality of content matters more than frequency. While posting more content may help to some extent, the more relevant and useful your content is to the audience, the better your social channels will perform.

“In a similar way to how organic search has pivoted from being focused on the keyword to the intent behind the keyword, the same can be said for social,” adds Iian. “Social algorithms are now placing emphasis on the types of content which will provide the user with value, rather than just showing the user everything that is published. “

How to schedule social media posts

So there you have it: there’s no perfect answer to this Big Juicy Question, but at least you’ve got a place to start.

Now, it’s time for the fun part: create some great, engaging content and get it scheduled to go out into the world! Prep your posts in advance to hit those frequency sweet spots with a scheduling tool like Hootsuite — get started with our complete guide to scheduling your social media posts.

Use Hootsuite to schedule and publish all of your social media posts, engage with your followers, and track the success of your efforts. Sign up for a free trial today.

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