Effectively promoting your business to reach your marketing goals and maximising your resources is a fine juggling act, but from our experience, it can be made a lot easier to master when you’re in the know of the right social media posting schedule. In this blog we focus on how to nail your posting frequency on Instagram!
In short…
- When done right, nailing your posting frequency can increase the likelihood of improving reach and engagement, leading to other valuable outcomes for your business.
- If you wing it, posting too infrequently or too much can result in wasted resources and underperforming content.
So, what’s the magic number? Keep reading to find out….
Instagram is a popular social media platform that allows users to share photos and videos with their followers. It is best used for visual storytelling and creating a strong brand presence online. Instagram is particularly popular among younger generations, with over one billion active users as of 2021. It is an ideal platform for businesses that rely heavily on visual content, such as fashion, beauty, food, and travel industries but is also great for industries such as interiors, marketing and construction. Additionally, Instagram is a great platform for small businesses looking to reach a wider audience and connect with potential customers. Instagram has become increasingly popular in recent years, with new features such as Reels and IGTV allowing for more engaging content creation. As a result, businesses of all sizes are utilising Instagram to showcase their products, engage with their audience, and grow their brand presence online.
It’s all about getting the balance right – what happens if you don’t post enough?
If you fail to post frequently enough on Instagram, you run the risk of reducing your account’s reach and engagement because you’re simply not being seen. Not only does your Brand Awareness take a nose dive, but so does your opportunity to converse and interact with potential customers or clients. Engagement might seem like a superficial metric, but believe us, it’s a crucial ranking signal for Instagram.
Engagement boosts your brand in two ways!
Content that generates likes and comments can easily activate Instagram’s popularity ranking signal. Since popularity is a top-ranking signal, consistently creating content that resonates with your audience, can increase your account’s visibility, far beyond your organic network.
If your followers regularly engage with your content, it triggers another ranking signal. When Instagram ranks content in the feed, it considers how intriguing the content is likely to be for each user, as well as how often others have engaged with your account in recent weeks to determine your worthiness of visibility on the grid.
Ok… so what happens if you post too much?
If you’re new to the channel or keen to see results ASAP, you can sometimes fall into the trap of posting too frequently in an urgent attempt to get in front of your audience. Whilst at first you might think you’re doing the right thing to be front of mind, generating too much content can actually be detrimental to your brand reputation – putting yourself firmly at the front of most annoying accounts to unfollow!
Alongside appearing desperate through over-posting, by taking to the grid too frequently, you can also cause internal damage with your own posts fighting with one another, and in turn yielding low engagement through no-to-minimal likes.
Content that fails to prompt likes or comments won’t trigger Instagram’s popularity ranking signal.
Over time, this low-engagement content could harm your account by signalling to Instagram that your audience isn’t interested in your posts. Consequently, you may lose critical ranking signals, and your reach and engagement may continue to suffer. (It’s a slippery slope!)
From a practical standpoint, producing too much content can also be costly. Generating posts, short-form videos, and stories doesn’t grow on trees. It comes at a price. A price which you don’t necessarily need to pay if you streamline your operations and strategy.
To optimise the value of your social media content, concentrate on identifying the type of content that helps you achieve your objectives most effectively. Then, make those posts the foundation of your Instagram content calendar.
How to Determine the Best Instagram Post Frequency
Now that we’ve established the potential harm of posting too frequently or infrequently on Instagram, let’s establish how to find out what frequency is right for you.
Step 1 – Check out your profile insights!
- To determine the ideal Instagram posting frequency, begin by accessing your Instagram account and navigating to the professional dashboard.
- From there, open the Account Insights panel and adjust the time frame to either Last 7 Days or Last 14 Days to compare your content’s performance from week to week.
- Once you’ve got eyes on your content performance, head over to the Overview panel to see if your reach and engagement have grown or declined compared to the previous week.
- If these metrics are stable or have improved from week to week, it’s an indication that you’ve found an effective post frequency to continue with or make minor adjustments to. Either way you’re headed in the right direction.
Step 2 – Look at when your followers are active!
- By using Instagram’s professional dashboard, you can identify when your audience is most active.
- To access this information, go to the Overview panel and select Total Followers. Then scroll down to the Most Active Times chart.
- You can switch between daily and hourly charts to see when your audience is most likely to be online.
- While you may notice some fluctuations throughout the day, you may not see a significant difference in audience activity from day to day but don’t worry too much about that!
- Our best recommendation is to experiment with different days of the week while keeping your ideal post frequency in mind to determine the optimal posting schedule for your audience.
Step 3 – Review your Content Analytics!
- Although Instagram account overviews are beneficial in identifying trends, they do not provide much detail about individual posts, stories, or reels. Conducting a thorough analysis of your content’s performance can help you gain a better understanding of when and what to publish for optimal results.
- To find more in-depth Instagram content analytics, open the app’s professional dashboard and extend the timeframe to the previous 30 days or more.
- Next, navigate to the Accounts Reached and Accounts Engaged sections, which automatically categorise published content by type and performance.
- Start by identifying your highest-performing and lowest-performing posts, reels, and stories.
Step 4 – Don’t be afraid to experiment!
We all know that consistency is key, however it’s important to note that consistency does not have to mean repetition / duplication of old content. (It’s all about consistency in approach – not content!)
If you notice a decline in content performance over time, do not hesitate to experiment. It doesn’t have to be drastic. Here are a few suggestions to consider:
- Modify the number of posts and stories on your Instagram content calendar to test a slightly higher or lower frequency.
- Publish content at different times, particularly if you suspect that seasonal or other changes have affected your audience’s behaviour. It’s important to try and move with your audience and adapt to them as much as you can.
- Allocate more resources to the content format and style that delivers the best results. If statics no longer seem to rake in the likes, try incorporating more short-form videos and carousels to woo your crowd. Within reason, try experimenting with a new design style to give your grid a refresh but don’t stray too far from your brand guidelines – you can learn why here!
Here at Blue Moon, we’re experts in finding the right frequency to raise your profile as well as your performance. If you’d like help to manage your social media insights and plan a killer scheduling plan, then please contact us today!
