Hello, community! There’s no doubt that today’s social media promotion algorithms are complex, deeply layered scripts that analyze everything from content quality to user interaction. But according to various studies, one key factor stands out — consistency in publishing your videos or stories. That’s exactly what we’re discussing today.
Before we dive in, a quick reminder that we’ve already explained how SEO works in social media. Be sure to check it out!
A Bit of Context
Today, we’ll look at analytics and reports from several well-known sources, including Metricool (we’ve mentioned them before), as well as other experts in the field.
We’ll also break down how often you should post on various platforms. So stay tuned — it’s going to be interesting!
How Often Should You Post on TikTok?
Let’s start by looking at the research results — we’ll explain the differences in detail afterwards.
How Often to Post on TikTok | |
Metricool | 5–6 posts per week |
Serve Me the Sky | 1 post per day |
Neil Patel | 1–3 posts per day |
RivalIQ | 1–2 posts per week |
Average: | 1–4 posts per week |
So whose data should you trust? For example, Metricool analyzed around 87,000 accounts and over 1,000,000 videos to reach their conclusions. Meanwhile, Neil Patel used data from over 332,000 accounts monitored over 30 days.
RivalIQ focuses on the performance of popular videos — analyzing how often those accounts post. As for Serve Me the Sky, their methodology is unclear, although they’re a known SMM research platform.
Ultimately, a good rule of thumb is to stick to the average: 1–4 posts per week. Still, the more in-depth stats from Metricool and Neil Patel are trustworthy and useful if you want a more aggressive posting schedule.
How Often to Post on Instagram?
Now let’s break down recommended posting frequency for Instagram. We’ll split it into posts and Stories. We’ll also touch on other content formats, though not all sources provide specific data on them.
How Often to Post on Instagram | ||
Posts | Stories | |
Metricool | No data | 30–45 stories per week |
Neil Patel | 1–2 posts per day | 2–4 stories per day |
RivalIQ | 4–5 posts per week | No data |
Later | 3–5 posts per week | 4–15 stories per week |
Spark Social | 3–4 posts per week | 5 stories per week |
Although Metricool didn’t provide insights on post frequency, their dataset is massive — over 5.6 million posts, 3.6 million Reels, and 23.6 million Stories across 391,000+ accounts.
Here are a few takeaways from their findings:
- To maximize reach, publish 3–7 image posts per week.
- Accounts with over 50k followers tend to post 2–4 carousels weekly. Accounts under 500 followers typically post about one carousel per week.
- Top-performing accounts post 3–8 Reels per week — a frequency Metricool links to their popularity.
And when it comes to Stories — these are most commonly used by established influencers. Makes sense, since Stories are mostly seen by existing followers.
How Often to Post on Facebook?
Finally, let’s look at Facebook — still a highly popular platform.
How Often to Post on Facebook | |
RivalIQ | 4–5 posts per day |
HubSpot | 1–5 posts per day |
Buffer/BuzzSumo | 1–4 posts per day |
As we can see, most sources agree — the ideal posting pace is up to 4–5 times per day. Even if you’re just warming up your account, this frequency increases your reach and helps future ads perform better.
Metricool also notes that if you plan to use Reels to drive traffic, posting up to 3 per week is optimal. This aligns with behavior seen in accounts with 50k+ followers. Smaller accounts (under 1,000) usually post Reels half as often.
Conclusion
As you can see, each study offers both overlapping and conflicting data. This is largely due to differing data collection methods.
Keep in mind: most of this research is based on already successful accounts. These aren’t new profiles created for testing. So don’t treat the data as a guaranteed formula for SMM success.
Still, don’t ignore these numbers either. As the analysts themselves point out, the posting consistency seen in successful accounts might very well be a factor in their growth and follower counts.
Have your own posting stats or observations? Share them in our Telegram community — where we always discuss the latest in affiliate marketing!
Respectfully, your Geek!