How often should you be posting on Facebook?

Kesu / Shutterstock.com

It is no question that posting frequency has an effect on Facebook engagement and reach. Now the question that many brands are asking on Facebook is what the magic number is when it comes to posting frequency. While there is nothing set in stone about posting, one thing to note is to make sure you’re testing. “Each business is different and you need to listen to your fans and gauge their reaction to adapt the right posting strategy”said Evan James, US Marketing Manager at SocialBakers. “If you look at some of our post frequency research from 2013, you can see how the posting frequency varies from brand to brand and so does engagement. The key is to analyze the amount of posts that drives the highest level of engagement. As reach directly correlates with engagement, the same argument is true here as well.” If you’re worried about posting too often or too little, it is important to look to your fans for what content they are engaging and participating in. “The number of posts has actually increased since 2011,” said James.  “In 2013 we found that brands were posting an average of 40 times per month. For some verticals like media, this is even higher with an average posting of 7.5 times per day.” If posting around 40 times a month seems like you’re not getting your messaging across to your Facebook audience, it is time to consider how reach plays into the equation. Research from Track Social,  a social performance platform, found that when brands posts twice a day the posts only receive 57 percent of the likes and 78 percent of the comments per post. They also found that the reach drops off as more posts are added throughout the day. Socialbakers believes that interactions are more accurate for determining content performance due to a rise in paid advertising. “Brands that are looking to improve their content performance should focus on creating quality, relevant, and engaging content before anything else,” adds James. Additionally James says brands need to understand the type of post that resonates best with their audience, post when their audience is most active, and, if necessary, integrate a successful post boosting strategy. Lastly, when it comes to looking at posting frequency, brands need to determine which works best with their fan base. Try starting with a plan of posting about one to two times a day on Facebook and see how your audience reacts. Also be sure to see what types of posts preform the best and base your strategy around testing and data.