I spent a day last week in Montreal doing a social media workshop for BCA Research. 

CEO Eric Jaffe invited me to share insights with several dozen colleagues. The idea was to help more of them post online. 

Eric shares my view that posting on social media helps raise the visibility of the firm’s research on markets, economics and politics, and also helps each individual develop their voice.

Questions I was asked included:

What should I write about?

How often should I write? 

How long is each post?

Which platform is best? 

What time is the best?

The way to answer these is to start by realizing the goal isn’t to write on LinkedIn. 

The goal is to connect with other people. Writing is just the path to get there.

Framing it that way, helps answer many of the questions that come up.  

What should I write about? 

Write about topics that interest the people you want to reach. If you write about AI and crypto, those are the audiences you will attract. It doesn’t mean you have to post exclusively about those areas, but generally speaking you become what you write. 

How often should I write?

If you want to connect with a lot of people, write more often. I think you should post as often as you have something to say. Don’t post just for the sake of it. I suggest people who are just starting out should write once a week. Once a month is too seldom. More often than that is hard. 

How long is each post?

The optimal length is about 350 words to both convey something valuable and convey the sense that you are saying something valuable. Very short posts – like aphorisms – don’t do much to help you connect with other people. Posts shouldn’t be more than 500 words or you will lose your audience.

Which platform should I use?

You should write on the platform the people who want to reach are using. For most people in business right now that is LinkedIn, where the gated-community aspect and lack of anonymity contribute to the tone. But it could also mean cross posting on X, Blue Sky, Instagram or Reddit. 

When should I publish?

Normally, the answer would be you should post when the people you want to reach are online. If your audience is mainly in the U.S. consider 9 am to 11 am. Having said that, it feels like people are basically online all the time these days so even posting on the weekends can be fine. 

My company Principals Media helps executives leverage social media to raise their visibility and connect with stakeholders. I’ve also started to do corporate trainings. DM me if your firm might be interested in a session.