Quality or Quantity?
This is a very popular debate in the social media space.
And people on the opposing ends of this debate have brought up some very interesting points.
Those who promote quality over quantity say things like:
- Post only your best content even if you post only once per week
- One great post is better than 3 mediocre posts
- Stop posting shit content for the sake of showing up more frequently
and so on.
Now, these are all valid points but they are only one part of the equation.
Personally, I'm a big supporter of "quantity over quality" especially in the beginning.
Why?
If you're just getting started building your brand on any social media platform, you need volume i.e quantity.
This is for two main reasons:
Why quantity is essential for social media:
1. Quantity makes you better at the skill of content creation
Whether it's writing tweets on twitter or making short form video on Tiktok or for Instagam reels or designing carousel posts.
You get better by doing more reps.
The best and fastest way to learn anything is by doing a lot of it.
You'll learn more from creating a short form video everyday than from creating only one per week and watching YouTube videos on it the rest of the week.
Basically, the more you do of something, the better you get at it.
Therefore, quality is actually a result of quantity.
2. Quantity allows you to know what type of content works
When it comes to growing on social media, experimentation is key.
You have to be a scientist in a way and test each piece of content to see which does well and which doesn't.
This is why I talk about the importance of keeping an eye on your social media insights so much so you know what’s working.
You need to double down on what’s working - the successful experiments and cut out what's not working - the failed experiments.
Having more volume with your content allows you to run more experiments in a shorter time frame so you can start doubling down on what’s working faster.
For example: Let's say you post 3 times a week, that comes out to about 12 pieces of content a month i.e 12 chances to experiment.
Now imagine someone who posts 5 days a week, that comes out to 20 pieces of content a month and 20 chances to experiment.
Who do you think will have more data by the end of that month?
Who do you think will be closer to understanding what kind of content works and what kind of content their audience wants to see more of?
The answer is obvious!
Now is it possible to grow on social media without posting a lot?
Is it possible to make a lot of money without posting a lot?
Of course it is!
But if you have a solid strategy in place, posting more will get you more followers, leads and sales.
Why don't you want that?
Exceptions to the quantity over quality rule:
I was once talking to a friend also in the social media space who was always talking about "quality over quantity".
He was always saying he'd rather post 4 times a month and make those posts exceptional.
He used Mr Beast as an example saying he only posts 1 video every month or even every 2 months and his growth is more than most of us could image.
Mr Beast puts a lot of hard work and money into his videos to make them incredible and is the embodiment of “quality over quantity”!
And this is true!
But he was ignoring the fact that YouTube is a long form platform.
And long form content always has a much longer life span compared to short form, so typically the shorter the content format the more quantity is needed.
On YouTube, 3 (10 - 15 minutes) videos weekly is enough.
On Instagram, 5 to 7 (carousels or carousels + reels) weekly is enough.
BUT on Twitter, 3 to 5 tweets per day is the best for growth.
Same for TikTok as well.
Also, what my friend didn't think about Mr Beast is that he has been doing this for over a decade and has over 750 videos on his channel.
Instead of modeling what he’s doing now, you need to model what got him to where he is (you can't copy someone at level 50 when you're at level 10)
And it’s volume that got him to where he is.
Most of us don’t have this luxury because we aren’t good enough yet - and that's okay!
On Instagram, the biggest accounts in terms of growth and income that I personally look up to don’t post daily, they actually post multiple times a day (2 or 3 times)
Now they do this without sacrificing the quality of their content because they have the right systems or a team in place.
So ideally you need quantity + quality.
The harsh truth:
The fact is that most people use this “quality over quantity” as an excuse to post less and be inconsistent.
This is due to one of two reasons:
- They are perfectionists.
- They are afraid of being judged.
That’s how it was for me anyways.
I would post 1 or 2 times a week on my Instagram and say I was more focused on quality. It was B.S!
In reality, I was just always scared of what people would think of my content whenever I uploaded so I posted less to avoid dealing with that scary feeling.
Right now I post 4 times a week and the goal is to increase that.
Also, next time a creator says “quality over quantity” ask them how many times they post weekly.
Because a lot of the big creators who are part of the whole “quality over quantity” community actually still put out a lot of content.
I still saw one yesterday telling her followers to focus on quality and she's posting daily and has almost 700 pieces of content on her feed.
If they aren’t following their own advice, why should you?
Common objections:
Posting more doesn’t guarantee more growth.
Posting more doesn't guarantee more income.
This is true!
BUT the problem is not with the volume of content but the strategy behind it.
If you have the right strategy in place, posting more frequently will get you more growth, leads and sales.
Remember: If you do more, you won't get less.
The point of this newsletter isn't to convince you to double your posting frequency tomorrow and burn yourself out.
Do things that are sustainable - if you don't have a team then you probably can't post multiple times a day especially if you're on multiple platforms and run your business at the same time.
The point is to show you the value in posting more.
Because there is value in it and I'm tired of people acting like there isn't and shaming those who want to post more.
This is turning into a rant so I'll end it there!
Until you hear from me again,
Do more!
Niyo
P.S: Whenever you're ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:
1. Book a 1:1 strategy call: Struggling to get the results you want on Instagram and can't figure out why? Get personalized feedback and guidance from me on the next steps you need to take.
2. Done for you Instagram management: Let me grow your Instagram account so you reap the benefits of my rapid-social-media-growth-system without having to lift a finger yourself. This is by application only.