Social media has changed the landscape of entrepreneurship in a lot of ways — gone are the days of home parties, making a list of “warm market” contacts and setting up meetings with them, and prospecting strangers. Modern network marketing is built on top of one thing: social media.
The next logical question, then, is how often should your business post on social media?
In this article, we will be discussing how often your business should post on social media, plus other valuable tips on creating an enthusiastic, loyal follower base. Interested? Continue reading!
The Power of Branding
Social media marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote a business. It’s also effective because it allows companies to build relationships with their target audience. The currency of social media? Branding.
On social media, it’s all about you and your message. You are the product! The more people that know who you are and what you stand for, the more successful you will be on social media, and in your business.
The thing is, succeeding in social media requires work and expertise.
According to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz: “If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” This rings true especially for personal entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur, personal branding is what’s standing between you and success.
Get your branding on lock, and you have a significantly bigger chance of succeeding, regardless of which industry you’re in.
The key to mastering branding is knowing yourself, and staying true to who you are. Even the frequency of your posting should be guided by your branding.
Post Frequency: Considerations
The frequency of posts on social media is a hotly debated topic. Some people say that you should post more to gain followers and build an audience, while others point out the importance of quality over quantity.
There are many factors that go into determining how often to post, but there are two important considerations.
Knowing Your Target Audience
Storyteller Kurt Vonnegut’s advice to novelists is equally important to online brand-building. “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”
When you’re creating your brand, that’s what you’re essentially doing: you’re telling stories! If you try to target every single person, your message will be confused and unfocused.
Instead of trying to communicate to everyone, try to visualize your target audience: who are they? What do they do? How are they feeling? How often are they on social media?
Most importantly: what do they want from you?
Amount of Time You Have
It’s important to take stock of the time you have available for posting content and if that time matches with when your target audience is most active online. While building your brand should be pretty high in your to-do list, it’s not the only thing that goes into building your business.
Be honest and realistic about the amount of time that you can realistically allocate to content curation and creation. Remember that you also have a personal life that you shouldn’t be neglecting!
So, How Often Should Your Business Post On Social Media?
In general, research shows that businesses should be posting at least once or twice per day on Instagram and Facebook; Twitter users should aim for 3-6 tweets per day; LinkedIn users should post 1-2 times per week (or more) depending on your industry.
This is where your knowledge of your audience comes in. How often are they online? Will your audience appreciate a “personal” relationship where they get to see various parts of your day as it unfolds (like a friend), or does your audience need some sort of an inspirational hero who is open, but a bit inaccessible? Let your target audience profile guide your social media strategy!
Best Times for Businesses to Post on Social Media
After you’ve figured that bit out, it’s time for data-driven action. According to social media strategist collective HowSociable, here’s the best time to post on social media for B2C businesses:
- Facebook
- Best day – Wednesdays
- Best times – 9 AM – 10 PM, 4 PM to 5 PM
- Worst times – before 7 AM and after 5 PM
- Instagram
- Best days – Wednesdays and Fridays
- Best times – 8 AM – 10 AM, noon time, 7 PM – 9 PM
- Worst times – 11 PM to 3 AM
- Twitter
- Best days – Tuesdays and Wednesdays
- Best times – 8 AM – 10 AM, noon time, 7 PM to 9 PM
- Worst times – 10 PM to 4 AM
- Youtube
- Best days – Thursdays and Fridays
- Best times – 12 PM – 4 PM
- Worst times – 7 PM and 7 AM
- Linkedin
- Best days: Wednesdays
- Best times: 12 PM to 1 PM
- Worst times: 9 PM to 3 AM
- Pinterest:
- Best days: Fridays and Saturdays
- Best times: 8 PM to 11 PM
- Worst times: 5 PM to 7 PM
Social Media Tips
More than frequency, your goal should be consistency. Which social media platforms will your target audience be using? It’s better to regularly create high-quality content for one or two platforms instead of spreading yourself too thin.
To ensure quality and consistency, allot a block of time to work on all of your posts in advance. To maximize engagement rates across all platforms, consider using a social media management app such as Hootsuite or Buffer to line up your posts a couple of days/weeks in advance.
Once you’ve set up a sizeable following, use your tools’ analytics to understand your audience. When are they viewing and interacting with your content? Adjust your posting schedule based on that.
And speaking of quality, your posts should provide value to your followers and audience. Reposting a cliche quote won’t say anything about you or your brand (except that you spend too much time looking for inspirational quotes online).
The most important tip: you have to know who you are. You have to use your own words to tell your own story.
Conclusion
In the age of social media, your platforms are your key to success. You have to think of two things when posting on social media for your company: your target audience and the amount of time you have available to curate your posts.
The best times to post depend on which platform you’re using, and it’s better to consistently post high-quality content on a few platforms than to try and create specialized content for every social media platform you can get your hands on.
And remember: your brand is your story. Tell it using your own words.
Feeling stuck? Want to be successful but don’t know where to start? Do you want to live a life of abundance, but your business just isn’t moving forward? Contact us now — help is coming.
