Creator's Circle #1: How often should creators post?

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Let’s take a trip back in time.

The year was 2020.?It was memorable for one major reason…Okay, maybe two...ish.

As far as the creator economy goes, 2020 was a huge year. There was exponential growth across the globe thanks to one key factor: one in every two creators was posting on social media (Adobe).

But how much is too much? When and how should you post?

In this issue of the Creator’s Circle, we’re going to be exploring the frequency of posting on social media.

The Catch-22 of Social Media

Posting on social media is a lot like playing catch in the dark.

You might post something one week and go viral. The next week, with a similar topic, you may get a measly 1% engagement rate.

That’s the algorithm at work.

From a completely objective perspective, these algorithms are in place to make sure user's feeds are filled with high-value content that they want to see.

Subjectively though? It looks a lot like this:

It’s a disheartening experience every creator needs to go through as they experience the highs and lows of something that’s not quite able to be understood. It can make you feel like you’re doing something wrong, not posting often enough (or too much).

So let’s try and sort through an answer for how often you should be posting.

Posting timing and frequency varies by platform (but not much)

Most of our collective experience comes from LinkedIn, but that’s just one player in the larger creator economy.

After looking at the research (read: people guessing what’s happening), there’s one trend that seemed to shine through.

Posting three to five times a week is enough to appease just about all of the algorithms. Networks that produce shorter, bite-sized chunks of content (Twitter, TikTok) do reward more frequent posting, you’ll eventually hit diminishing returns.

When you should be posting on each platform varies far more. With its focus solely on business networking, obviously, the best items to post on LinkedIn are Monday through Friday during business hours, while Instagram usage increases over the course of the week (Hubspot).

Ignore everything we just said

Why? Because everything we just said could change tomorrow.

LinkedIn may decide that they’re only going to promote posts about Showtime’s series Yellowjackets. Instagram may decide that if you post something with cats in it, you instantly get seen by every single person with an IG handle.

Jokes aside, these are ridiculous examples but the fact remains: Social media is not an owned audience. It’s not like SEO and can be deconstructed and optimized within an inch of its life based on the latest updates out of Google.

If you’re worrying about whether or not you’re posting at the right time or correct day, you’re focusing on the wrong thing.

Focus on what you can control

So does that mean you should just give up on social and build an email list instead?

No and yes.

No, you shouldn’t give up but yes you should build an email list (we’ll be covering that in another issue).

You can’t control that the network might upend the algorithm. You can’t control if the service is down one day. You can’t control your account getting banned because of some obscure rule in their T&Cs

That’s all the more reason to focus on the things you can control like:

Engaging with your followers:?Don’t just talk at people, engage with your network regularly. Honestly, you should be spending as much time engaging with your audience as you are putting out content.

Create High Quality Content:?Yes, a dumb post can in fact go viral. Then they’re forgotten. Focusing on high-quality content means that you’re actually providing value and teaching your audience. That’s something they’ll remember.

Consistency:?Whatever you decide your ideal cadence is, show up regularly. Become a regular contributor in your comments and others. We can’t understate how important this is by itself.

Last remarks

Every channel changes and evolves over time. LinkedIn is far more of a mix between work and life than it was five years ago. Instagram is a spot for personal connection and brands alike. TikTok is…well, whatever it feels like that day.

Trying to keep up with every single change in the algorithm will just drive you crazy.

Focus on the content and consistency and the rest will follow.

We’ll see you next month,

Nick and Bryan

What we’re reading:

• Some more statistics reading for you from?Hubspot?and?HootSuite
• Adobe’s Creator Economy report?is definitely worth a read

A request for you:

Like what you read??Please share this with your friends, family, acquaintances, strangers, heck, share it with your enemies too. No reason they shouldn’t have a good social presence as well.

Creator Challenge:

Create something in a medium you don’t usually explore and post it with the #keepcreating.

If you’re a podcaster, try something visual. Writers? Try recording some audio. Stretching your creative limits can help you improve your core skills as well as learn some new ones.

Resources

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