The creator treats short-form and long-form audiences as separate, noting that Instagram and TikTok followers rarely cross over to YouTube. Therefore, the strategy for short-form content isn't to promote the YouTube channel, but to drive viewers directly to a lead magnet or website to capture emails.

Influential voices with dedicated audiences have a greater impact when engaging their community directly on native platforms like Substack. These owned channels can drive nearly as much traffic as a campaign's primary website, demonstrating the power of concentrated, high-trust audiences over broad, traditional media reach.

Categorize platforms into two types: 'discovery' (social media algorithms) and 'relationship' (email, podcasts). The strategy is to use discovery platforms for audience acquisition and then migrate those followers to relationship platforms to build long-term, owned assets.

Treat social platforms as distinct tools. Use TikTok's wide-reaching algorithm for top-of-funnel discovery and lead generation. In contrast, use LinkedIn for daily, consistent posting to build deep trust and nurture a loyal "crew" of followers.

While TikTok excels at creating one-off viral moments, it fails to provide tools for building a sustainable audience and business. Serious creators increasingly use the platform as a launchpad for initial exposure before migrating their audience to platforms like YouTube, which offer superior community-building and monetization features.

Use high-reach, short-form videos to capture initial attention. Then, use DM automation to strategically funnel that audience to deeper content like newsletters or YouTube, where you can build a meaningful relationship and drive conversions.

Short-form videos are not meant to replace your deeper teachings. Instead, view them as the initial touchpoint—the first impression that captures attention and funnels new people toward your more substantial long-form content like podcasts or detailed tutorials.

Matt McGarry's 'Big Three' strategy posits YouTube, podcasts, and newsletters as core media pillars. All other platforms, like LinkedIn or X, should be treated strictly as discovery channels. This framework clarifies their role as top-of-funnel tools, preventing creators from misallocating resources on platforms they don't own.

Chris Koerner treats his millions of short-form views as top-of-funnel lead generation. The goal is to convert a 22-second viewer into a 9-minute long-form viewer, which he calculates builds 20 times more trust and creates a more valuable audience member.