How often to post on social media in 2023
This is the question that has caused a thousand sleepless nights: “How often should I post on social media?”
Of course, a successful social media strategy is much more than just posting the optimal number of times: it’s not a magic formula, let’s get it straight.
However, there is a lot of pressure to find this sweet spot in frequency. You don’t want to overwhelm your followers or feel like you’re spamming your news feed. You also don’t want to be forgotten or missed opportunities to be exposed.
But how much is too much? How much is too little? (And then, once you figure that out, when is the best time to post?)
Well, good news: you can stop your social media panic. We have all the information you need on how often you should post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to really optimize your reach and not annoy your followers.
We delved into the research and polled our own social media team to find out what is the ideal number of times per day (or week) to post for each platform. Here is a summary of what we found, but read on for more details:
- On Instagram, post 3 to 7 times a week.
- On Facebook, post 1 to 2 times a day.
- On Twitter, post 1 to 5 tweets per day.
- On LinkedIn, post 1 to 5 times per day.
Every social media account is unique, so testing and analyzing your results is absolutely essential. But read on for a detailed breakdown of some general rules of thumb that can be used as a starting point…then you can embark on a great experiment.
How often to post on Instagram
It is generally recommended that you post to your Instagram feed 2-3 times a week and no more than once a day. Stories can be posted more often.
During Instagram Creativity Week in June 2021, Instagram executive Adam Mosseri suggested that posting 2 feed posts per week and 2 stories per day is perfect for building in-app followers.
In order to keep up with your competitors (or nemesis!), it’s probably helpful to note that companies post 1.56 posts to their feed per day. It may sound 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 simply post to the main feed 2-3 times a week and Stories 2-3 times a week.
“Think about how often your audience wants to hear from you,” says Briden Cohen, head of social marketing. “Focus on building a regular cadence: You can double your follower count by simply posting every week in a consistent manner compared to those posting less than once a week.”
And if you think that an algorithmically controlled timeline means posting time doesn’t matter, think again. Our experiments have proven that posting time affects engagement on Instagram.
Key Instagram stats to consider when posting:
- Instagram is visited daily by 3.76 billion people.
- 500 million people use Stories every day
- The average user spends 30 minutes a day on Instagram.
- 81% of people use Instagram to search for products and services.
- 63% of American users visit Instagram at least once a day.
View all the latest Instagram stats here and detailed Instagram demographics here!
How often to post on Facebook
It is generally recommended to post once a day, but no more than 2 times a day.
In fact, some studies have even found a drop in engagement if you post more than that… so don’t get too excited after posting. Strive for quality, not quantity.
The average Facebook page publishes 1.55 posts per day. So, for Hootsuite social purposes, 1-2 posts a day are enough.
“Posting daily will gain subscribers 4 times faster than posting less than once a week. It makes sense: more visibility,” Braden says.
For this regular content to appear, it’s a good idea to create a content calendar to stay organized. Try our free content calendar template or experiment with the Hootsuite Planner tool.
Key Facebook stats to consider when posting:
- Facebook is the third most visited website in the world
- More than half of American users check Facebook several times a day.
- The average user spends 34 minutes a day on Facebook.
- 80% of people access the platform only from mobile devices.
Get some more interesting numbers in our breakdown of the latest Facebook stats and Facebook demographics.
How often to post on Twitter
It is generally recommended to post 1-2 times a day, but no more than 3-5 times a day.
Of course, there are a lot of power users… accounts post 50 or 100 times a day. If you have time, we are certainly not going to stop you.
But to keep your brand’s presence on Twitter active and engaged, you don’t really have to drop everything and dedicate yourself to FT tweeting.
In fact, for the general @Hootsuite channel (where the audience is subscribers, customers, and prospects), the Hootsuite team publishes one thread of 7-8 tweets daily, plus one more post. On our channel @hootsuitebusiness (aimed at supporting corporate initiatives), they post 1 to 2 tweets per day.
Finding a typo in a message that has already generated a lot of responses. Worst.
— Hootsuite ? (@hootsuite) June 10, 2021
For the team, this is more than enough to spur participation and growth.
Remember that no matter how often you post, it’s best to follow the rule of thirds:
- ⅓ tweets promote your business
- ⅓ share personal stories
- ⅓ Informative insights from experts or influencers.
Learn more about Twitter marketing here.
Key Twitter stats to consider when posting:
- A quarter of American users check Twitter several times a day.
- Watch time on Twitter increased by 72% compared to last year.
- 42% of American users check Twitter at least once a day.
- The average time a user spends on Twitter is about 15 minutes per visit.
Check out our full list of Twitter stats for 2021 (and explore our guide to Twitter demographics while you’re there!)
How often to post on LinkedIn
LinkedIn generally recommends posting at least once a day and no more than 5 times a day.
LinkedIn itself has seen that brands that post once a month gain followers six times faster than those that are less active. This pattern continues with more frequent posts, with businesses that post weekly getting twice as much engagement, and groups that post daily get even more exposure.
Hootsuite tends to fall on the more frequent end of this spectrum… in fact, the social team has increased their daily LinkedIn posts in 2021, from two posts per day to three, and sometimes up to five depending on campaigns and events.
“Increased posting frequency also means increased engagement,” says Ian Beeble, social marketing strategist. “However, this is more reflective of the type of content we create. As a general rule, if you increase the frequency, there is a good chance you will see a drop in engagement rates as more content becomes available. As we see an increase, it shows that the content we create is more relevant to our audience and more engaging. “
To make sure your posting strategy is aligned with your engagement goals, track 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 consider when posting:
- 40 million people use LinkedIn to search for jobs every week
- Companies that post weekly on LinkedIn see 2X higher engagement rates.
- 12% of US users check LinkedIn several times a day.
Here is the full list of LinkedIn stats for 2021 (as well as LinkedIn demographics).
As with all social things, finding the best frequency to post on any platform will take trial and error.
“Personally, I’ve always felt that the question of how many times a day I should post is a little over-thought and definitely secondary to the quality of the content I post,” says Ian.
“The increase in key performance metrics such as clicks and high quality engagement (comments and posts versus likes) is mostly about whether a piece of content adds value to me as a reader.”
In a nutshell: content quality is more important than frequency. While posting more content can help to some extent, the more relevant and useful your content is to your audience, the better your social channels will perform.
“Just as organic search has moved from keyword to intent behind the keyword, the same can be said for social media,” adds Yian. “Social algorithms are now focusing on the types of content that will be of value to the user, rather than just showing the user everything that is posted. “
So there you have it: There’s no perfect answer to this big juicy question, but at least you have a place to start.
Now it’s time for the fun part: create great, engaging content and schedule it out into the world! Prepare your posts ahead of time to hit those sweet spots in frequency with a scheduling tool like Hootsuite.
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