Your presence on social media should be deeply considered. Think about your own experience on your personal feed.
Understanding Your Own Social Media Behavior
Before crafting your social media strategy, reflect on how you use these platforms yourself:
Questions to ask yourself:
- When you scroll, how often do you stop?
- If you do stop, how long for?
- What do you stop for?
And conversely:
- What annoys you?
- Have you unfollowed or unfriended people because of their posts?
- If so, what did you not like about those posts?
- What did you scroll past without looking at?
Understanding your own behavior is the first step to understanding your audience's behavior. The things that stop you scrolling are likely similar to what stops your audience scrolling.
The Goldilocks Principle: Finding the Right Posting Frequency
The frequency of which you post is a very polarizing aspect of social media.
Too much: You annoy people and they are likely to unfollow you.
Too little: People are not likely to find you in the first place.
The Dangers of Posting Too Much
I would not recommend posting more than once a day. There are circumstances in which this is acceptable — an event, a milestone etc. But often, you will annoy your audience and they will not engage with your content, or they will unfollow you altogether.
Problems with over-posting:
- Feed domination: Your posts crowd out other content people want to see
- Audience fatigue: People get tired of seeing your brand constantly
- Lower engagement: Each post receives less attention and interaction
- Unfollows: Annoyed followers will unfollow or hide your posts
- Algorithm penalty: Platforms may reduce your reach if engagement drops
- Perceived desperation: Excessive posting can seem unprofessional
Acceptable exceptions:
- Live event coverage (conference, product launch, special occasion)
- Major milestones or announcements
- Time-sensitive promotions with updates
- Breaking news directly related to your brand
The Risks of Posting Too Little
If you post too little, there is less chance of organic engagement. Your prime opportunity to gain the engagement of your followers, or friends of your followers, is the moment at which you post. This is because the newest posts will always appear at the top of a feed.
Problems with under-posting:
- Low visibility: Less frequent posts mean fewer opportunities to appear in feeds
- Missed engagement windows: Fewer moments when posts are fresh and visible
- Reduced top-of-mind awareness: Audience forgets about you between posts
- Algorithm disadvantage: Platforms favor consistently active accounts
- Lost momentum: Hard to build audience habit of checking your content
- Competitor advantage: Active competitors fill the space you leave empty
Strategic Timing: When to Post
Think about your audience. When are they likely to be on social media?
Common high-engagement times:
- Lunch time: Midday breaks (12:00pm - 1:30pm)
- Commute hours: Morning (7:00am - 9:00am) and evening (5:00pm - 7:00pm)
- Evening relaxation: After dinner (7:00pm - 10:00pm)
- Weekend mornings: Leisurely browsing time
These times may be different depending on your audience — use your common sense here.
Factors to consider:
- Industry: B2B audiences active during work hours; B2C often evenings/weekends
- Demographics: Age groups have different usage patterns
- Geography: Time zones matter for international audiences
- Platform: LinkedIn peaks during work hours; Instagram evenings and weekends
- Your analytics: Check when YOUR audience is most active
Content Best Practices: Being Present Without Being Annoying
Some simple ideas on the type of content that will have the right balance of being present, but not annoying:
Text/Copy: Keep It Short
Say everything you need to, in the least words possible!
Why brevity matters:
- Attention spans: People scroll quickly and won't read long blocks
- Mobile viewing: Long text gets cut off, requiring "see more" clicks
- Clarity: Shorter text forces you to focus on what's important
- Accessibility: Easier to read and understand quickly
- Higher completion rate: More people read the entire post
Copy length guidelines:
- Facebook: Aim for 40-80 characters for maximum engagement
- Twitter/X: Use the space wisely, be concise
- Instagram: First 125 characters are visible before "more" - make them count
- LinkedIn: Can be longer but break into short paragraphs
Video: Keep It Short
Statistically videos have a very high engagement rate. Use videos whenever possible!
Your audience can see how long the video is. It is often ignored if it's over a minute.
Video best practices:
- Under 60 seconds: Sweet spot for social media attention
- Hook in first 3 seconds: Grab attention immediately or lose viewers
- Captions essential: Most people watch without sound
- Vertical or square: Optimized for mobile viewing
- Clear message: One key point per video
- Native upload: Upload directly to platform rather than sharing links
Why video works:
- Movement catches the eye while scrolling
- Higher engagement rates than static posts
- Algorithm preference on most platforms
- More memorable than text alone
- Shows personality and builds connection
Imagery: Always Use an Image
ALWAYS use an image. People are much more likely to scroll past a sentence than they are an image.
Make it eye-catching, make it bold.
Image best practices:
- High quality: Clear, professional-looking images
- Bold colors: Stand out in the feed
- Relevant: Image should relate to your message
- Proper sizing: Optimized for each platform
- Branded: Include subtle brand elements
- Human faces: Often increase engagement
- Avoid stock photo clichés: Use authentic imagery
Why images are essential:
- Visual content processed 60,000x faster than text
- Posts with images get 94% more views
- Images stop the scroll in ways text doesn't
- Convey emotion and message instantly
- More shareable than text-only posts
Selling: Strategic Link Placement
If you are trying to sell something via a link to a website, try and put this in the second line of text. If you lead with this, people often switch off. However, if you write too much text and then place a link at the bottom, it is unlikely to be seen at all.
Link placement strategy:
- Line 1: Hook - interesting opening that grabs attention
- Line 2: Link with brief context
- Following lines: Additional details if needed
Why this works:
- Avoids immediate sales resistance: Lead with value, not ask
- Visible before "see more": Link appears in preview text
- Natural flow: Introduces what link is before presenting it
- Balances soft and hard sell: Not pushy but not buried
Example structure:
- ❌ Wrong: "Buy our product now! [link] Here's why it's great..."
- ✅ Right: "Struggling with [problem]? [link to solution] Here's how we helped 100+ clients..."
The Bottom Line: Presence Best Practices
Key takeaways for optimal social media presence:
- Post frequency: Once per day maximum (with rare exceptions)
- Timing: When YOUR audience is active online
- Text: Short, concise, impactful
- Video: Under 60 seconds, use often
- Images: Always include, make them bold
- Links: Second line, not first or last
- Think like your audience: What would make YOU stop scrolling?
Applying These Principles
The most important lesson: your social media presence should be thoughtful and strategic. Every post should earn its place in your audience's feed.
Ask before posting:
- Would I stop scrolling for this?
- Is this the right time to post?
- Am I posting too frequently?
- Is my message clear and concise?
- Does this provide value to my audience?
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, where we'll dive deeper into creating content that truly engages your audience!
