Some in PR and marketing believe that more social media posts generate better results. Intuition tells them that more work leads to greater reach, more engagement and overall more results. Counteractively, the fact is that less posting can lead to better results. Less is more – especially on Facebook.
A 2018 Social Media Industry Benchmarks report from Rival IQ reports that companies in most sectors post an average of around one post a day. Media is an outlier with an average of 10.4 posts per day. Media also has the lowest engagement rate: .08%.
The finding shows that frequent posting every day is “an artifact from the old way of doing things,” opines Johua Nite at Top Rank Marketing. “Stick to one or two posts per day, and really make them count,” Nite advises. “That’s right at the industry average, and seems to be the threshold on most platforms for how much an audience wants to see branded content.” Consumers and customers resent any more frequent intrusions – especially if the posts are pitching products or services.
An Approach that’s Past Its Prime
Companies and organizations post far too much on social media, especially on Facebook, asserts Arik Hansen, principal of ACH Communications Inc., in his email newsletter. One organization posted an astounding 97 times on Facebook in April alone. “This volume-based approach is well past its prime, and it’s hindering brands on multiple fronts,” Hanson says.
Developing, posting and managing the content consumes large amounts of resources that could produce better results elsewhere. And it’s not effective because Facebook has become a pay-for-play channel that requires advertising to meet PR and marketing goals. Hanson suggests 8 to 12 Facebook posts a month.
“By employing the less is more approach, it opens brands up to spending more time producing more quality and compelling content,” he says.
An Experiment in Posting Frequency
Buffer once shared more than 125 social media posts, including 25 to 40 Facebook posts a week. They thought it could adapt to constantly changing algorithms by posting more. What happened? Reach declined with more posts.
After Buffer reduced its Facebook posting frequency by 50 percent and began focusing on quality more than quantity, its reach more than tripled from 44,000 to more than 150,000 people per week. Average daily engagements increased from about 500 to more than 1,000, and the number of posts that reached more than 60,000 people and received more than 2,500 unique engagements nearly doubled. They now post one or two pieces of content to Facebook a day.
Less posting freed up more time for other activities, such as producing videos, podcasts and Instagram marketing.
Not every post is a good fit for Facebook, even if it is high quality, says Brian Peters at Buffer. When considering what to post to Facebook, seek what’s both entertaining and educational – or “edu-tainment.”
In addition, Buffer’s Facebook strategy has shifted from driving traffic to its website to promoting brand awareness and engagement.
“It used to be that brands and businesses could post links to their blog posts and watch the traffic flow in,” Peters says. “And while that’s still the case for many publishers, savvy marketers can benefit from thinking about their content strategy as a whole – focusing on both direct traffic as well as engagement.”
Bottom Line: Many organizations post far too frequently on social media, especially Facebook. Posting less frequently and focusing on quality allows brands to increase reach and engagement and free resources for other projects worthwhile projects.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
