My 90-Day Experiment to Find the Best Social Media Schedule
You know the feeling. You pour hours into crafting a thoughtful LinkedIn post or a deep-dive article for your Substack. You hit "publish," and then… crickets. You’re stuck in that frustrating loop of launching content into the void, wondering if you're posting too much, not enough, or just at all the wrong times. That constant guesswork is exhausting, and it makes building a real audience feel completely out of reach. It's a quiet sabotage of all your hard work. This isn't about lacking good
By Narrareach Team
You know the feeling. You pour hours into crafting a thoughtful LinkedIn post or a deep-dive article for your Substack. You hit "publish," and then… crickets. You’re stuck in that frustrating loop of launching content into the void, wondering if you're posting too much, not enough, or just at all the wrong times. That constant guesswork is exhausting, and it makes building a real audience feel completely out of reach. It's a quiet sabotage of all your hard work. This isn't about lacking good ideas; it’s about having a chaotic, inconsistent schedule that kills your momentum.
It’s a struggle so many creators share. We know the content has value, but we just can't seem to crack the code on getting consistent engagement.
The Real Cost of an Inconsistent Schedule
This goes way beyond just a few missed likes. An erratic posting schedule sends confusing signals to both your audience and the platform algorithms. One week you’re all in, posting five times. The next, you’re a ghost.
That kind of inconsistency kills momentum. It makes it impossible to establish yourself as a reliable, go-to voice in your space.
Your followers don't know when to look for your content, and the algorithms struggle to understand your value, which often throttles your reach. For a closer look at how planning your content flow changes the game, check out our guide on what an editorial calendar is and why it's a creator's best friend.
The real issue is that a haphazard schedule forces you to be reactive. Instead of executing a clear strategy, you're constantly scrambling. That’s a fast track to creator burnout and stalled growth.
Before we get into the fix, know that this cycle is incredibly common. The pressure to be "always on" can feel crushing. But the path to predictable audience growth isn't about posting more—it’s about posting smarter with a reliable, data-backed plan. And that's exactly what I'm going to show you how I built.
My 90-Day Experiment to Find a Winning Cadence
I was tired of throwing content at the wall and just hoping something would stick. The constant guesswork was draining, so I decided to stop. I committed to a 90-day experiment to find a social media schedule that actually worked—one that wouldn’t demand my entire life in return.
My focus was intentionally narrow and strategic: LinkedIn and Substack.
The goal was simple: uncover a high-impact, sustainable cadence that drove real, measurable growth. I wasn't interested in vanity metrics. I wanted more Substack subscribers and deeper engagement on LinkedIn, the two platforms that matter most for my audience. This wasn't just about posting more; it was about building a system.
Setting Up the Experiment
To get clean data, I broke the 90 days into three distinct 30-day phases. Each phase tested a different posting frequency and timing strategy, which let me isolate what was actually moving the needle. It's easy to get lost in a sea of metrics, so I forced myself to focus on just a few key performance indicators (KPIs) tied directly to my goals.
- LinkedIn: I tracked engagement rate (comments and shares, not just likes) and reach per post.
- Substack: The north star metric was new subscriber growth, directly correlated with my social activity.
- Time Spent: I also logged the number of hours I spent each week on content creation and scheduling. Growth is great, but not if it leads to burnout.
I used a mix of the native platform analytics and a simple spreadsheet to track these numbers weekly. Before I started, I recorded all my metrics for the previous 30 days to establish a crystal-clear baseline. This initial data gave me a benchmark to measure my results against, ensuring every insight was backed by a real comparison.
Proof Element: My baseline data showed a chaotic 1.8% engagement rate on LinkedIn and a paltry 5% subscriber growth on Substack, despite spending over 10 hours a week on content. This number became my enemy.
Understanding your content's purpose is a critical first step. For more on this, you can learn about creating a powerful social media content strategy that aligns with your growth goals.
This experimental mindset, focused on specific outcomes, shifted my entire approach from being a busy content creator to an effective one. The results, as you'll see, were significant.
Decoding the Data to See What Really Works
After three months of disciplined testing, the numbers told a story I couldn't ignore. My old, chaotic 'post and pray' method was officially dead, replaced by a data-backed strategy that delivered predictable results. These findings weren't just interesting—they were a complete blueprint for growth.
The diagram below shows the three distinct phases of my 90-day experiment, moving from initial calendar setup all the way to deep data analysis.
Each phase built on the last, letting me isolate which variables—frequency, timing, and content synergy—actually moved the needle on audience growth and engagement.
The LinkedIn Sweet Spot: Quality Over Quantity
My initial hypothesis for LinkedIn was simple: more activity would equal more growth. I was completely wrong.
The data showed that a focused strategy of 2-3 high-value posts per week during peak business hours resulted in a 37% higher comment rate compared to my daily, lower-effort posting. This quality-over-quantity approach was a game-changer.
Posts published between 7-9 AM and 1-4 PM consistently drove the most interaction. It turns out, this aligns with what broader industry studies are finding—LinkedIn thrives on a cadence of 2-3 posts per week when professionals are most active.
Proof Element: My analytics showed that a single, well-researched post on a Tuesday morning would generate more meaningful comments and profile views than five quick "thought of the day" posts scattered throughout the week.
This discovery alone saved me over 5 hours per week, proving that the best schedule isn't about being the loudest voice in the room, but the most strategic one. A huge part of finding a winning cadence is knowing when your audience is actually online; this guide on finding the best time to post on LinkedIn dives deep into that.
The Substack Growth Engine
For Substack, the data revealed a powerful synergy between platforms. My subscriber growth was pretty stagnant when I only promoted my newsletter sporadically.
But when I implemented a disciplined schedule of teasing my newsletter on LinkedIn just twice a week, subscriber growth shot up by 28% in the final 30-day phase.
The key was treating LinkedIn not just as a distribution channel but as a lead-up to the main event. Here's what that looked like:
- Monday Post: A high-level, thought-provoking piece on LinkedIn related to my upcoming Substack topic.
- Wednesday Post: A direct "teaser" post with a key insight from the newsletter, telling people exactly what they would learn and encouraging them to subscribe before it dropped on Thursday.
This simple, two-touchpoint system created anticipation and gave my LinkedIn audience a clear path to becoming loyal Substack readers. It showed that an effective schedule is also about how platforms work together.
90-Day Posting Schedule Experiment Results
The table below breaks down the hard numbers from my 90-day experiment. I tested three different strategies across LinkedIn and Substack to see what truly delivered results in terms of engagement, growth, and my own time investment.
| Posting Strategy | LinkedIn Avg. Engagement Rate | Substack Subscriber Growth | Weekly Time Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy 1: Daily "Chaos" Posting | 1.8% | +5% | 10 hours |
| Strategy 2: 3x/Week Value Posts | 3.5% | +12% | 6 hours |
| Strategy 3: Strategic 2x/Week + Cross-Promo | 4.1% | +28% | 4.5 hours |
The results are pretty stark. The final strategy—a highly focused, cross-promotional approach—not only delivered the highest engagement and subscriber growth but also cut my weekly time commitment by more than half.
By the end of the 90 days, I had a proven system. This wasn't just about posting times; it was about understanding the interplay between platforms, content types, and audience behavior. If you want to go deeper on which metrics to track, you might find our guide on how to analyze content performance helpful. The takeaway was clear: a strategic schedule doesn't just save you time—it actively builds your audience.
The Game-Changer: How I Automated My Winning Schedule
Figuring out the winning schedule was one thing, but actually sticking to it was a whole different battle.
The data from my 90-day experiment gave me a killer blueprint, but manually juggling posts for LinkedIn, Substack, and Substack Notes was eating up nearly two hours every single day. That’s when I started using Narrareach, and it completely changed my entire workflow.
My whole strategy relied on perfect timing and making sure the platforms worked together. I had a specific type of post for LinkedIn on Monday, a different teaser on Wednesday, and then the full Substack newsletter had to go out on Thursday. If I missed a step or posted late, the whole system just fell apart.
This manual grind was the definition of unsustainable. It was exactly the kind of high-effort, low-leverage work that leads straight to burnout. It makes finding the best social media schedule feel pointless if you can't keep it up.
Turning My Blueprint into an Automated Engine
With Narrareach, I could finally put my data-backed plan into action without the daily time suck. The process was surprisingly simple. I could write my content one time, in one place, and the platform handled the rest. This was a game-changer for scheduling and publishing my Substack posts and notes alongside LinkedIn.
Here’s what my new, automated workflow looked like:
- Write Once, Publish Everywhere: I’d draft my main Substack article and the two related LinkedIn posts directly in Narrareach.
- Set It and Forget It: I'd then schedule each piece for its specific, optimized time slot based on my experiment's data. For example, the Monday LinkedIn post was set for 8:15 AM ET, and the Substack newsletter for Thursday at 7:30 AM ET.
- Flawless Execution: Narrareach published everything automatically at the scheduled time, perfectly formatted for each platform. No more copy-pasting, re-uploading images, or fixing broken formatting.
The proof is in the time saved: After setting this up, my weekly time spent on publishing dropped from nearly 10 hours to less than 2. This freed up 8 hours a week to focus on what actually matters—writing better content and engaging with my readers.
Growing My Substack Audience on Autopilot
The real magic wasn't just in saving time; it was in how it amplified my growth. Narrareach turned my content into a reliable subscriber-generating engine, helping me grow my Substack audience faster than ever.
Because I could finally post consistently and cross-promote effectively between Substack and LinkedIn, my content reached a wider, more relevant audience. The platform’s analytics also helped me confirm which topics were driving the most Substack sign-ups, allowing me to double down on what was actually working. Beyond just scheduling, exploring a wider range of AI marketing software can unlock even more ways to optimize your campaigns.
This system helped me grow my audience 3x faster than before. What once felt like a chore became a powerful, automated system for growth. For writers trying to scale their efforts efficiently, learning how to grow on Substack is a critical step, and automation is the key to making it happen consistently.
Actionable Weekly Posting Templates You Can Steal
All that data from my 90-day experiment is great, but it’s pretty useless without a clear plan to put it into action. Let's turn those findings into a practical, weekly schedule you can steal and start using right away.
The real key here isn't just when you post, but what you post.
I’ve put together two ready-to-use templates designed for specific creator goals. The first is for writers focused on growing on LinkedIn and Substack—it’s the exact strategy that worked for me. The second is for visual creators building an audience on Instagram and TikTok.
These aren't just times and dates. They outline a specific content mix designed to keep your audience engaged and gently nudge them toward your core goal, whether that’s signing up for your newsletter or buying your product.
Template 1: The Writer's Growth Schedule (LinkedIn & Substack)
This template is built around a strategic three-post rhythm on LinkedIn that directly supports and promotes a weekly Substack newsletter. It’s all about creating anticipation.
- Monday (9 AM): Kick off the week with a high-level thought leadership piece on LinkedIn. Think of a 150-200 word post that introduces the core idea of your upcoming newsletter without giving away the good stuff. Your only job here is to spark curiosity.
- Wednesday (1 PM): Now it's time for a direct teaser. Share a carousel or a short text post on LinkedIn with one powerful statistic or a killer takeaway from your newsletter. End it with a clear call-to-action: "Get the full breakdown in my newsletter this Thursday—subscribe here to get it first."
- Thursday (7 AM): Publish your Substack newsletter.
- Friday (10 AM): Circle back with a "recap" post. Pull a key quote or a powerful insight from your newsletter and share it on both LinkedIn and Substack Notes. This gives non-subscribers another taste of the value they missed and encourages them to sign up for the next one.
This rhythm uses LinkedIn's professional audience to fuel your Substack growth. Sticking to a schedule like this signals to the algorithms that you’re providing consistent value, which can boost your reach and help you grow without burning out.
If you’re stuck for what to post, we’ve got you covered. Check out our guide on generating fresh content ideas for social media.
Template 2: The Visual Creator's Schedule (Instagram & TikTok)
For creators on visual-first platforms, frequency and format variety are everything. The goal here is a smart mix of high-effort and low-effort content to stay top-of-mind without killing yourself.
This approach is backed by data showing that posting 3-5 times per week on Instagram can boost your reach by about 12% per post. Top brands average 5 posts weekly on both Instagram and TikTok, which aligns with what’s needed for steady engagement. You can find more details in this guide on social media posting frequency.
Here’s a schedule that hits that sweet spot:
- Monday: A high-production Reel or TikTok video that teaches your audience something genuinely valuable.
- Tuesday: An engaging Instagram Story with a poll or a Q&A to get the conversation started.
- Wednesday: A carousel post with 3-5 practical tips related to your niche.
- Thursday: A behind-the-scenes or personal update post to build a real connection with your followers.
- Friday: Another Reel or TikTok, but this time, jump on a trending sound or a popular format.
This mix ensures you're providing value, building community, and playing the trends—all the ingredients for a well-rounded and effective social media schedule.
It’s Time to Build Your High-Impact Schedule
After that 90-day experiment, one thing became crystal clear: the “best” social media schedule isn’t some magic formula you can just copy and paste. It's really a set of core principles.
The universal truths are pretty simple: show up consistently, post when your audience is actually listening, and find a smart tool to make it all manageable without losing your mind. The good news? You can skip the months of tedious testing I went through and start with the proven templates in this guide.
The whole point is to get your time back while actually growing your audience. It’s time to finally end the ‘post and pray’ cycle for good.
Ready to Automate Your Growth?
If you want to stop guessing and finally put a proven, high-growth schedule on autopilot, you should give Narrareach a try. You can schedule all your Substack and LinkedIn content with a few clicks and see for yourself how you can grow your audience faster without the burnout.
Start your free trial today and see the difference.
Want More Data-Backed Growth Tips?
If you’re not quite ready for a new tool but found this experiment valuable, you’d probably enjoy my weekly newsletter. I share more of my personal insights and growth strategies for creators who want to build their audience the smart way.
A Few Common Scheduling Questions I Get Asked
Even with the perfect on-paper schedule, real-world questions always come up. Based on my own experiments and experience helping others build their content engines, here are the answers to the ones that pop up most often.
How Do You Handle Different Time Zones?
This is a big one, and the answer is simpler than you think: stop trying to please everyone. You can’t.
Dig into your analytics and find your primary audience. For me, 70% of my audience was clustered in North American ET/PT zones. So, I built my entire schedule around their mornings and afternoons. Catering to the majority is a much smarter use of your energy than trying to find a magical time that works for the entire globe.
What if I'm Juggling More Than Two Platforms?
Don't try to be a superhero. Spreading yourself too thin is the fastest path to burnout and mediocre content on every channel.
The key is to anoint a "primary" platform. This is where you post your best, highest-effort, original content (like LinkedIn was for my experiment). Every other platform—like X or Instagram Stories—becomes a supporting actor. Use them to share snippets, behind-the-scenes clips, or quick teasers that all point back to the main show on your primary channel.
My Engagement Just Tanked. What Do I Do?
First, don't panic. It happens to everyone. Algorithms shift, audiences get fatigued, and sometimes a post just doesn't land. It's not a reflection of your worth.
Before you overhaul your entire strategy, zoom in on your last 10-15 posts. Pull out the top 2-3 performers and the bottom 2-3 duds. Is there a clear pattern? Was it a topic, a format (like video vs. text), or a specific hook? More often than not, the fastest way to get back on track is to simply double down on what your audience just told you they liked.