There are plenty of articles out there that claim to give the perfect number of updates to share on social media platforms per day. CoSchedule suggests that posting to Facebook no more than once a day is best or you’ll start to feel spammy. Buffer says you can post to Facebook twice a day before likes and comments drop off. I suggest there is no magical number that suits everyone the same. I do suggest though that you should post less on Facebook.
In 2017, we have a limited resource which is attention and an increasing number of people fighting for that resource. Brands desperately try to get your attention on social media. But it’s not because you post ten times a day in order to get this attention on Facebook that first you will reach your audiences and second increase your engagement rate. In fact if you post less frequently, but with a better quality you’ll get better results on Facebook.
How the algorithm encourages to post less on Facebook
According to Mark Zuckerberg, each of us gets exposed to more than 1,500 stories every day, but an average user only gets to see about 100 stories a day on their News Feed.
Michael Stelzner, CEO and Founder of Social Media Examiner, suggests that when a person or brand publishes a post, social media algorithms would typically show the post to a sample audience and see how the audience reacts to it. If the audience reacts positively to the post right away, the algorithm would show the post to more people.
In 2008 when Facebook launched their first algorithm, it was really important to throw three, five or ten posts a day on Facebook. Why? It was the best way to defeat the algorithm changes that were just then starting to impact how social media posts were distributed and seen.
‘In social media, the algorithm is the most important customer.’ – Jay Baer
Less than 10 years later, things have changed. Algorithms are your best friend, you can’t send it multiple mediocre content, it will reject all of them (even your good content).
The truth about frequency
So how frequently do we post on Facebook? I could say a number here to make the decision for you but the truth is, there is no magical number. You should post to social media every time (and only when) you have something to post that your audience will love.
If you don’t have something valuable for your audiences and worthwhile, do not post. When hitting the ‘Publish’ button think twice – is your content lovable enough for your audiences to stop and consume. If not, then don’t publish. Remember, quality over quantity!
Force yourself post less, share only the best content and you’ll see the results. The quality posts will resonate strongly with your Facebook fans and the Facebook algorithm will surface them to more people.
This is great news for small business owners and solo social media managers who usually don’t have the time to create or find enough high-quality content to post five times a day on Facebook as well as all their other social media and digital marketing responsibilities. By reducing the number of times you post each day, you can focus on the quality of the posts rather than the quality of posts.
Social Media Checklist by Florent Le Mens
Tip: Use a social media post checklist
Before hitting the ‘Publish button’, I always consider some questions to deliver the best value and receive the maximum engagement.
Here is a checklist that can help you to ensure the utmost quality for each post that goes out.
- Is the message educational or entertaining?
- Is the voice correct?
- How many times have I already posted something today?
- Will I be ok with absolutely anyone seeing this?
- Does the post add value for the audience?
Read more social media related posts from the OTM blog
