10 Oct How Often Should Executives Post on Social Media?

We often discuss the importance of thought leadership and why strategically positioning your CEO and other executives on social media can benefit your business in a number of ways, such as by building increased brand awareness and credibility.

After choosing the right executive to build a social media presence for, and determining how many and which platforms to use, the next question is how often should your executive post on social media.

As is often the case, it all comes down to what your primary objective is for your executive social media program. In this article, we explore three different social media posting frequencies — low, medium, and high — and share our insights into the benefits and potential challenges of each one.

Low-Frequency Posting (1-2 times per month)

Starting with the lowest posting cadence are executives who post around 1 or 2 times a month. Executives who post infrequently often stick to sharing only the most critical company or personal announcements.

Because of this, their content mix is narrower compared to other executives who may share a variety of content, including company updates, culture-related posts, personal posts, commentary on third-party articles, and so on.

Benefits of low-frequency posting:

• This cadence benefits executives who manage their own social media presence and may not have a lot of time to research, create, and share content (i.e. if they don’t have an in-house marketing team who can provide support).
• For marketers launching an executive social media program for several executives, starting with a limited number of posts can make things more manageable.
• For executives who want to work with executive social media experts and are just starting out on social media, a lean program can provide a strong foundation — with the potential to ramp up to a higher frequency of posting in the future.

Challenges of low-frequency posting: 

• Focusing only on branded content can make the executive’s online presence feel more like a company mouthpiece, rather than an authentic individual.
• With fewer posts, social media followers may feel more disengaged or forget about the executive entirely.
• Infrequent activity often results in reduced visibility in social media algorithms, meaning fewer impressions and opportunities for brand awareness.
• Executives who post infrequently may also miss out on opportunities to comment on timely trends and industry developments in real time, which can limit their perceived credibility and relevance.
• Reaching certain social media or business objectives can be much harder when only posting a few times a month.

Medium-Frequency Posting (1-2 times per week)

Somewhere in the middle are the executives who see the value of positioning themselves on social media, but often find it challenging to be too active online due to other work-related commitments.

These executives typically share company updates and industry insights, and occasionally reshare content as well. This is a popular approach for those who want to stay engaged on social media without needing to dedicate too much time to it.

Benefits of medium-frequency posting:

• Sharing at least one post per week results in a much more consistent social media presence, ensuring the executive stays top-of-mind with their audience and stakeholders.
• More frequent activity means more opportunities to foster deeper relationships with followers through regular interactions.
• A couple of posts per week will involve a more balanced time commitment, which is ideal for busy executives.

Challenges of medium-frequency posting: 

• Compared to a lower posting cadence, sharing 1-2 pieces of content per week does require more effort. Executives without a dedicated in-house marketer or external executive social media agency to support them may find themselves falling behind with the amount of strategy, planning, and management required.
• With more posts per week, more attention is required to reduce potential redundancy. Posts can become repetitive or lose impact if they lack originality.

High-Frequency Posting (3-5 times per week)

Last but not least are the executives who live and breathe social media. Posting 3-5 times a week, these high-frequency posters are the most engaged executives on social media. These leaders actively share a wide range of content.

With more posts per week, executives will need a more comprehensive strategy that involves different content buckets and custom graphics and videos.

Benefits of high-frequency posting:

• These executives have maximized their visibility, leading to greater reach and engagement.
• High-frequency posting allows executives to position themselves as go-to voices in their industry, building their reputation as thought leaders.
• Being highly active means executives can quickly comment on breaking news, trends, and industry developments, which helps to showcase their expertise and relevance.

Challenges of high-frequency posting: 

• As expected, when more posts are shared per week, the time needed to work on a social media content calendar also increases. Executives managing their own online presence may struggle.
• Executives must be highly strategic about the content they’re sharing on social media to avoid the risk of sounding too generic or repetitive.

Finding the Right Fit for Your Executive Social Media Strategy

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to executive social media. In fact, we’ve worked with different executives within the same company who had drastically different strategies when it came to their posting cadence, business objectives, and even content topics.

The right posting frequency depends on a variety of factors, including…

• Goals: What business objectives does the executive want to reach? If it’s to amplify business-related content, then a lower-frequency social media program could be enough. If they want to increase brand awareness and position themselves as a thought leader, a moderate or high-posting frequency is more suitable.

• Resources: Because executive social media has become an important part of a company’s digital marketing program, getting support from an internal marketing team is one way to get started. External executive social media marketing agencies, such as Influential Executive, are also a valuable resource. These agencies not only specialize in social media content for executives, but their experience often provides a significant head start.
• Comfort level: Ultimately, executives must feel comfortable with being strategically positioned on social media (check out our article, 5 Reasons Why CEOs Don’t Want To Be On Social Media, for more insights). After all, it’s their face attached to the posts that they, or their marketing team or partner agency, are writing. For executives who are just starting out on social media, it may make sense to start small and then scale the program up in the future.

Speak with an executive social media expert!