This isn’t only a question that the businesses of the world struggle with, but just about everyone. The answer really depends on what kind of social media you’re using; and yes, it does mean that you can’t update them all at the same time. 

Facebook

Facebook users are the most likely to check multiple times a day. A lot of this because they don’t wait for notifications to check— there is always new stuff. 

However, facebook posts take some time to write. They’re not as quickly put together as a tweet. But there are other ways to update your facebook regularly: a big one is responding to comments. A good post is getting comments and likes, and comments are new ways to create new content without spamming anyone’s wall (which is a good way to get yourself unfollower pretty quickly. 

Twitter

Twitter works a bit differently. People are also likely to be involved multiple times a day, but their feed moves much faster. This means that you can post more than daily and not feel like you are spamming anyone.

It’s important that posting multiple times a day and writing shorter content does not mean that Twitter should not get the same level of thought put in it than Facebook. If you can write only one great tweet a day, or even one a week, do that. It’s better to write no content than bad content. 

Snapchat

This is another platform that you can edit often— if you are doing it the right way. You can edit your story often, but there should be limits to how often you send solo snaps to people not snapping you back. However, if even one person snaps you back, definitely look into answering them as soon as possible.

The story follows similar rules to Facebook, and there are articles on Snapchat in particular if you want to either break into a new social media site or learn more about what you’re already using.  

Instagram

Instagram also can be checked more than once a day, though generally not as often as Facebook. There is a lot of work that comes with instagram if you don’t have a professional photographer: unlike snapchat, these are meant to be professional photos. Don’t get the two confused.

Because of this, many people don’t post on Instagram multiple times a day. They check multiple times a day expecting to see information from new people. How often exactly you should post on Instagram is up to you, but make sure it looks professional before you post. 

Youtube

Youtube is generally the social media site least likely to be checked multiple times a day, because each time takes much longer. Some people think to combat this the answer is to cram everything in one video, but this is actually the exact opposite of what you should do. 

Creating a strand over videos, uploaded when people expect them (i.e. every other Wednesday etc.) people will check at that time and people a little bit later will binge watch all the videos in a row. 

Pinterest

Pinterest isn’t necessarily a social media platform all are involved with, but here are a few pinterest ideas to get you started. Because of the way Pinterest posting works, it’s not a problem to post many times a day. 

Some Pinterest pros even suggest it! Find out when your customers are on and try to be on around the same time. This is a great way to provide quality content with less work, as you may not always be pinning things you have written or done. 

Do make sure if you pin someone else’s work that there is a way for people to find where it was first made, so that you don’t get in trouble for having the wrong artist down. 

Other Social Medias

Perhaps other social medias or similar sites fit your business plan well. Don’t be afraid to take risks and go off the beaten path. It is important to do what is best for you and your business, and I can’t cover every possible site on here.

When To Post Extra

There are times in your public social media accounts where it may make sense to post extra. What times these are may change, but there are a few easy to look for. Again, if others seem like they fit your business plan well, take advantage of them. 

On Business’ Anniversaries

When did you start to sell your product? When did you come up with a new product? Just like these days should be celebrated by the people in your company, it can be important to get those around to your social media followers as well. Perhaps they want to celebrate with you. 

During Any Sales

This should be obvious enough, but this comes with a warning— don’t post on your social media only during sales. This will have customers assuming all that you want to do is sell to them. It’s always better to make it clear that you care about them and your community as well. 

Holidays

These can be common holidays, such as chocolate on Valentine’s Day, but don’t be afraid to look up national Tea Day or Small Business Saturday. Do the ones that make sense with what you are selling or providing rather than average ones. 

When During The Day Should I Post? 

The big thing to remember here is when your target audience is on social media. If you aim at school age children or teenagers, it may not make sense to post while they’re at school (unless, of course, your audience is the type of young person to be on social media during school). Do they stay up late? Do they check social media very first thing in the morning? If so, what time are they getting up? And how far back do they scroll? 

A-B Testing

This type of testing is talked about often when it comes to ads, but you can do this for posts as well. It’s a bit harder, because you can do similar testing on posts. 

The purpose of A-B Testing is seeing what a small difference can be made by doing similar ads, or in this case posts, and see if one does better than the other. The important part about this is you change as little as possible between ads (or posts).

How To Use A-B Testing

Decide which small piece you want to try changing on your post. Do you want to know what time to post? Do you want to know whether to use colloquial language to be relatable or more technical language to sound professional? 

The only way this will work is if you know how your posts generally do. I would argue that every time you post you should mark down how it does, but that isn’t as easy as some people hope it will be, particularly if you post a few times a day. Still, it will make all the difference here. 

The first thing it will do is establish a pattern. You know how posts generally do around 6pm. It seems to be the best time. So, you make your 6pm post, but you try sounding more technical. Does anything change in your outcome for posts?

It’s also worth pointing out that different people on different social media may want different things. Don’t assume that because something works on Instagram means it works on Snapchat, even if they both are mainly done by pictures.

The most important thing here is that you don’t change everything at once, so that you can tell what normally makes a difference. If you normally post colloquially at six pm on Twitter, and then a post at 3pm works well in technical language on Facebook does well, there’s no way to tell what made the difference. 

Is it the time? The type of language? The medium? There may be no way to know for sure. This is why it’s important to change only one thing at once. 

Where Do I Find More Information On This To Get Started? 

It’s pretty simple. A google search will get you pretty much any information on other businesses like you and what worked for them. However, the internet does not only exist to give you the most valuable information. Look for more information, but in the end try plenty of testing to see which works. 

What Can A Professional Do With This Data? 

Surely, you can do all this yourself, right? There’s not so much to keep track of. However, even if you keep a perfect record of all the data (which is pretty hard in and of itself) you may not know what the data means. An expert can help you narrow down which data is useful and which data is simply random. They can decide which items need to be A-B tested and which you can count on being the best answer. If this all sounds overwhelming to you, this is the perfect time to find a professional.