2018 is over, so you can leave all of your preconceived notions about posting frequency behind. Instead, focus on quality over quantity. You could post 100 times a day, but if what you’re posting doesn’t resonate with your audience and they’re not engaging with your content, your posts will disappear into a dark hole of rejected social media efforts.

Social media algorithms favorably rank content by different standards, as seen below:

  • Facebook ranks meaningful interactions highest.
  • Instagram’s algorithm orders content by popularity, relevancy and a user’s relationship with the account that posted it.
  • Tweets are sorted by time posted and relevance to the user.
  • LinkedIn content is ranked by engagement and the degree to which you are connected with someone on LinkedIn or have mutual connections.
  • Pinterest places content based on previous user interactions.

Social media is about knowing your audience, tailoring your content to their needs and getting them to engage with your brand. It takes time, but it’s worth it.

What to know about platforms and posting schedules

Monitor the digital conversations in your industry’s space to see what people are talking about. They will point you in the right direction to create content that people actually want to read about. Use tools like SEMRush to discover the keywords that people are searching for, what competitors you are up against and more.

Keep your social presence consistent

You don’t want to be in everybody’s faces every second of the day. You don’t want to be a ghost, either.

There’s nothing worse than going to a social media page and seeing that a brand’s most recent post is from 2010. It’s important to stay on top of posting because having an outdated profile will make people question your credibility.

On top of that, try to keep a consistent posting schedule. Whether you post once a day on a platform or three, keep your posting schedule consistent so that people can rely on your content. If you can’t keep up the pace, try using a scheduling tool like TweetDeck so you can schedule in bulk and you won’t fall behind.

Tailor your social platforms to your exact industry needs

Don’t pay attention to every single social media platform out there. Find one platform where your audience is and build from there.

You can do that by searching for other brands in your space. If you’re seeing brands in your industry that are highly active on a particular platform and are getting a lot of engagement, you know you’ve come to the right place.

You’ll also want to take into consideration what each platform was intended for.

Facebook was meant to connect friends and family, while LinkedIn is intended to make business connections.

If your goal is to reach business professionals, you’ll know which platform to use. If you have incredible photography to share with people, regardless of the industry that you’re in, Instagram is a tool that you’ll want to take advantage of. Don’t waste your time by focusing your efforts on channels that won’t help your brand.

Data is your friend, your very best friend

Data can be overwhelming. It can reveal ugly truths about performance. It can throw you a curve.

It can also be the key to your success.

Here’s a collective list of important insights that social platforms provide:

  • Impressions (the number of times your content was displayed on a screen).
  • Reach (total number of people who have seen your content).
  • Post likes or favorites (positive reactions to your content).
  • Comments (users commenting and conversing on your post).
  • Clicks (post or link clicks).
  • Mentions (someone interacting with you or your brand).
  • Reposts or retweets (sharing of your content).
  • Page likes and unlikes (# of people following your page, Facebook).
  • New followers (similar, but for Twitter).
  • Website visits (number of sessions on your website from a referral source).
  • Page views (the number of pages a user is viewing on your website).
  • Website session durations (how long someone’s on your website).
  • Bounce rate (the percentage of users that navigate away from your website after viewing only one page).

Disclaimer: Depending on your industry, not every metric is going to be incredibly important to you. However, every metric listed above can serve a purpose to improve your social performance.

In some cases, it’ll tell you what you’re doing wrong. For example, if you have a high amount of page unlikes on a certain day, you know you need to evaluate what you posted on that day that didn’t sit well with your audience.

Or maybe you posted something that you thought would perform really well, but metrics are showing lower reach and engagement than you anticipated. That could be attributed to something as simple as the day and time of the week wasn’t optimal. These numbers may seem daunting, but in the end, they’ll help you figure out what’s working well and what isn’t.

Get with the times

Every day, there’s a new social trend to hop on. Whether your staff can share some insightful #MondayMotivation with the world or you can somehow tie your brand into the Bird Box Challenge, it’s important to be mindful of relevant social events and capitalize on them.

I know you know what The Bachelor is, so don’t be afraid to use it to reach new leads for your flower business. Reach out to Ellen Degeneres. Take a chance. The sheer accessibility of social media allows us to be part of highly searched conversations and make our presence known. And that is powerful stuff.

Just remember that what works for one brand isn’t necessarily going to work for your brand. You don’t want to go down in history as the marketer who failed. It may take a few tries, but your social metrics will be a clear indicator of your success. Instead of worrying about how often to post, focus on creating a strategy that works for your business and reaches your target audience. And if it doesn’t, adjust and try again.

Rachel Moskowitz is a senior social media & promotions strategist living in Boston. You can find her relaxing at the beach with sangria in hand, having a Harry Potter movie marathon, or watching performances at her local theater. Keep up with her marketing insights and Bachelor live-tweeting @RachMoskowitz!