ConvertKit's two timing tricks compared

ConvertKit Broadcast Scheduling Features

One approach is predictable, the other promises better opens — here’s when each actually works.

The dashboard glows in a quiet room at 9am on a Tuesday, cursor hovering over two buttons that both promise to send your broadcast, but in fundamentally different ways. One schedules your email to land at a fixed time in every inbox. The other waits, watches, and sends each copy when that specific recipient is most likely to engage. Same platform, same newsletter, two different philosophies about when your work should arrive.

ConvertKit gives you both options, and most operators pick one without understanding what they’re trading. Fixed scheduling means predictability — you know the exact minute your send will go out, your analytics start filling at the same time, and you can coordinate with product launches or time-sensitive announcements. Send-time optimization promises higher open rates by delivering when each person historically engages, but it spreads your send window across hours and surrenders control over timing.

The choice isn’t about which feature is better. It’s about which problem you’re actually trying to solve. If you’re announcing a product drop at 10am EST, send-time optimization will sabotage you by delivering half your list at 2pm. If you’re sending evergreen content to a global audience with no time hook, fixed scheduling wastes the insight that half your readers check email at 7pm and the other half at 6am.

Tomorrow’s full edition walks through the mechanics of both approaches, the hidden trade-offs, and the decision tree that tells you which one to use for each type of broadcast. You’ll see the scenarios where send-time optimization actually lifts opens, the moments when it quietly hurts revenue, and the hybrid approach some operators use to get the best of both.

Read the full edition

Tomorrow’s premium edition includes the complete breakdown of when to trust ConvertKit’s send-time optimization and when to override it with fixed scheduling.

We’ll see you in the next one,
The One Two Three Send Team

PS: The full comparison is live now at onetwothreesend.com/convertkit-broadcast-scheduling-vs-send-time-optimisation — five minutes that could change how you time every send.