Quality vs. Quantity: How often should you be posting on Instagram?

As online platforms continue to grow, more and more businesses are utilising the power of Instagram marketing. However, with the goal of engaging and expanding your audience, how often should you be posting?

This is a subject in which there is no clear answer, and can often depend on the type of business you are marketing.

 

1-a-day

One popular method is posting once a day. Most people check their social media feeds every day, so it is important to stay relevant with a daily post.

Many people have been successful with this method, and many with as little as one post a month, however I believe that more is better. There is of course the risk of over-bombarding your audience with content, however competition for attention is always increasing, so I think it’s important to give yourself multiple opportunities to reach your audience.

 

Instagram Stories

If you are set on one post a day, then another way of creating opportunities to reach your audience is through Instagram Stories. It is the audience’s choice whether they view this content, and so reduces the risk of forcing too much content on them. Stories are also temporary, so they do not clog up your homepage after you have finished with them.

 

Multiple Posts a Day

Personally, I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with multiple posts a day, however, variation is important. If you post 3 times in the same day about the same thing, there is the risk that the audience will lose touch with the message you are trying to send.

One way of doing is this is setting yourself 3 separate subjects to post about daily, for example:

1. Post about a specific product.
2. A more light-hearted post.
3. Post drawing attention to the most recent campaign.

 

Consistency is key

There are many different methods which could work for you, however one of the most important factors is consistency. If you decide on three posts a day, it is a good idea to make these posts at the same time each day. If you post them all at once, one post will often take the limelight, whilst the others are neglected. Spreading these out to a morning, afternoon and evening post is a good way of allowing each to be engaged with. This schedule of posting also aligns with when people are likely to check their social media; i.e. before work, during lunch and after work. Depending on your target audience, try and schedule your most important post for when most of your audience will be online.

 

Experiment

These methods are a great place to start, however the best way to find the best posting schedule for you is to experiment. If you are posting once a day, try posting three times on a Wednesday, and monitor how well these do in comparison with other days. Alternatively, go the other way and only post three times one week.