A very common question marketers and businesses have when venturing into the social media world is, “How often should I post?” Which leads to another question “Can I post too much?” And the answer is yes!
After setting up their presence on a social media platform, some businesses aren’t sure when or how often to post. And this question doesn’t have a one size fits all answer.
To be successful on social media you want to think with a few things:
- Reach
- Engagement
- Conversions
These are a sort of funnel in themselves and are tied together.
First your post has to reach people. Then some of those people that you’ve reached should engage, and over time some of those should convert into a purchase or new client or patient.
However, if people don’t engage with your posts, your reach will suffer. In simple terms, the social media channel will penalize you for lack of engaging posts and not feed your posts to as many people. And if that happens, your reach gets worse and worse and it is more and more unlikely for you to get any conversions or leads.
Don’t Get in Your Own Way
So, by flooding your social profile with posts, you actually could be getting in your own way. You could be disrupting your success with too many posts that are not interesting to your target audience.
Let’s look closer at one platform – Facebook.
The better your engagement, the more Facebook will reward your content with showing it to more people. This is all connected to the almighty Facebook algorithms. If you don’t get much engagement, Facebook will not show your content to many people – even your followers. (Unless of course you are paying them to show your content – which Facebook has made necessary for most businesses. This is Facebook ads and Facebook “boosted posts”).
A couple years ago, Netflix released the film – The Social Dilemma. If you have had a chance to watch it you can see how Facebook has mapped out a precise science or system to maintain and increase user time on their platform. Kinda scary, to be honest. Facebook sells attention or people’s time. That is their commodity. They don’t sell leads, or software, or any other sort of product. As a business paying for advertising, you are paying Facebook to get your brand in front of people.
Social Media Deals in “User Attention”
Facebook has developed systems to increase the amount of “user attention” they have for sale. Facebook monitors what each user engages in or stops to watch, records how long someone stopped to view a video, etc. They then use that data to suggest content to users in an effort to get users to continue spending time on their platform. If a user constantly pauses in scrolling to watch a golfing video, Facebook knows to suggest golfing videos or content related to golf to that user (including Golf related ads and products).
If you, as a user on Facebook, always engage with particular family member’s posts, or posts from a specific group, then Facebook will make sure they show you new content from that group or family member. They know, from their data collection software or system, what you engage with and what keeps you on the platform the longest. When you start to feel bored with that person or group and stop engaging with their posts, Facebook stops prioritizing those people or groups. Eventually you may not see posts from them at all.
The same goes for every social platform – Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and so forth.
How to I know what to post and how often to post?
So, lets take a look at the question: “Can I post too much on Facebook?” Yes. You can post too much and too little on any platform.
Let’s say you are a dentist on Facebook posting every day. Do you really think people want to see posts about teeth every day? Most people don’t. When your content is shown to your followers and they don’t engage, (either by liking, commenting, sharing or clicking on your post) then Facebook will stop showing your posts to that person. Multiply this by all your followers and your reach (number of people your post reaches) will go down.
However, take puppies or babies. Soooo cute! Show them to me all the time, I will rarely miss a chance to like or love those pictures! We have found our vets, posting pictures of all the cute animals, consistently get much higher engagement and results on Facebook. Because factually their content just gets people to engage!
The answer to the question of how often, when and what to post on social media will vary. Each platform is unique in their own way. Each business, and each audience is unique. And don’t limit your posts to what you consider to be professional business-related posts. Don’t post things that you don’t agree with or don’t like either.
So, what is the answer to how often I should post??
You should post as often as you can post entertaining or engaging content.
With Facebook you can post as little as once a week to as much as multiple times a day. We have found a few times a week to be adequate to keep the brands name “alive” in their audience’s mind.
How Often Should You Post on Twitter?
Twitter is faster paced. There are so many people tweeting that it is often necessary to tweet 10 times or more a day. This platform has also mostly become political or news-related. So, a vet or a dentist or a physical therapist may not do best on this sort of platform.
What About Pinterest?
Conversely, Pinterest has a far longer “shelf life” for posts. In a way, Pinterest is it’s own search engine. If I go to Pinterest to search “low calorie shakes” I am more likely to find a blog written a year ago than if I were looking on Facebook or Twitter. However, if I were to search #dallashairstylist on Instagram I am more likely to find an active stylist in Dallas than if I searched for that on Pinterest.
Facebook Insights Tool
Facebook also has tools to help you determine when and what to post. It is all in the Facebook Insights tool. You can learn more about Facebook Insights here on a Hootsuite blog.
20 Social Post Ideas That Get Consistently High Engagement:
- Staff birthday posts
- Staff or owner party posts
- Lunch or dinner posts with staff
- Birthday posts for clients or patients
- Anniversary posts
- New baby posts
- New puppy or kitten posts
- Testimonials with clients or patients
- Biographical posts about staff
- Good news about staff
- Good news from the doctor or owner
- Fun days off for the staff or team
- Personal Holiday posts
- Funny dress up days related to holiday or celebration
- Bring your pup to work days
- Bring your kids to work days
- Doctor or owner videos about a treatment or solution
- Patient or Client contest winner posts
- Congratulatory posts about local school, team or non-profit group
- Fun-runs or other events
- Fundraisers or donation drive posts
- Instagram/Facebook Reels
- Behind the Scenes
- Upcoming big game posts (such as picture of office staff in their favorite team jerseys)
- Stories
I hope this information and the ideas help you to be more efficient and effective on social media to grow your business!
Reach out to us any time using our contact form if you would like a FREE marketing consult to see if working with Walker Kreative is right for you.
Christine Leacox
Director of Marketing Operations, Walker Kreative
