Regularly producing fresh content is crucial to captivate your audience, boost visibility and establish trust. Consistently publishing indicates to your readers that you are a dependable source of up-to-date information. Post too sporadically, and you may give the impression that you are understaffed, taking a break or lacking new ideas.

How often should you post new content? A simple formula would be nice — publish X number of posts every Y number of days — but it doesn’t always work that way. It all comes down to knowing what reaches your audience. Here are some tips to help you determine what frequency will work best for you.

How Often to Post New Content

Part of the puzzle of knowing when to post is remembering that different channels work different ways and the audience’s expectation of new posts varies. Very few people would expect a new podcast to be released three to five times a week, but that’s basically how often you should be posting new content on Instagram or TikTok. Frequent as that may be, it would be slow by Twitter (X) standards.

Social Posting Cadence

Here’s a quick reference for how often to post on social media by channel, according to Sprout Social:

• Facebook: 4-5 times per day
• Instagram: 1-2 times per day
• Twitter (X): 3-4 times per day
• LinkedIn: 1 time per day
• TikTok: 1-4 times per day

If this sounds like a lot, it is, but you don’t have to hit these averages every day to be successful. Depending on your industry and your audience, you my find that 11 total posts per day is overkill. Rather than starting with quantity, root your efforts in quality. We recommend documenting your social strategy to understand what you want to achieve with each platform, then pacing out your posts from there.

Blog Posting Frequency

For blogs, opinions vary on how often to post new content. At a minimum, it’s wise to post at least once a week, if not three or four times. Of course, this depends on the length of the posts and the subject matter. Podcasts, similarly, should have new content about once a week, but that depends on the subject matter and production speed.

The rate of your content engine will be dependent on your resources, your industry and your audience’s preferences. Rather than get too caught up aiming for an average number of posts, aim for consistency above all. Establish a cadence you can maintain, and stick to it.

Best Days to Post New Content by Channel

Hootsuite and others tend to recommend posting new content for Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook in the morning, 9 or 10 am PST, and says Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays may see the highest traffic, with the lowest engagement on Sundays. Avoid Sunday for blog posts as well. Try mid-day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Keep in mind that this is hardly a fixed rule. The best source of data on when to post is your own. Experiment with different days and times, and use the analytics built into social channels or your social posting tool to see when your posts get the most engagement. Watch how your audience responds, and adjust your schedule accordingly.

Tips to Make Posting New Content Easy

Posting new content is a full-time job, but not everyone has the staff or time to treat it that way. To make the process more efficient and effective, there are a few tools you can leverage.

Start With a Content Strategy

A content strategy gives your content operations a clear focus, so you’ll never waste time duplicating efforts or producing content that doesn’t serve your goals. The basic steps of creating a strategy include:

1. Conduct a competitive audit. This will give you a clue into what your competitors are posting and help you generate ideas.
2. Conduct an internal content audit. Cataloging your content library helps you identify topics you’re lacking coverage on and pieces that can be repurposed or republished.
3. Create audience personas. Audience research will be key in understanding how to match your reader, listener and subscriber preferences.
4. Set goals for your content program. Volume should not be your only goal. Establish how your content will serve your business goals to be even more purposeful about what and when you post.
5. Set a measurement framework for your content. At a minimum, you should be tracking engagement (reactions, shares, reposts, comments), but ideally you should have a way of connecting your content to conversions such as form fills and purchases. Work with your IT team to determine the right tools for this job.
6. Create your content plan. With these foundational elements, your content plan should fall into place.

Leverage AI Tools to Gain Efficiency

AI can offer an easier starting point for blogs, social media posts and even emails, and it is a great help in overcoming writer’s block. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that AI is a tool. Just like you wouldn’t expect to build a house without a hammer, you can’t expect the hammer to build the house. AI is an excellent time-saver, and getting better all the time, but never forget to put yourself and your human perspective into the content to ensure the right tone, originality, voice, style, absence of bias and accuracy.

Repurpose Existing Content

One efficient way to add content to your library is to repurpose an existing, successful piece. Have a viral video or frequently downloaded guide? Serialize them into blogs or smaller pieces for social media and/or email. Audio and video transcripts are great SEO fodder. Post them in full, or edit them down for a Q&A.

Get Inspired by Content Creators in Your Industry

Social media is an ecosystem that thrives on trends and imitation. If you’re at a loss for new content ideas, look for inspiration in accounts that you follow. Check out our roundups of associations innovating on social media and healthcare organizations using TikTok effectively.

Create a Content Calendar

A clear and well-structured content calendar allows you to make the most of matching your content to events, sales, holidays or other promotional opportunities. This not only saves you time and stress, but it also ensures that your content is ready to go live on schedule. With a clear overview of upcoming content, you can also easily spot any gaps or overlaps in your publishing schedule and make necessary adjustments.

Start Planning New Content with a Content Calendar

Get organized with our Ultimate Guide to Creating a Content Calendar + Template. You’ll find step-by-step instructions to make your content planning more strategic and efficient. Fill out the form below to claim your copy.