How often should you post on Instagram?
It’s the question that’s on every business owner’s mind: how often should I post on Instagram? While past advice of one post a day may seem daunting, especially for small businesses, the advice for 2023 seems to be focussing on consistency and quality over quantity
So, what are the factors to consider when determining how often to post on Instagram? Well, here are three factors (that we will dive right into) that you should keep in mind when determining your businesses post frequency:
- Your content strategy goal
- The resources available
- The amount of quality content
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Let’s explore each of these factors in detail.
Your Content Strategy’s Goal
First things first, let’s talk about your content strategy goals. Are you looking to grow your profile, or are you just trying to maintain it? If you’re looking to grow your profile, you’re going to need to post more frequently to get your content out to more people. But, if you’re happy with the engagement you’re already getting, you can post a little less – but keep posting!
As a small business with less than 10k followers, you should aim to post at least once a day if you’re looking to grow your profile, and 2-5 times a week if you’re maintaining it.
With that in mind let’s do a little exercise… no push ups though, we promise. To start with write down the posting frequency that relates to your content strategies goal. If you want to grow write down 7 and if you are happy maintaining write down 5.
That’s all for now, lets move on to the next factor…
Resources Available
S0, we just told you to post every day or 2-5 times a week, but is that actually realistic? To post you need content, a scheduling tool, editing or content creation software, and most importantly, time and energy. It can get overwhelming very quickly, we know.
So, for the next little exercise, make a list of the resources you have and the ones you don’t have, including time, manpower and time. If you think you have all the resources you need to consistently post at the frequency you wrote previously, great! If you’re missing a few resources, take off a post or two. You need to post to reach your goal, but you don’t need to burn out doing it.
Quality Content
Posting just for the sake of it is no longer effective. In 2023, people want quality over quantity. You need content that entertains, educates, or inspires your audience. And don’t think that quality is just determined by a high-quality photo or video, or a perfectly written long caption. Imperfect posts can be just as or more relatable and entertaining to your audience.
To make sure your posting frequency aligns with your content’s quality, ask yourself, “If I were to post that many times a week, would each post be high-quality?” If the answer is no, think about how often you can realistically post high-quality content. Remember, things can change, and you may need to adjust your posting frequency as you go.
How often you should post on Instagram depends on your content strategy’s goal, the resources you have available, and how much quality content you can realistically generate. At the end of the day, your Instagram strategy shouldn’t be a chore! Keep it simple, aim for realistic goals, and make sure each post reflects your business and is done with a purpose.
Remember, consistency is key, but don’t forget to have fun while doing it!
