🎓 The science of how often to post on social media

Posting more often boosts engagement - up to a point. If you go over 45 posts per month people get tired of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 October 17, 2023 | [Read Online]( The science of how often to post on social media Posting more often boosts engagement - up to a point. If you go over 45 posts per month people get tired of you. [Thomas McKinlay]( [fb]( [tw]( [in]( [email](mailto:?subject=Post%20from%20Ariyh&body=The%20science%20of%20how%20often%20to%20post%20on%20social%20media%3A%20Posting%20more%20often%20boosts%20engagement%20-%20up%20to%20a%20point.%20If%20you%20go%20over%2045%20posts%20per%20month%20people%20get%20tired%20of%20you.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fariyh.beehiiv.com%2Fp%2Fhow-often-to-post-on-social-media) New to [Ariyh](? This is a 3min practical summary of a scientific study 🎓 Join 22,919 evidence-based marketers that grow using science, not opinions 📈 [Subscribe here]( Today’s insight is brought to you by… [HelpDesk]( Struggling with customer support requests? Are your customers frustrated? Maybe it’s time to upgrade your help desk software. How? Use the [complete comparison guide]( of the BEST help desk products out there. What's inside? 👀 - Pros and cons of popular tools - Key user reviews - Transparent pricing - Risk-free trials [Compare customer support software]( Want to sponsor Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know](. 📝 Intro How often should you post on social media? Posting more often increases your views, engagement, and how often you show up on your audience’s feed - so you remind people of your existence and stay top of mind. It’s also a numbers game that increases the chances of finding a post that your audience loves. But how much is too much? Is there a point at which posting too much starts to backfire? That’s what scientists set out to investigate. Here’s what they found. And why. P.S.: There is a similar effect when it comes to number of followers. More isn’t always better, there comes a point at which [too many followers make influencers less effective](. Previous insight: [When to show off that you’re a new brand]( (more insights [here]() 45 social media posts per month are optimal for maximum engagement Channels: Social media | Influencer marketing | Content For: Both B2C and B2B Research date: April 2023 📈 Recommendation To maximize engagement on social media (e.g. likes, comments), post content frequently - but up to a limit. On Instagram, the optimal frequency is 44-45 posts per month. You can further maximize engagement by sharing content from less popular creators, and those who follow relatively fewer accounts. 🎓 Findings - Content engagement on social media has an inverted U-shape relationship with content frequency. Not posting frequently enough leads to lower engagement, as does posting too often. - In an analysis of 460 content creators on Instagram, researchers found that: - How often content is posted can increase or decrease likes and comments by up to 24% - Both likes and comments increased the more the creator posted on Instagram, up to 45 posts a month - More than 45 posts per month led to a decline in user likes and comments - The effect varies depending on the size and strength of followers, and competition in the topic. 🧠Why it works - How often we see a brand or creator affects how we respond to them. - Low to medium exposure to their ads or social media posts creates a gradual [wear-in process](, as we familiarize ourselves with them. - But seeing their [content too often]( bores us and makes us tired of their message, leading to a negative response. - We also feel that [creators who post too often]( are inauthentic, overly driven by money, and their posts seem monotonous and opportunistic. - So some frequency is necessary to familiarize ourselves with a brand or creator, but too much backfires. 🛍️ Create the promotions you want – without the dev time Are you wasting time custom developing your promotions? Use [Voucherify’s low-code engine]( to go to market in minutes: - Launch promotions and loyalty programs in no time - Unlimited personalization of your campaigns - Developers love its robust API [Try it free for 30 days]( This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? [Click here](. ✋ Limitations - The analysis focused on Instagram content and creators. While too much content from one particular creator or brand will have a negative effect on any social media platform, the optimal amount of content will vary for each platform (e.g. TikTok, YouTube). - The data analyzed was from 2018 to 2020. Since then, Instagram’s algorithm may have changed, favoring more or less frequency. - The study did not differentiate between organic and sponsored content. It’s likely that different frequencies of each type of content strongly impact the ideal total frequency. - It’s unclear from this study whether Instagram’s algorithm punishes excessive posting frequency, for example by reducing their reach - and when this kicks in. The main effect seems to be driven by people becoming weary of seeing content from the same accounts too often. 🏢 Companies using this - While many content creators are close to this optimal posting frequency, others post significantly more often, and some much less. - Most successful influencers seem to regularly test different posting frequencies, seemingly to find the right balance. - However, several influencers don’t seem to follow this guideline. For example: - [DJ Khaled]( posts several times a day, well above the optimal posting frequency - [Virtual influencer]( [Lil Miquela]( posts relatively infrequently, averaging one post a week ⚡ Steps to implement - Post 44-45 Instagram posts per month for the best user engagement (likes and comments). - A large part, if not most, of your audience will not see all of your posts. So you can experiment with reusing previous posts to make it easier to post frequently. - If you want to post more frequently, try to vary the format and topics of your content, it might reduce the negative effect of posting too frequently. - When you work with influencers for your campaigns, make sure to encourage them to post with the optimal frequency. 🔍 Study type Market observation (analysis of the 460 most popular Instagram creators in Indonesia, 2018-2020). 📖 Research [Content creators’ participation in the creator economy: Examining the effect of creators’ content sharing frequency on user engagement behavior on digital platforms.]( Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (April 2023) 🏫 Researchers - [Wondwesen Tafesse](. College of Business and Economics, United Arab Emirates University - [Mumin Dayan](. College of Business and Economics, United Arab Emirates University Remember: This is a new scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely. Rate today’s insight to help me make Ariyh's next insights 🎓 even more useful 📈 How was today’s insight? [Loved it]( | [Great]( | [Good]( | [Meh]( | [Bad]( - 📘 Supercharge your business with Ariyh’s [Playbook of Pricing & Promotions]( or [Playbook of Ecommerce]( - 📣 Want to advertise on Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know]( - 🎓 New to Ariyh? -> Subscribe below or read other [3-min marketing insights]( [Subscribe here]( [fb]( [tw]( [ig]( [in]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here]( © 2023 Ariyh Calle Bailen, 11 Barcelona, Barcelona 08010, Spain [[beehiiv logo]Powered by beehiiv](