Hi my lovely people, it’s Natalia and welcome back to my channel where I share super-actionable
ideas on content creation for entrepreneurs and creatives!
In today’s video, I’m going to talk about some downsides to posting every single day
on Instagram and why it’s not always the best option to choose.
Let me start with some short storytime.
Not too long ago, I got a DM on Instagram from Jay who was struggling with creating
content and didn’t know what to post.
We had a good chat about how he’s juggling uni work with setting up his business and
how creating even one post takes a long time for him.
I said “alright, you need to decide how often you want to post first”, to which
he said “7 days per week”.
Despite not being able to consistently post 3 times per week due to all the duties he
has, Jay wouldn’t budge on this daily posting idea and when I asked why, he said “if I
want to grow on Instagram, I have to post every day”.
Why am I telling you this?
Because this is a complete myth!
Even though there are plenty of people talking about not having to post every day on Instagram
to get traction, this idea is still going strong for some reason and I know so many
other stories like Jay’s!
Although posting every day on Instagram can be brilliant for growth, there are quite a
few things you should consider before committing to a schedule like this and I’m here to
give you some broader perspective.
Let’s jump right on in!
1.
The Algorithm
The very first thing we need to consider and probably the most crucial one here is the
Instagram algorithm (or as it should correctly be looked at - algorithms).
Instagram is the platform where the majority of content has a short life span probably
with the exception of Reels.
Statistics show that on average your post is going to get most of the activity within
the first 48 hours.
This activity is of course the reach, likes, comments, shares etc.
One of the most important reasons why that is is because the algorithms are favoring
new content.
Any time you post, the algorithm prioritizes this freshly published post and puts less
emphasis on the previous ones, meaning they are most likely to lose a chunk of the traction
they had.
Of course, there are exceptions to this.
As mentioned a moment ago, Reels are the most popular format on Instagram right now and
they tend to last much longer with an average of two weeks.
I know two of my most popular Reels have been getting activity on them for a month or so
so it’s definitely a format that has a longer lifespan.
On the other hand, we have stories that are up for 24 hours and obviously, that’s their
limit.
The only way to extend their lifespan a bit is by saving them to highlights but that is
a different story altogether, pun not intended.
If you post daily, every previous post can potentially have slightly less reach and it’s
often better to give it a day more to breathe and flourish.
Of course, as I always say, there’s no one size fits all when it comes to social media
and it’s best to test it out on your own profile and see what the tendencies are for
you specifically.
2.
The Quality
When you’re posting every single day, it’s easy to lose sight of the quality because
you’re churning out so much content on a weekly basis.
There’s always been a debate on quantity vs quality and I tend to lean towards the
idea that prioritizing a schedule over the quality of the posts itself is not a good
strategy in the long run.
While I agree that when you’re a complete beginner, producing a lot of content and not
caring about the quality too much is going to be more important, there comes a point
when you need to start improving and putting more thought into your content.
This is usually where you have already developed a habit of creating content, gained momentum
in terms of how fast you’re able to produce, and have a better grasp on who your audience
is.
In my opinion, that’s the perfect time to really hone in on your strategy and start
prioritizing quality.
I honestly think that posting two or three pieces of quality content is better than seven
passable ones that don’t serve your audience that well.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be times when you’re pressed for time or simply feel
stuck, and not every single post you produce needs to perform well.
But if you keep producing loads of average posts that don’t stand out for the sake
of posting daily, then ultimately, your online presence will suffer.
3.
The Engagement
This is where I believe my previous point about quality plays a big role.
Unless you can maintain a good level of quality with your posts, you may experience a drop
in engagement if you post every day.
I think it’s quite apparent that engagement is lower with less quality not only on Instagram
but on other platforms too.
Besides, the frequency with which followers stumble upon you on their feed is quite important
too.
When people see what they think is too much of you in the form of content, only your MVPs
are likely to engage with every single one of your posts.
We definitely don’t want to reach the point where our audience is fatigued.
Of course, how much is too much heavily depends on who your audience is and how they like
to consume content so it’s definitely worthwhile to experiment with different posting schedules
while maintaining the quality to figure out what’s best for you.
According to Social Media Today’s report from 2018, when asked what causes users to
STOP following brands on Instagram, 25% of people said 'Posting too much' makes them
unfollow a brand, but what came much higher is product relevance (44.5%) and brand interest
(42%).
This is exactly why I said keeping quality content on your Instagram is so important!
If you can maintain really good messaging that’s relevant to your audience and post
7 times per week, then that’s inevitably going to be great for you.
If not, then there’s no point in trying to keep yourself to this arbitrary standard!
4.
The Sustainability
As a solopreneur, I know exactly how much time it takes to stay on top of every aspect
of a business.
Even with a small team, there may not be enough time and resources to have a daily posting
schedule on top of your duties.
I know it’s so easy to fall for the “you have to post daily to grow” myth because
it is absolutely true that the frequency of your posts is directly related to how fast
your following can increase.
But I’m here to tell you there absolutely IS a middle ground!
Just because you’re not going to grow at high speed doesn’t mean you’re not moving
forward and building a community steadily.
First of all, a lot of people who post daily or even a few times per day, or on multiple
platforms usually work with small teams or virtual assistants to support their business.
It’s easy to judge yourself against someone else’s standard but often your reality is
completely different from theirs.
There’s this great quote that I really like and I think it’s very fitting here.
> **"Don't compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 20"**
>
I honestly don’t know who said it, a quick Google search was not helpful in this case
but the point is, you may be looking at people who are very much ahead in their social media
journey and thinking you’re not doing the same.
The truth is, you need to give yourself permission to learn, practice, and build habits and it’s
so important to keep producing content consistently, whether it means a post per week or 3 per
week for you.
Ultimately, who you should compare yourself to is not the big creators or very successful
business owners, but to who you were just a few months before.
There’s another thing I want to point out here.
If it’s so hard to post every day that you end up posting daily for a week and then the
following weeks you scramble to come up with even one or two posts then that is not a sustainable
schedule for you.
It’s so much better to post twice per week for a whole month consistently than to shoot
for the stars in week one and then lose traction in week 2.
Worse yet, if you’re sacrificing other parts of your business that could move the needle
for you quicker, then that’s definitely NOT GOOD and again, not sustainable for your
business.
Whether it’s improving your sales process or working on a new income stream, it doesn’t
matter, but if your social media posting is taking up space for what’s really developing
your business, then it’s definitely NOT a good idea to post every day.
5.
The Burnout
Staying in the same lane, there’s another very important thing to consider.
When you’re posting every single day, it’s much quicker to burn out as a content creator.
If you’re posting like this just for the sake of posting daily, this can quickly turn
into a sad, exhausting routine rather than serving your audience with a purpose.
Just like with the example I gave a moment ago where you post every single day for a
week and then resort to choppy posting or no posting at all because you can’t keep
up, if you do this often enough, you’ll lose the joy of creating.
From there, it’s a downward slope towards real burnout.
I’ll tell you something from my personal experience as a content creator here on YouTube.
For the first year of being here on the platform, I had a full-time job which meant I needed
to produce all my content after hours.
I had very limited time for developing my business, very limited time to produce quality
content, and very limited time for myself too.
When I got to the point of quitting and my business was really doing great, I finally
had all that time on my hands, right?
Well, wrong.
I’ve been working so hard during the day and after-hours that I was so burned out,
I felt empty.
The creativity was gone, the purpose was far away and I couldn’t focus.
It took me some time to get back to normal and feel refreshed and ready to roll.
Why am I telling you this?
Because content burnout is a real thing that so many creators experience.
Tying yourself to some arbitrary posting schedule because “everyone else seems to be doing
it” is a sure way to get to the point where you can’t even look at Instagram.
And that’s ultimately going to hurt you personally and your business.
Now, with all that being said, posting every single day can be very good for you, too!
With each post you produce, you get better at content creation.
This happens because you get more practical experience and more data which helps you improve
your content quicker.
If all the important components are in place, doing this can definitely help you grow faster.
But you can’t forget that what’s more important than posting every day is a good
strategy, knowing your audience, keeping posts high quality and relevant, and knowing it’s
sustainable for your business too.
So when you have a team, you enjoy creating content, it comes easy to you, you produce
it quickly without sacrificing other crucial aspects of your business, and if you can keep
the momentum and keep the quality then that’s absolutely brilliant and by all means, post
on IG every day.
If that’s not the case, know that posting less is still going to bring you growth.
Now it’s time for you!
Drop me a number in the comments to tell me how often you post per week or how often you
aim to post!
Have you tested different schedules on your Instagram?
Let me know what works best for you in the comment so that we can get some insights as
a community!
If you want to stay consistent on social media, whether you’re posting once per week or
every day, you definitely need an efficient content calendar that’s going to elevate
your content creation game.
I’m showing how to create and use one in this video here!
And if you want to build a strong content strategy, then I’m confident this video
is going to help you do it so watch it next.
Thank you so much for being here and I hope you had a wonderful day!
Stay inspired and I’ll see you next time.