How Often Should you publish your Own Content? – CM #4

Trying to really hit that “sweet spot” as far as the frequency of publishing your own content is concerned can be a real challenge today, industries and their followers can vary widely from each other.

Having said that – there have been many in depth studies of the same. This recent, easy to read graphic from Constant Contact is a great place to start. In a nutshell … Facebook Minimum 3 x week – Maximum 10 x per week (I would suggest 12 is not too many) Aim for quality content over quantity Twitter Minimum 5 x day – Maximum none Aim for quantity content over quality LinkedIn Minimum 2 x week – Maximum 5 x per week Aim for formal and/or technical and industry related quality content Google+ Minimum 3 x week – Maximum 10 x per week Aim for use of key words to improve Google ranking Pinterest Minimum 5 x day – Maximum 10 x per day Aim to use large, quality images

It is difficult to imagine life without social media, but it’s only around 10 years old. Social media and having the ability to instantly publish your thoughts and your opinions to the world are both relatively new phenomena, and we are still navigating the infancy stages of this amazing power. Here are some guidelines to help when it comes time to publish your own content or go about re-purposing content from others (or content that you have published in the past).

Consistency is King

Regardless of whether or not you choose to update your target market with your content on a daily, semi-daily, weekly, or monthly basis, consistency really is the name of the game when it comes time to publish your content. When you are consistent you make it attractive for your market to come back and find new and updated information that you have published. That consistency also allows them to build a relationship with you and your brand. This in turn translates to better sales, more referrals and a higher public profile for your business.

Build your library of content with the future in mind

You will definitely want to splash some “spur of the moment, heat of the battle” kinds of content into your posting frequency, but – as a general rule – you’re going to want to try and create as much evergreen content as you’re able to. Evergreen content is content that will stand the test of time, content that will be just as useful and just as relevant in 100 years as it is today, the kind of content that you can re-purpose and re-use frequently in the future to build a lot of extra value without a tremendous expenditure of effort.

Repurposing

Repurposing content is one of the most powerful ways to really streamline your success, and it’s a great way to get extra leverage and extra profit out of work that you have done in the past. Create content with the future in mind and you’ll set yourself up for success.

Run the Numbers

In order to judge your success, you will need to monitor and record your statistics on any platform you choose to publish on be it your WordPress blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. The first step is to identify the KPI or Key Performance Indicator you will use. Remember your Content Marketing goals and build your KPI’s around these. If you’re confused about where to spend the majority of your time an effort this is a fantastic infographic about the lifespan of content and how to extend it as far as possible. Here’s some more reading on setting measures of success….