Instagram has rightfully emerged as an indisputable visual platform for users owning business as well as personal accounts. Whether you are a newbie trying to hit a good follower mark or a brand seeking more engagement from the consumers, Instagram is one all-encompassing platform that you need to conquer.
Be it stories or newsfeed posts, almost every account holder on Instagram is hit by the question” How often should I post on Instagram?”
Here is our way of bringing you closer to an answer, taking you through multiple aspects so you get it right by the time you finish reading this article.
Know your industry average
The posting frequency depends highly on the audience you deal with. Generally, the posting frequency varies from 1 to 3 posts per day with brands going with 1.5 posts per day. However, this will vary from industry to industry.
Majority of brands feel that posting frequency has a direct connection with high engagement rates. However, you cannot spam the feeds of your followers. Gradually increase it, based on the feedback you receive. If you see engagement dropping, slow down. Let each post get enough footage. Posts with CTA and immersive captions are a good way to attract more users and keep your current follower base engaged with your brand.
Beautifuldestinations is one account that posts roughly between 3-4 images for its users, garnering more than 50k likes on every post.
More the merrier with stories
Speaking of stories, they are short lived with 24 hr lifespan. That makes it exciting as people want to view it before it is gone.
Using polls or asking questions about a certain post or even informing followers about a new post can be easily done using Stories. Mostly 2-10 stories per day is followed by leading brands, you can choose an intermediate number depending on the content that you have available. More, the better.
Whatever number you choose, keep in mind that stories are natural clicks and real. They don’t have to be done by a professional designer. Your audience is expecting behind-the-scenes and some real dope.
Make consistency your primary goal
For any strategy to work, you need to ensure consistent efforts. Instagram, too, values consistency and pays off those who don’t sway from it. Whether you are choosing to post once a day or three times a day, you need to keep the cycle of posting consistent throughout.
Brands like Redbull are classic examples of consistent posting that gives their audience something to look forward to everyday.
Instead of focussing on numbers, give more weightage to regular posting so that organic reach of your page remains high.
Know your audience
The great thing about Instagram is it has answers to questions like “Which post was most popular? Which post received most engagement? What times the posts were viewed?”
These provide honest insights into the customer’s behaviours and can enlighten brands about the content that the followers wish to see more often. So while you have your eyes on frequency, ensure good frequency of the right content. For instance, you may want to reduce salesy posts and increase more experiential posts.
What content frequency or format works varies highly with different regions and timelines. Keeping a track of user activities such as comments, likes, shares etc. over 3-4 weeks will help you judge better.
Nike posts once a month, a classic case where they want to post only when they have something worthy.
Know when to break rules
There are special times of year when post frequencies can be changed and altered. These can be holiday seasons, special sales days, new product launch time of the year or other special events that you want your customers to notice.
For example, Toms usually sticks with one post per day and derives a good amount of likes and comments but recently, they shared multiple posts on a single day for #VoteReady initiative, encouraging people to vote.
It’s good to break traditional style of postings on special occasions so your followers can be surprised and there can be renewed interest. Monotony is boring, always. And to lift your brand in the festive notice, you have to should louder and more often.
