Best Frequency Strategies: How Often to Post on Social Media (2024)

“How often should I post on social media?” is a question that has plagued marketers since the invention of social media marketing. ‘The more the merrier’ doesn’t apply to all social channels anymore because you need to strike a balance between informative and annoying.

So, what’s the right number? In this guide, I’ll share data-backed tips on how often you should post on the most popular social media platforms.

At a glance: How often you should post on every social media platform

• Facebook: 1–2 posts/day
• Instagram Stories: 2 Instagram Stories/day
• Instagram in-feed posts (carousels, Reels, etc.): 1–2 posts/day
• TikTok: 1–4 posts/day
• Twitter (now X): 3–4 posts/day
• LinkedIn: 1 post/day
• Pinterest: 15–25 pins/day
• YouTube: 1 video/week
• YouTube Shorts: 1–3 videos/week

A note: The rules look different for small businesses

“How often to post on social media” and “How often small businesses should post on social media” are two different questions. That’s because small businesses aren’t often equipped with the resources, time, and budget needed to win over the ideal posting frequency of social media algorithms.

So, the “right” number is the number you can stick to. If the platform recommends posting social media content all days of the week, but you can only post every weekday, it’s A-OK. Accommodate a sustainable number of posts in your social media strategy — a number you can meet comfortably without shaking hands with creator burnout. That’s your sweet spot.

Not to mention: There’s no universal “right number” for any social media platform, just like there’s no worldwide best time to post on social media. The optimal number of social media posts is subjective to your industry, audience, follower size, and the admin load you can handle.

When you read the ideal posting frequency in the following sections, remember they’re a rule of thumb, not social media commandments set in stone.

How often should you post on Facebook

➡️ You should post on Facebook once a day.

According to a HubSpot study of over 13,500 Facebook users, the ideal frequency for Facebook posts is one to two posts a day.

However, HubSpot also found that if you have a Facebook Page with more than 10,000 followers, the number of clicks per post increases as you increase your posting frequency.

So, if you’re a small business with a Facebook Page under 10,000 followers, posting once daily is more than enough. You don’t want to appear repeatedly on your target audience’s news feed and annoy them.

⚠️ Note: The above numbers are for your Facebook Page (where you primarily post high-quality content about your products and services) and not your Facebook Group (where you build a community and interact with your followers).

How often should you post on Instagram

➡️ You should post one to two Instagram Stories daily and a couple of in-feed posts weekly.

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, recommends posting one to two Instagram Stories daily and a couple of in-feed Instagram posts weekly.

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See Also

How Many Blog Posts Per Month Should You Publish?How Often You Should Publish Blog, Video, and Social Media ContentHow Often Should You Publish Blogs? Finding the Ideal CadenceHow Often Should You Blog for SEO? | Blog Frequency Rules for SEO

A post shared by Instagram’s @Creators (@creators)

Instagram has various types of content you can post in your feed:

• Instagram carousels post
• Instagram Reels
• Instagram single-image posts

To get the most out of the Instagram algorithm, experiment with various types of posts for different kinds of content and see which performs the best for you. And since Instagram Stories have a shorter shelf life (24 hours), it’s important to post more of them to see healthy Instagram growth.

How often should you post on TikTok

➡️ You should post on TikTok one to four times a day.

TikTok recommends posting one to four times per day. But that might be unrealistic for most small business owners. Start by posting three to four times a week and increase your cadence by cross-posting and repurposing existing content from other platforms.

Remember that while the recommendation of posting frequency is high for TikTok, the TikTok algorithm prioritizes engagement and user interaction. If you want to get more followers on TikTok, it’s crucial to post high-quality, relevant, and engaging content for your audience.

How often should you post on X (formerly Twitter)

➡️ You should post on X three to four times every day.

A study by Rival IQ showed the average median posting frequency on X across industries is 3.91 — so I’d recommend posting three to four tweets every day on this channel.

The number is consistent with how the Twitter algorithm works: It considers recent tweets more relevant than older tweets. If we talk in numbers, tweets have a shelf life of six hours. This means every six hours, the score of a tweet decreases by 50 percent.

The more new the tweet, the likelier it’ll be on top of someone’s For You page. Posting more relevant content is the easiest way to grow your following on X.

How often should you post on LinkedIn

➡️ You should post on LinkedIn once daily.

One of LinkedIn’s guides for small businesses recommends posting daily to attract and engage followers. Even the best practices say posting weekly on your LinkedIn Page will result in twice the engagement rate.

LinkedIn’s posts have a longer shelf life than other social media platforms. This means your LinkedIn posts can appear in your audience’s feed for weeks after you’ve shared them. Thus, investing time in creating an intentional LinkedIn strategy where every piece of content is well thought-out becomes essential.

How often should you post on Pinterest

➡️ You should post on Pinterest at least once a week.

Pinterest recommends posting on the platform at least once a week. The platform highlights that they value quality over quantity, so focus more on creating high-quality useful content than boosting your post frequency for your Pinterest marketing strategy.

You aren't alone if once a week seems too little for you. Initially, you might need to post more fresh Pins to grow faster. Tailwind found its most successful users pin around 15 – 25 Pins per day. They also found the upper limit: Pinning more than 50 times a day can hurt your distribution on Pinterest.

Like with any other social network, Pinterest prioritizes new content over old content. The same Tailwind article also recommends creating fresh pins rather than duplicate ones to achieve traffic & engagement and multiply your Pinterest audience.

How often should you post on YouTube

➡️ You should post on YouTube daily or once a week.

Dexxter Clark ran an experiment and found daily posts are the best YouTube growth strategy. If that’s impossible for you, share a video once a week. In his study, posting three times a week or five times a day didn’t significantly increase engagement compared to once weekly.

It’s important to note that the YouTube algorithm values audience satisfaction — so it’s beneficial to focus on growing an engaged audience rather than tallying up an empty subscribers list. Even the YouTube Creators channel advises uploading as much as realistically possible. The key is sticking to a schedule and maintaining consistency for a long period of time.

How often should you post on YouTube Shorts

➡️ You should post on YouTube Shorts up to three times every day.

Things look different for YouTube Shorts. Since Shorts take less time to produce, edit, and publish, you can post more Shorts than long-form videos. Still, it’s best to post no more than three YouTube Shorts a day. Why? YouTube has a notification limit of three ‘new video notifications’ from one channel in 24 hours. After your third post, YouTube won’t notify subscribers about a new video.

But remember, like with long-form videos, the YouTube Shorts algorithm focuses on quality versus quantity. If you’re creating a YouTube channel today, make it your goal to publish at a regular cadence and hold your audience’s attention.

⚠️ Note: If you’re uploading multiple videos a day, don’t share them all at once. YouTube advises against this and warns it may suspend subscriber notifications for 24 hours to avoid overwhelming its users with notifications.

Posting frequency is only a piece of the social media puzzle

In the social media world, meeting the ideal number of posts is only one piece of the pie. There are several other factors affecting your social media growth, such as:

• If you’re on the right social channels (where your target demographics is)
• If you’re engaging with your audience (responding to comments and DMs)
• If you’re post content that’s relevant, helpful, and engaging for your audience
• If you’re sharing interactive content that keeps followers hooked (images and videos)
• If you’re posting at the right time on social platforms (when your target audience is online)

That’s a lot to figure out. Ideally, you’d create a social media calendar (steal our content calendar template!), batch-create content, and stick to a posting schedule that works for you.

This is where scheduling tools like Buffer come in: You can connect your social channels, schedule content in advance, and it’ll publish at your selected time automatically. The best part? It’s an all-in-one social media management tool that can not only schedule posts for you across platforms but also help you determine the best time you should post, your best-performing content, and give in-depth analytics of your social media posts.