Challenge
At the beginning, I made a classic product mistake: I assumed that a good product solving a real problem would be enough.
What I learned over time:
- Distribution is not optional
- Great products without an audience struggle to exist
- Algorithms decide who sees your work, unless you design around them
Specific challenges:
- I had no background in marketing or audience building
- Platforms changed constantly
- Reach became increasingly decoupled from followers
- Short-term visibility often conflicted with long-term trust
- Each platform attracted a different quality of audience
The core challenge became: How do you build an audience system that compounds over time and doesn’t depend on a single platform’s rules?
Solution
I designed audience growth as a top-of-funnel system, intentionally optimized to move people toward owned channels.
1. Treat distribution as a product problem
Instead of asking “what should I post?”, I asked:
- Where does attention originate?
- Where should it end?
- What friction exists between those points?
The answer was clear:
- Social platforms = discovery
- Newsletter and website = ownership
2. Multi-format, same idea strategy
I intentionally diversified formats:
- Audio: podcast and video podcast
- Long video: YouTube
- Short video: Instagram Reels and TikTok
- Written:
- newsletter
- blog posts
- long-form LinkedIn articles
One core idea could become:
- a podcast episode
- a newsletter synthesis
- 3–5 short clips
- a LinkedIn post
- a downloadable guide
3. LinkedIn as a high-intent channel
LinkedIn became the easiest platform to convert attention:
- Direct links allowed frictionless transfer
- High-quality inbound DMs
- Clear audience intent around career and work
Tactics used: Long-form writing, Articles and Direct CTAs to newsletter, web, podcast, and lead magnets
4. Instagram as an automation engine
Instagram required more infrastructure.
I built a sophisticated system using ManyChat + ConvertKit:
- 30+ automated flows
- Keyword-triggered DMs
- Conditional logic:
- check if user already existed in the email list
- request follow if needed
- request email
- Automatic tagging and sequence assignment
Result:
- Instagram DMs became an acquisition channel
- Email delivery was instant
- No manual follow-up required
This allowed scale without losing personalization.
5. TikTok as an experiment, not a core channel
When ManyChat enabled TikTok automations, I tested it.
Learnings:
- Reach was high
- Audience quality was low
- Conversion to paid or long-term products was weak
Decision: Keep TikTok as a visibility layer and Prioritize Instagram and LinkedIn for conversion
This was a deliberate trade-off between volume and intent.
6. Continuous learning loops
At the end of each quarter or year:
- Built internal reports with top-performing content per channel, best formats and strongest hooks
- Analyzed patterns
- Reused or iterated on what worked
Audience growth was treated as an ongoing experiment, not a fixed playbook.
7. “Tooling stack”
- ConvertKit for email and segmentation. Previously, Mailchimp and Substack
- ManyChat and LinkedIn Helper for social automation
- Riverside and Opus clips for video editing
- Google Analytics from platform dashboards
- Manual tagging and qualitative analysis
Impact
Quantitative impact
- Built a multi-channel audience without paid ads
- Implemented scalable automation for audience capture
- Increased efficiency through systematic content reuse
Qualitative impact
- Reduced dependency on any single platform
- Improved audience quality over raw reach
- Created predictable paths from discovery to trust
- Strengthened product launches through owned distribution
Strategic impact
- Audience became an asset, not a vanity metric
- Distribution decisions informed product strategy
- Platform changes became manageable, not existential risks
Key performance indicators
TikTok
KPI 1: Multi-channel presence
- KPI value: 6+ active channels
- KPI description: Podcast, video podcast, YouTube, newsletter, blog/web, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok
KPI 2: Automation depth
- KPI value: 30+ automations
- KPI description: Automated audience capture and segmentation flows built with ManyChat and ConvertKit
KPI 3: Owned audience conversion
- KPI value: High intent transfer
- KPI description: Consistent movement from social platforms to newsletter, web, and downloadable resources
KPI 4: Content reuse rate
- KPI value: 1 → 5+ formats
- KPI description: Single ideas repurposed across audio, video, short-form, written, and long-form content