It’s easy to get stressed out about social media. Many business owners assume that they need to post all the time, multiple times per day. While this might work for some companies, it’s often the wrong approach for small businesses. Here’s why.

More Posts is Not Actually Better

Spamming the internet with posts will not necessarily get you better results. After a certain number of posts per day, you’ll see diminishing returns.

As reported by Buffer, you’ll see a drop in engagement per post beyond 1 per day on Facebook and beyond 5 per day on Twitter. Essentially, each post after that is accomplishing less and less. If posting more frequently takes time away from other important projects, the extra posts may not be worth it.

Posting multiple times per day may also present another issue…

Posting Too Frequently can Cause You to Lose Followers

Two of the top reasons why people unfollow a brand on social media are that they find the brand “annoying” or “spammy,” according to an eMarketer study.

Be sure to choose a posting frequency that will not overwhelm your followers.

There’s More to Social Media than Posting

There are other activities you should be doing on social media that make a bigger impact than posting alone. Exactly what those activities are depends on your goals.

If you are trying to sell more product with social media, you might consider boosting posts or creating ads to help you get in front of a larger audience.

If you are using social media to gain awareness, you should be thinking about active outreach.

Active outreach is about engaging with other people by liking, commenting or following their posts. This puts your profile in front of more people who may be interested in your product or mission.

And don’t forget two other important parts of a social media strategy:

1) Respond to people who engage with you. Not only is this great for customer service, but responding to comments and mentions allows you to build relationships with your followers.

2) Tag other people and brands who are featured in your posts. This can increase your reach and engagement.

Remember, social media is meant to be social. Shouting into the void will not get you very far.

Try to Avoid Social Media Burn Out

One of my greatest pieces of advice is to pick a social media posting frequency that you can actually stick with.

Growing a social media presence takes time and consistency. Giving up on social media because it’s too much work will not do you much good.

So How Often Should You Post?

The answer really depends. It depends on the social media platform, your goals and your capacity.

You might choose to post weekly, daily or more. But no matter what, remember two things: (1) Don’t take on more than you can handle, and (2) there’s more to social media growth than simply posting.

 
Contact us to see how Craveity can create a custom social media strategy for your business.