Provide quality

If anyone tells you that all you need to do to be successful on any social media channel is post lots of stuff all the time then send them around to us and we'll shake some sense into them.

Even if you post twice a week you can make some serious progress. In fact on some platforms your post will still be active and getting views 48 hours after you've posted it (even longer on YouTube and LinkedIn) so by posting lots or even daily you may well be wasting content.

So don't waste that stuff. You may actually get better results if you post less frequently and focus on quality information that speaks directly to the people you want to reach.

So what do we mean by quality?

Good question - the answer depends on the people you want to speak to. Because it's different for everyone.

For example we work with a lot of musicians and if you're one of them you'll want to post stuff that develops your fan base. That might be content that centres around you more. Keeping the people who love your stuff informed of gigs, new music, developments and helping them understand who you are as a person.

But we work with businesses too. Let's say you're teaching people something. Tap into what problems your audience are having and help them with those problems. Provide value with every single post so people go away richer for having met you.

Being a success on social media is not about just posting stuff - it's about posting quality stuff for your type of people.

Be consistent

Posting one video every now and then will not work.

Spending thousands on hiring someone to make an epic advert and relying on it all the time, that won't work either.

You need to keep showing up consistently and provide quality when you do.

Your frequency will depend on three things:

1. The channel you're posting to
2. How much time you have
3. How sticky your content is

Choosing your channel

Your content will survive longer on some channels than others. For example, YouTube content can, potentially get great engagement many years after you've posted it. Then at the other end of the scale there's Twitter where content is super ephemeral and may not even make it to the end of the day.

So understand the normal shelf life of content for the channel you're posting to. That will help to dictate the frequency you decide on.

How much time you have

If you only have time to post twice a week then stick to that. It's far better to be consistent with your posting strategy rather than posting every day one week and none the next. Consistency is far more important than frequency with all social media channels.

How sticky your content is

How long after you post is your content alive? You can find this out by monitoring your insights on channel. For example, Instagram's burn rate is often around 48 hours but if your videos hit the discovery page you could be still getting views, likes and comments weeks or even months after you've posted.

What's more important than anything is that you're consistent. Pick the days and times when your audience is most active and hit them with something fantastic twice a week ... every week.

Planning

Getting more followers is actually not a great goal. Most followers never interact with any of your content. They are nothing more than a number. What you need are fans. People who pay attention, like, comment and share your stuff. You want people to shout about you from the roof tops.

To do that you need people to get to know you and come to rely on your as the authority on whatever it is you're promoting. Or just someone they love watching. That means you showing up in their lives regularly and hitting them in the feels with your stuff as often as possible.

That takes planning.

If you're posting all your stuff on the fly and making it up as you go along that is not a plan.

A plan is sitting down and working out every post a week or even a month in advance - making all that stuff ahead of time, showing up on social media at the right times for your followers so you're there when they're there and you've given some thought to what you're going to say.

Want to learn some more?

You'll no doubt be aware that, as well as making videos, we love to teach you how to make your own.

We hold many training days where we come to you and help you learn any aspect of video making or video marketing that you need to get you to the next level.

These days are bespoke to you and you can even invite a bunch off friends or colleagues over to share the cost. Click on the button below to see how our coaching works.