I'm posting on both YouTube and Instagram but my Instagram format basically mirrors my long-form YouTube content. Should I be creating something more optimized specifically for Instagram instead of a content waterfall from the long-form?
You don't have to have congruence between your Instagram and YouTube content — I definitely don't, they're very different for me. We chose AI news for Instagram specifically because it was a mostly automatable format and my content guy already had experience creating that type of content. It's not necessarily the best possible format, it's just standardized enough that we could build a good pipeline and pump out a lot of decent-quality content quickly. So find something optimized for the platform you're on rather than forcing congruence — you could do clipping versions of your existing content, for example; one of our clipping channels is about to hit 1,000 subscribers doing exactly that.
I can approach it with three main content pillars. First, awareness content that covers the latest AI news—anything new, free, or just launched. Second, implementation content that shows how to actually use AI tools, like deep‑seek tutorials, so it’s not just dry theory. Third, no‑code content that demonstrates using AI via APIs with platforms such as n8n or Make.com. I’ll also add a fourth pillar focused on "AI money"—showing how to monetize the tools rather than just how they work. Each piece will include a clear CTA back to my YouTube channel for detailed guides, and I’ll sprinkle short YouTube clips or intro snippets to keep interest high and drive cross‑platform traffic.
He works with a single editor. He spends about ten minutes a week recording a batch of shorts, then the editor assembles them. They gather AI news from multiple sources, filter out low-value content, and the editor writes scripts from the valuable material. He reviews and tweaks the scripts, puts them in a Google Doc, imports them into a teleprompter, and records lines like 'You don't need ChatGPT anymore. Wait for blank.' He gives the footage to his editor, who uses a simple top/bottom template to create the videos. They're bringing on additional team members to help the editor avoid bottlenecks. The editor then produces videos showing the tools in action, they spend a little money to sign up to the platforms, and publish on Instagram, aiming for one short per day.
I start by scraping AI‑focused news sites and subscribing to newsletters that feed the latest developments into a content pipeline. I then use AI to draft scripts, make minor tweaks, and load fifteen scripts into a teleprompter to record them in one take — about fifteen minutes of footage. I send that raw video to my editor, Shub, who cuts it into individual shorts, adds thumbnails, and prepares them for posting. Leads come primarily from the newsletter funnel: I’ve gathered a few thousand subscribers, with roughly twenty‑five hundred new sign‑ups in the past thirty days, which then feed into my other offers. I’m still refining lead tracking, but the newsletter is the main source.
I appreciate you pointing that out. It's not a bad idea—we tried TikTok, but it didn't perform; we got no followers, likely due to how we warmed up the accounts. It shouldn't take much time to post across platforms, and it's a free win, so I should probably do it. I think there's probably value there.