OCT 12, 2011: The last thing you want to do is annoy your followers, but if you tweet, update or post too often, this is exactly what you’ll do.

We’ve all followed someone on Twitter only to be searching for the ‘unfollow’ button when it become obvious they’ve got social diahorrea, and they’re updates and coming through quicker than Casey Stoner on race day.

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Timing is very important when it comes to tweeting, posting and updating platforms like Facebook. If you get it right, your followers will love you, but get it wrong and your updates will be treated like SPAM and engagement with your brand will drop.

It might seem like common sense, but here is our quick guide:

Blog posts

Frequency: 1-2 per week

Writing a blog post takes longer than writing a tweet or a Facebook update so you will naturally not post as often, but blog posts also have a much longer life span, so be sure that each post is given enough time to be read, commented on and shared.

Facebook updates

Frequency: 1-2 per day

Facebook is still the platform people use to connect with friends and family, so a company posting a series of updates more frequently than your ‘nearest and dearest’ is not a good look. One or two quality posts a day should suffice.

If you set Facebook to automatically post your tweets then bare this in mind. This is one of the least popular features on Facebook.

Tweets

Frequency: 1-12 per day

Tweeting should be your most frequent activity. This is what the platform was built for, but be sure to space them out. One quality tweet an hour is more than enough. If you have an event on and you are providing live coverage via Twitter, for example, ensure your followers know this in advance and understand why your tweet-rate has increased.

At the end of the day, every company is different as is every user of social media, but following this simple guide should ensure that your brand steers clear of the term SPAM.