One of the main concerns regarding one’s own brand or site is how to find the optimal length for a post, article or whatever content you want to put on social networks.

Far too many people ignore the actual importance of this parameter. For instance, I’ve actually seen people trying to explain, in a single post on twitter, why a certain movie should have won the Academy Prize instead of another one… in 140 characters. How in the world could you possibly imagine to do such a thing? It’s completely pointless, and also a little pretentious. That’s because twitter was never meant to be a review network. Twitter is aimed at a particular type of user, the one interested in quick little updates and fast opinions, the one that likes to see what his friends or favourite celebrities are doing. You may want to use Youtube or a blog for in-depth reviews.

A good start would be checking out social medias of famous brands or people.

Obviously not all social media posts are the same and the recommended number could vary depending on the topic or format.

Here’s an infographic made by SumAll in collaboration with Buffer and based on multiple sources:

Take these numbers as a starting point, try for yourself until you find the best average length for your content, compare the results from one month to another. Also, consider what type of audience your’re looking at: popular or niche? A niche product will probably keep an high interest rating even if it’s too long/short because it was meant for those exact people.

Just remember: don’t expect immediate huge numbers, especially if you have just started, but keep improving and tweaking where is needed.

Data source:

• Track Social (For Tweeter)
• BlitzLocal (Facebook)
• Copyblogger (Google+)
• Mary C. Dyson, University of Reading (Paragraphs)