Had to pick between posting at 6am vs 9pm for a week straight

I run a small Etsy shop for printable wall art and I kept seeing conflicting advice on posting times. So I tested it myself for 7 days in each slot, using my Instagram insights to track. The 6am slot got me about 40% more reach in my Atlanta timezone. Has anyone else found that their audience just shows up way earlier than the 'best times' guides say?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettyfox15d ago

Oh wow, that's interesting but it actually makes total sense to me. I think a lot of those "best times" lists are just copy-pasted from generic studies that don't account for real life. People scrolling before work are probably more focused and engaged, while evening posts get lost in the chaos of dinner and winding down. 6am might just hit that sweet spot where folks are on their phones with coffee but haven't tuned out yet.

jamie_white15d ago

One trick I picked up was scheduling posts for 6:05 instead of exactly 6am. Those extra few minutes help catch people who just sat down with their first cup. The key is consistency though, the early crowd learns to expect you.

hunt.quinn15d ago

Started testing this myself a few months back and noticed way more engagement on my 6am posts. Early morning coffee crowd definitely seems more willing to actually interact instead of just scrolling past.