Are you posting like crazy and still stuck at low views? The problem likely isn’t talent or effort. It is strategy. Social platforms shifted from social to pure media, and the growth playbook changed with it. Here is a practical breakdown of five uncommon lessons that explain how growth really works today, how to train the algorithm to find your people, how to stop chasing empty virality, and how to turn attention into revenue.
Table of Contents
Uncommon Learning 1: Social Media Is No Longer Social, It’s Just Media
Introduction to the Shift
From the early 2000s until about 2020, platforms were OG social. You followed friends, saw their posts, and used the apps to connect. Then TikTok exploded. Like YouTube, TikTok was built for media consumption, not social connection. You open it to watch, not to chat. TikTok’s success pushed Instagram, LinkedIn, and others to copy that model. The follow graph still matters, but the For You style feed rules the experience.
Key Differences Between Social and Media
- Social: Shows content to followers for connection. The follow graph decides distribution.
- Media: Matches content from anyone to anyone, based on interest and behavior. The best match wins.
Old tactics that rely on follower reach do not work as well. Platforms care most about watch time and ad revenue, so they show the best content for each viewer, follower or not. Your goal is no longer to post for your followers. Your goal is to help the system match your content with the right viewers.
How Algorithms Work for Growth
Look at it from Instagram’s point of view. The platform makes money when people watch ads. The algorithm’s job is to keep viewers watching longer. It does that by showing videos they enjoy. This is audience matching. If your video is a great match for a segment of viewers, sessions go up, more ads run, revenue rises, and the platform will push you even more. Help the algorithm make better matches and it rewards you.
Tactical Steps to Train the Algorithm
Focus on topic precision
Pick one topic per channel and stick to it. Do not mix sports, tech, and design on the same account. That confuses the system and weakens audience matching. Precision of topic is your advantage.
Use words to help matching
Platforms analyze your video transcription and your caption. They read what you say and write to decide the topic. Then they track who engages, build a lookalike audience, and push deeper into that group. To train the system faster, make 30 to 50 videos on one topic across several months. Keep the language tight and consistent with the topic and audience you want.
Avoid these three mistakes:
- Posting multiple unrelated topics on the same account.
- Making videos that aren’t valuable or interesting to your single target viewer.
- Publishing broad, generic ideas that do not speak to a clear avatar.
Scan your last 20 posts. If the topics vary a lot, that’s the problem. If they are aligned and you still have low views, work on video quality, ideas, and editing. You can get help inside the free community for business owners, WavyWorld, which includes trainings and feedback loops. Join via the WavyWorld free community for content.
Summary and resources
Stay disciplined on one topic and one audience. Train the system with clear language in your scripts and captions. Consistency makes matching accurate, then growth compounds.
Uncommon Learning 2: Virality Is a Trap, Aim for On-Target Virality
Two Types of Virality Explained
There are two forms of viral growth. Pure virality means going as broad as possible to grab millions of views. It offers a quick dopamine rush, but it spans unrelated groups and scrambles your future targeting. On-target virality means saturating a narrow audience slice without spilling into unrelated segments.
Why Pure Virality Hurts Monetization
Imagine a video about home design tech that pulls 10 million views. You’ve just engaged tech fans, architects, real estate folks, and DIY hobbyists. That diversity of viewers makes it harder for the system to understand who your next video should go to. Future reach becomes erratic. Even worse, you did not build depth with one buyer group, so offers convert poorly.
On-Target Virality: The Better Path
What it means
Pick a narrow slice of the global audience and try to reach as many people within that slice as possible. Focus on specific pain points and context that your buyers care about. This lets you be more nuanced and helpful, which builds trust.
Why algorithms prefer it
Precision makes stronger matches. Platforms reward creators who become category favorites, for example a standout in web design rather than a general creative voice. That leads to category viral growth, where you dominate within your niche. This is why niche creators with modest follower counts can build 7-figure businesses, while massive accounts often struggle to convert.
Tactical filter before you hit publish:
- Will your core avatar find this idea useful, entertaining, or valuable?
- Will this idea help your buyer, not just any viewer?
- Benefits: higher buyer penetration, clearer targeting over time, stronger conversion.
Tools for better execution
If storytelling and scripting slow you down, try the AI tool Sandcastles. It helps with research, ideas, hooks, and scripts, so you can produce more focused content with better on-target appeal. Start with the Sandcastles AI free trial.
Uncommon Learning 3: Fish Where the Fish Are, Pick One Platform and Commit
Debunking the “be everywhere” myth
You do not need to post on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and X all at once. You know where your buyers hang out. Your job is to focus there and win.
Benefits of focusing on one hero platform
Deeper immersion
When you choose one platform, you can learn its culture and pace. You can comment on niche posts, reply to every comment and DM, and use secondary formats like Stories or Notes to stay top of mind. Attention compounds when you engage inside one community instead of spreading thin across many.
Video is key
Viewers are moving toward video everywhere. Create short or long form video that suits your platform. Make the video format your core.
After 6 months of steady output and engagement, assess what worked and iterate. Pair your platform with email so you build an owned audience alongside your rented reach.
How to choose your platform
Ask a handful of customers where they spend time. If that is not possible, consider where you go to learn in your niche. Then commit:
- Pick your hero platform.
- Publish consistent video content.
- Engage in comments and DMs daily.
- Ignore other platforms for 6 months.
Avoiding overcomplication
Trying to be everywhere without a team often leads to burnout and mediocre content. Focus protects your quality, trains the algorithm faster, and builds a reliable content engine you can scale later.
Uncommon Learning 4: Treat Platforms as Islands, Not a Connected Ecosystem
The ecosystem myth
Many coaches say to build a web across platforms. Post your YouTube video to Instagram Stories, share your TikTok on LinkedIn, and drive everyone to follow you everywhere. That can work for large brands with strong pull. For most creators and small businesses, it is suboptimal.
Why islands make sense
Platform differences
Platforms have different algorithms, cultures, and owners. Meta wants to keep users on Instagram and Facebook. Google wants to keep them on YouTube. When you drop URLs in tweets or LinkedIn posts, or attach links in Stories, reach often gets throttled. Platforms prefer behaviors that keep users inside their walls.
User habits
Think of each platform like a car at a different speed. Instagram moves at 35 mph, TikTok at 50 mph, and YouTube at 10 mph. People pick platforms for the experience, community, and discovery pace. Forcing them from one to another breaks the flow. Many will bounce, drop off, or grow annoyed that you tried to move them.
Tactical island strategy
Create native content for each platform and keep users there. Maintain world building across platforms, which means consistent visuals, themes, and voice. When people discover you elsewhere on their own, it feels aligned and familiar. Do not force migration. The only ramp you should build is from rented to owned, like Instagram to email, or TikTok to a free community.
Do:
- Make native videos that fit the platform’s format and vibe.
- Keep visual identity and storytelling consistent across islands.
Don’t:
- Share frequent outbound links that pull people to rival platforms.
- Push followers to switch platforms just to grow your count.
If you want connections
Let people discover your other channels organically. If they like Instagram and YouTube, they will find you on both. You get better retention and less churn when you respect the way they already consume.
Uncommon Learning 5: Value Doesn’t Accrue at the Media Layer, Build Beyond Content
The common creator struggle
You put in a year of work and flip on monetization. The payout lands. It is $52. Then a small brand deal comes in. Maybe $500, then another for $1,000. Views rise, followers climb, but the money feels off compared to the effort. This gap is normal.
The three layers of the content stack
- Platform layer: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Most of the money accrues here.
- Media layer: Creators like you and me. We drive attention, but capture little value.
- Offering layer: Products, services, and brands. This is where high value capture happens.
Why the media layer pays less
Value maps to risk. It is easier to start posting videos than to build a platform or a product company. That ease pushes down creator rates. Relying on AdSense, CPMs, and one-off brand deals caps your upside.
Better monetization tactics
Use media to gain attention, then guide that attention to your owned products and services. You can also use affiliate deals that offer uncapped potential. Build an email list and a community, then present offers that solve real problems. The riches in owned assets mantra holds true. Do not let your business stop at the media layer.
Tie-back to growth
Content builds trust and reach. Offers capture value. Keep publishing, but make sure you have something clear to sell that matches the pain points you talk about.
Quick Recap: 5 Lessons to Grow and Monetize on Social Media
- Social is media now. Train the algorithm by sticking to one topic, using clear language in your videos and captions, and posting consistently. If you need help with video strategy and quality, join the WavyWorld free content community.
- Pure virality is a trap. Aim for on-target virality that saturates your niche. For faster research, hooks, and scripts, try the Sandcastles AI scriptwriting platform.
- Fish where your fish are. Pick one platform, make video native to it, engage hard for 6 months, and pair it with email.
- Treat platforms like islands. Build native content, keep users on the platform they prefer, and only ramp from rented to owned.
- Value does not accrue at the media layer. Use content to build attention, then monetize with your own products, services, or high-upside affiliate offers.
Want a deeper step-by-step on viral content formats and hooks? Grab the free resource, the complete virality blueprint guide.
Conclusion
Growth on social is simple once you see the system. Help the algorithm match your videos with the right viewers, focus on one audience and one platform, and build offers that capture value. If you apply these five lessons for six months, you will feel the compounding effect. What topic will you commit to, and what offer will you build behind it? Thanks for reading, and share what you want covered next.
