How long should a social media post be in 2023? The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Post Lengths: Because Size Does Matter!
Ever found yourself in the vast ocean of social media, wondering just how long your post should be to reel in those likes and shares? Fear not, for we’ve dived deep into the data to bring you the treasure map to crafting the perfect post. We’ll focus on three social media platforms that allow for extended lengths (sorry Twitter/X) and show some insight into exactly how long should a social media post be?
Facebook: Short, Sweet, and Oh-So-Neat!
Facebook might let you pen a novel with its 63,206-character limit, but guess what? Shorter is snazzier! BuzzSumo crunched the numbers and found that posts around the 50-character mark are the real MVPs. Think of it as the digital equivalent of a firm handshake or a snappy high-five. Quick, impactful, and leaves them wanting more! Mix up the media between gifs, videos, and images when posting to really cater to all styles of audience. And don’t always keep it serious. Facebook is a place where you’re going to have conversations with customers, and connect with them on a level they can get into.
Homework: What’s a funny meme that made you smile or laugh recently? Can it be incorporated into the concept of your business? We’ve used a quick sample on the right which fits in with our niche of brand and print design and our absolute obsession with fonts.
Instagram: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, But Your Caption Isn’t!
Instagram is the glitzy runway of the social media world, where your visuals do the catwalk. While you’ve got a generous 2,200 characters for your captions, Quintly’s data suggests that less is more, with 1-50 characters being the sweet spot. So, let your photos strut their stuff, and keep the commentary snappy!
Instagram puts a lot of emphasis on reels, so while you should always continue to do a mix of media (sorry, Instagram hates gifs so those are out), definitely use inspiration from trending reel ideas to use for your business. Instagram focuses a lot on creativity, so style and visuals are winners.
Homework: Let’s do something fun and download the free app “Capcut” and utilize it to create a funny reel that relates to our business with one of the trending templates (you probably recognize some of them!). You can use this one with a simple reel we just created.
LinkedIn: The Goldilocks Zone of Posting
LinkedIn is like the sophisticated soirée of the social media world. You want to sound smart but not stuffy, informative but not overwhelming. With a 1,300 character buffet, the key is portion control. Serve up insights that are just right – not too long, not too short, but juuust right.
What I like about LinkedIn is that you can do multiple styles of posts. Examples:
- You can do a regular post like you do across most social media which let you engage with your network and gets really good organic reach when they engage with it
- You can upload an educational PDF that will then be made into a carousel (you can also do this with images)
- You can write an actual article as you or as your business (up to 125k characters), which if popular LinkedIn will push to a good chunk of their network as a highlighted article
- You can even start a newsletter that is sent to your LinkedIn followers via email
- You can run a poll
The flexibility and organic reach of LinkedIn far surpass all other social networks (except maybe threads for a time), so any business that isn’t posted on LinkedIn honestly baffles me.
Homework: Make one of each type of LinkedIn post this week. Make a post, write an article, send out a newsletter, and upload an educational PDF about your industry.
Bonus Homework: For the remainder of the year, invite your followers to follow your business PAGE (not your profile). You can invite up to 200 in most cases per month and really grow your business following there.
But this is a lot of work posting everywhere!
It is, and when people ask me what social network they should be on, I usually tell them two things.
- The one your audience is on
- Or just use a tool and post to them all easily
Personally, I just switched to Metricool from Socialpilot this week to manage not only my own social media accounts (both personal and business) but also those of my clients. It lets me tweak them per social network (twitter text limitations, anyone?) and also keep all their inbox/comments in one place to monitor, download analytical reports, maintain a content calendar, and even do repeating posts when needed.
Metricool has a free version that lets you monitor all of your brands social media (excluding LinkedIn). If you do eventually go with the pro version, you can add multiple brands (and LinkedIn), but it’s not necessary. You can even add your personal accounts as a secondary brand with an upgraded account so you can post to multiple platforms at once for personal stuff as well.
Check out Metricool today for free (for life) with their free account. If you struggle figuring out the system, shoot me an email and I’m happy to help out 🙂
Wrapping It Up: One Size Doesn’t Fit All!
In the grand ballroom of social media and how long should a social media post be, each platform has its own dance. Facebook favors the quickstep, Instagram the tango, and LinkedIn the waltz. While character limits set the stage, it’s your content’s flair and finesse that truly dazzle the audience. The ideal length for Meta appears to be about 50 characters, but by no means don’t let people bully you into not posting what you please. The amount of marketing advice I see from non-marketers based on preference is amusing. If you have something educational and long that you want to throw out there, just do it. Enjoy the experience of social media, it’s meant to be a conversation and relationship-building tool anyway.
Oh and if you do start making videos, 30-60 seconds is the sweet spot there, as well. And never waste the first few seconds introducing yourself. Try and hook them within the first 3 seconds or you’ll likely miss the mark.
So, next time you’re pondering over that post, remember: it’s not just about the size, but how you use it! Craft with care, sprinkle in some wit, and watch your engagement soar.
