How many times a week should you post on Instagram for your small business?
Without a doubt, the most common question I receive regarding Instagram marketing (after “How do I get more followers?”) is “How often should I post?”.
As with anything in your Instagram marketing strategy, your posting “sweet spot” is determined by a number of factors including the size of your audience and the style and quality of the content you share.
High-quality content can gain traction for days, weeks or even months after posting. This means that 3x quality Reels per week, for example, could get you the same (or better!) results than 7x mediocre posts.
Can you post too often?
Short answer, Yes.
Aside from Instagram CEO, Adam Mosseri, saying “don’t double post”, the reality for most small businesses, is that it’s simply not sustainable to post multiple times per day every day.
As well as risking burnout, posting multiple times per day on Instagram may negatively impact your engagement as your content competes with (cannibalises) itself.
Additionally, I would question where else you are focussing your attention and marketing efforts. As I’m sure you’re aware, putting all your marketing “eggs” in the Instagram basket is risky - given that you could lose your account at any given moment.
How many times should you post on Instagram each week?
While there are no hard-and-fast rules regarding the number Instagram posts you should share per week, you do need to be mindful of the following:
The goals for your account - are you in a growth phase or simply maintaining your account?
The wants and needs of your audience - how many posts can your audience tolerate? - will they tune out if you post too often?
Your own capacity - what can you (realistically) manage?
Related: The secret to posting consistently on Instagram
My advice, to my coaching clients and students is always to create a posting schedule that works for YOU and stick to it.
Don’t hold out on me!
Ok, but where do you even start? 5 posts a week? 20?
The following recommendations for posting to your Instagram feed (including single image or video posts, Reels, or carousels) are for those using Instagram to grow their business (not for paid content creators or influencers).
Your feed posts can, of course, be supplemented by Stories and/or live video plus any paid campaigns you’re running.
The number of posts will vary depending on your audience size so test these recommendations out to see what works for your account but this will give you a good place to start:
During a growth phase or launch: Post daily
Business as usual: 4-5x per week
Maintenance: 2-3x per week
When you need a break: Schedule best-of or reuse content (see below) or post nothing at all if you really need to step away.
As always, consistency and post quality trump frequency so focus on creating high-quality content on a consistent basis that meets the needs of your audience ON Instagram and that drives your business goals OFF of Instagram.
You can always ramp up your post frequency during a launch or promotion and then pull back to your baseline and (gasp!) you can also stop posting altogether when you need a break.
In summary, the number of posts per week on Instagram doesn’t matter as much as your ability to remain consistent. Depending on your audience size and preferences, your own schedule, and your business goals, your post frequency will vary.
Instead of the number of posts, focus on creating high quality content that serves your audience, attracts the type of followers you want and that promotes your offerings - because at the end of the day, money in the bank matters more than followers!