Understanding Platforms and Your Audience

The Platform Trap

A few years ago, a friend launched a handmade jewelry business. She created accounts on Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. She was everywhere.

Three months later? She was nowhere. Every platform got maybe one post a week–generic photos with the same caption copy-pasted across all of them. Her Instagram looked like LinkedIn. Her TikTok felt like an Instagram slideshow. Nothing resonated because nothing was platform-native.

She wasn’t lazy. She was spread too thin.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

• Choose the right 2-3 platforms based on your specific goals
• Create a detailed audience persona that makes AI content dramatically better
• Define content pillars that guide everything you post
• Use AI to build your foundational strategy document

Choosing Your Platforms Strategically

Not all platforms are created equal–and not all platforms are right for your goals. Here’s a framework for choosing where to focus:

The Platform Decision Matrix

The Two-Question Filter

Ask yourself:

1. Where does my audience already spend time? (Don’t try to drag people to a new platform)
2. What content format plays to my strengths? (If you hate video, TikTok will feel like torture)

Pick 2-3 platforms max. You can always expand later once your system is running smoothly.

Quick Check

Which 2-3 platforms make the most sense for your goals? Write them down before continuing. If you’re unsure, try this AI prompt:

“I run a [business/project type] targeting [audience description]. My goals are [awareness/leads/sales/community]. I’m strongest at creating [text/images/video] content. Which 2-3 social media platforms should I prioritize and why?”

Building Your Audience Persona

Here’s a secret that separates good social media content from great social media content: specificity.

Generic content speaks to everyone and resonates with no one. Specific content speaks to one person and resonates with thousands who see themselves in that person.

The Persona Template

Don’t just think “my audience is small business owners.” Build a detailed persona:

Name: Sarah, 34 Role: Runs an online boutique selling sustainable fashion Daily reality: Juggles product sourcing, customer service, shipping, and marketing alone. Has maybe 1 hour per day for social media. Pain points: Doesn’t know what to post, feels behind competitors who post daily, struggles with video content Goals: Grow from 2,000 to 10,000 followers, drive 20% of sales from Instagram Language she uses: “I just don’t have time,” “I know I should be posting more,” “How do they make it look so easy?” Content she engages with: Quick tips, behind-the-scenes, relatable humor about small business life

Now compare two caption openings:

Generic: “Tips for growing your social media presence” Persona-driven: “You’ve got 47 minutes before your next order ships. Let’s make that social media post happen.”

See the difference? The second one feels like it was written for Sarah specifically. And every small business owner reading it thinks “that’s me.”

Using AI to Build Your Persona

Try this prompt:

“Help me create a detailed audience persona for my social media strategy. I sell [product/service] to [broad audience]. Ask me 10 specific questions about my customers that will help us build a vivid, detailed persona I can use for content creation.”

The AI will interview you, and the resulting persona becomes a reusable asset. Include it at the top of every content creation prompt from now on.

Quick Check

Can you describe your ideal audience member’s biggest daily frustration in one sentence? If you can’t, your persona needs more work.

Defining Your Content Pillars

Content pillars are the 3-5 themes your account consistently covers. They’re the answer to “what does this account talk about?”

Why Pillars Matter

Without pillars, every post is a blank canvas. With pillars, you have a framework that makes ideation 10x easier–especially with AI.

Here’s an example for a fitness coach:

Now, when this coach needs content ideas, they don’t start from zero. They pick a pillar and go.

AI-Powered Pillar Discovery

Try this prompt:

“I’m building a social media strategy for [your niche/business]. Help me identify 4-5 content pillars. For each pillar, provide:

1. The pillar name
2. A one-sentence description
3. Why my audience cares about this topic
4. 3 example post ideas
5. Suggested post ratio (what percentage of content should be this pillar)”

The Content Pillar Mapper Skill

For a more structured approach, check out the Content Pillar Mapper skill from our directory. It’s a pre-built prompt that helps you create a comprehensive content pillar strategy with audience alignment and content gaps analysis.

Putting It Together: Your Strategy Brief

Now let’s combine everything into a strategy brief–a single document you’ll reference (and feed to AI) throughout this course.

Here’s the prompt to create yours:

“Create a social media strategy brief based on the following:

Business: [what you do] Platforms: [your chosen 2-3 platforms] Audience persona: [paste your persona] Content pillars: [list your pillars] Posting frequency goal: [e.g., 4x/week on Instagram, 3x/week on LinkedIn] Brand voice: [e.g., professional but approachable, witty, educational] Primary goal: [awareness/engagement/leads/sales]

Format this as a one-page strategy brief I can reference when creating content. Include a content mix recommendation for each platform.”

Save this output. You’ll use it as context in nearly every content creation prompt going forward. This is your secret weapon for making AI content feel on-brand every time.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on 2-3 platforms where your audience already is–don’t try to be everywhere
• Build a detailed persona with pain points, language, and daily reality–not just demographics
• Define 3-5 content pillars to give your content direction and make ideation easier
• Create a strategy brief that becomes your reusable AI context document
• Specificity is the secret to content that resonates–speak to one person to reach thousands

Up Next

In Lesson 3, you’ll learn the art and science of writing posts that stop the scroll. We’ll cover hooks, captions, calls-to-action, and how to adapt your writing style for each platform–all supercharged with AI.

This is where it gets really fun.