How Often Should You Post On Social Media? (What The Data Says)

Want to learn how often to post on social media? I’ve got you covered.

We all know that consistency is key when it comes to social media. The question is: How frequently should you publish posts on each platform?

Every social media guru seems to have a different opinion on that question—but what does the data say?

I wanted to know, so I looked at all the latest studies and reports. Then, I combined their insights to create my own meta-analysis. In this post, I’ll share what I learned.

How often to post on Facebook

According to Hubspot: Multiple times per day

According to Hootsuite: 1 to 2 times per day

According to Buffer: 1 to 2 times per day

Hubspot’s survey of social media marketers found that 35% said they post content to Facebook multiple times per day, while only a quarter said they do so multiple times a week.

In an earlier study by Hubspot, now reported on Buffer, they also found that the ideal posting frequency for Facebook Pages was somewhere between 1 and 2 posts per month. Pages with more followers saw better results with a more frequent posting schedule, while smaller pages saw better results posting less frequently.

Likewise, Hootsuite analyzed how often businesses post on social media and found that the average weekly posting frequency on Facebook was 7.9 times a week at the end of last year (that’s just a little over once a day), but they recommend aiming for 1-2 times a day.

Overall verdict: Post 1 to 2 times a day on Facebook for best results.

How often to post on Instagram

According to Hubspot: Multiple times per day

According to Hootsuite: 3 to 5 times per week (in-feed posts), 2 times per day (Stories)

According to Buffer: 1 to 2 times per week (in-feed posts), 1 to 2 times per day (Stories)

Hubspot found that a high posting frequency works well on Instagram due to its chronological feed, which prioritizes posts based on recency (so posting more often boosts visibility). Their marketing survey found most marketers share Instagram posts multiple times a day.

Hootsuite found that the average weekly posting frequency in Q4 2024 on Instagram was 4.5, and recommends posting 3-5 times a week for maximum engagement and reach. That’s for regular posts, but they note that Stories should be shared more frequently—ideally, 2 times a day.

Buffer offered a similar recommendation: 1 to 2 times a week for regular posts, 1 to 2 times a day for Stories.

Hootsuite and Buffer’s recommendations seem to primarily be based on a suggestion from the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, who said in an interview that sharing a couple of in-feed posts weekly and a couple of Stories daily was the sweet spot creators should be aiming for.

Overall verdict: Post 2 to 3 Instagram feed posts weekly, and 1 to 2 Instagram Stories daily for best results.

How often to post on Twitter (X)

According to Hubspot: Multiple times per day

According to Hootsuite: 2-3 times per day

According to Buffer: 3-4 times per day

X (formerly Twitter) has the highest average posting frequency of any social media platform, according to Hootsuite’s study. 

They found that on average, businesses Tweeted something out 61 times per week—that’s almost 9 times a day. However, they recommend sticking to a more modest 2-3 Tweets per day to optimize your schedule. 

Likewise, Hubspot’s marketing survey also found that most marketers report posting Tweets multiple times a day.

But a study from RivalIQ, reported on Buffer, found conflicting results. They found the average Twitter user only posts 3.91 Tweets per week, which is less than one a day. This difference may be due to the different methodology used in each study. Nonetheless, Buffer recommends posting on X 3 to 4 times daily. So overall, there’s some consensus.

Why do most people recommend posting on X so frequently? Well, it makes sense—Twitter is a news-centric platform that’s all about staying up to date with what’s happening right now, in the moment.

As such, the algorithm prioritizes recency, and Tweets typically only have a very short shelf life of around 6 hours. After that, your visibility and engagement drop off a cliff.

The good news is that Tweets are quick to write and publish. Quality doesn’t matter as much as timeliness, so it’s fairly easy to fill out your pipeline.

Overall verdict: Post Tweets 2 to 4 times per day.

How often to post on TikTok

According to TikTok: 1 to 4 times per day

According to Hubspot: Multiple times per day

According to Hootsuite: 3-5 times per week (or as much as you can handle)

According to Buffer: 1 to 4 times per day

TikTok is another platform where it seems the more, the merrier. According to TikTok itself, the key to success is continuously putting out fresh, diverse content.

They recommend posting 1 to 4 times a day if you can manage it. As TikTok runs on video content rather than quick-to-create text or image posts, that’s a tall order for most creators.

Hootsuite and Buffer both concur with TikTok’s suggestion, but note that it may be unrealistic. As such, Hootsuite suggests aiming for 3-5 TikTok posts per week, while Buffer suggests 3-4 posts per week.

Hootsuite’s analysis also found that the average number of TikTok posts businesses published weekly was 11.5, which is somewhere between one and two posts a day. 

Overall verdict: Post at least once a day on TikTok (or as often as you can manage).

How often to post on LinkedIn

According to LinkedIn: Once a day

According to Hubspot: Multiple times per week

According to Hootsuite: 1 to 2 times a day

According to Buffer: Once a day

LinkedIn itself recommends that users post content at least once a day, including on the weekends, to maximize their engagement.

However, it seems that the average user falls a little short of that target. Hubspot found that social media marketers are most likely to post on LinkedIn multiple times per week (not multiple times per day, like other networks).

And Hootsuite found the average LinkedIn posting frequency was 5 posts per week as of Q4 2024. 

If you can manage it, sharing a LinkedIn post every day would be ideal, but quality matters. LinkedIn posts have a much longer shelf life than other kinds of social media content, so don’t be afraid to spend longer creating a high-quality post and publishing less frequently if you think it’ll lead to better results.

Overall verdict: Post 1-2 times a day on LinkedIn if you can manage it without sacrificing quality, but don’t sweat it if you can’t.

How often to post on Pinterest

According to Pinterest: Once weekly

According to Hubspot: Multiple times per day 

According to Hootsuite: Once weekly

According to Buffer: Once weekly

Pinterest recommends that posting on the platform once weekly is a good rule of thumb, which puts Pinterest in stark contrast to other social networks, most of which recommend posting daily.

The reason Pinterest thinks one post a week is enough is that, according to them, ‘quality and relevance matter more than frequency’ on the platform. 

Pinterest content is evergreen—it has a long shelf-life—so you’ll see better results putting out high-quality content less frequently than low-quality content more frequently.

Hootsuite and Buffer both concur with the once-a-week target, noting that virality isn’t necessarily the goal on Pinterest.

However, Hubspot’s survey of marketers found that most marketers nonetheless post on Pinterest multiple times a day, which suggests that marketers may be overshooting here.

Overall verdict: Post once a week on Pinterest.

How often to post on YouTube

According to Dexter Clark: Once a day

According to SocialChamp: Once a week (regular videos), several times a week (Shorts)

According to YouTube employee Matt Koval: Once a week

YouTube is different from other social media platforms in that long-form videos take significantly longer to produce, so you’d expect posting frequency to be much lower.

There are no large-scale studies out there that have analyzed average YouTube posting frequencies, but creator Dexter Clark ran experiments on his channel and found that daily posts were the best for growth.

However, he notes that if that’s too much to handle, the next best option is to post once weekly. Posting videos 3-5 times a week didn’t boost performance in his experiments.

YouTube employee Matt Koval also said in an interview that every creator needs to test and iterate to find their optimal posting frequency, but hinted that once a week might be a sweet spot as it gives videos room to breathe and helps creators avoid burnout.

Likewise, SocialChamp also recommends posting long-form YouTube content once weekly, but notes you can afford to be more aggressive when posting Shorts and share them several times a week.

Overall verdict: Post one long-form YouTube video weekly, and 2 to 5 Shorts per week.

How often to post on Threads

According to Threads: 2 to 5 times per week

According to Schedul: 7 to 23 times per week

Threads analyzed content shared by creators on the platform over 30 days and found that those who posted content more frequently achieved more views, on average.

As such, they recommend posting at least two to five times a week for best results (but don’t be afraid to exceed that benchmark if you have the bandwidth). They also note that posting more frequently on the weekends can drive higher engagement.

Publishing tool Schedul also looked at data from its Threads planner to analyze how often people post content on the platform, and found that it varied from 3 to 30 Threads per week. 

Based on results, they suggest 7 to 23 Threads per week may be optimal and, as such, recommend posting at least once a day.

Overall verdict: Post at 1-3 times a day on Threads

Bonus tips

Before we wrap up, here are a few extra tips to help you find your perfect posting frequency and better manage your social media schedule.

Experiment, analyze, and optimize

As I mentioned earlier, the suggested posting frequencies in this article are just general guidelines—they won’t work for everyone.

The only way to figure out what works for you is to experiment. Mix up your posting schedule to experiment with different posting frequencies, analyze your results, and use that to optimize your social media strategy going forward.

Focus on quality over quantity 

One awesome social media post that goes viral and gets thousands of engagements and views is better than a hundred posts that flop.

So, don’t sacrifice quality just to have something to post. Leave room in your schedule to create great content, and if that means you can’t post as often as you’d prefer to, so be it.

Spamming won’t get you anywhere

Even on platforms like TikTok and Twitter, where a higher posting frequency is recommended, you shouldn’t spam by publishing dozens of posts per day. 

Sharing too many posts can cannibalize your performance. Plus, algorithms can penalize you if they think you’re spamming. I’d recommend never sharing more than 5 posts per day on any social media channels.

Find your best time to post

It’s not just about how often you post, it’s also about when you post. Sharing content when your audience is most active and likely to engage will maximize your reach and engagement.

As with social media publishing frequency, there’s no universal ‘best time to post’ that’ll work for everyone. You’ll need to look at your historical post performance to figure out yours and then apply that to your posting strategy.

Tip: Some social media scheduling tools—like SocialBee—can automatically find your personal best time to post on different social media platforms by tracking your performance.

Schedule posts ahead of time

Publishing dozens of posts every week across multiple platforms is a lot of work—it can be tough to stay on top of everything.

A good social media scheduling tool can help with this. Social media managers can use it to plan, create, and schedule all their posts weeks or months in advance across all networks from one unified social media calendar. This saves you a ton of time and helps you to stay organized.

Repost content to fill out your content calendar 

If you’re aiming to publish multiple social media posts a day, it can be hard to come up with enough fresh, original ideas to fill your content pipeline.

But remember: You don’t need to post original content every single time. That’s way too much work. Instead, you can fill out your pipeline by retweeting, reposting, and sharing engaging content from third-party sources that you find interesting and think your target audience will enjoy.

Final thoughts

That concludes our data-driven review of how often you should post on social media.

To recap, the ‘right’ social media posting frequency depends on your audience, platform, goals, and the resources you have available. The numbers we’ve shared are helpful benchmarks, but they’re not rules set in stone.

The key is to be consistent, monitor your performance, and stay flexible. Social media trends change fast, and what works today might not work next month. 

Keep testing, keep analyzing, and most importantly, focus on delivering value to your audience. That’s what really moves the needle.