strategy-video-content

Cross-Platform Organic Video Strategy

Plans organic video across TikTok, Reels, YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp Status for East African businesses: platform roles, hooks, scripts, series, sales videos and the monthly learning loop.

Use When

• Our Reels, TikToks, YouTube Shorts or Facebook videos get low views and people scroll past in the first seconds.
• We need a recurring video series, hook formulas and short- and long-form scripts.
• Sales teams want videos that answer buyer questions (the Selling 7) and on-camera tips.
• We are considering AI avatar or personalised videos (HeyGen, Synthesia, voice cloning) for outreach or client reports, with consent and AI disclosure.
• Should we start a podcast or audio series: format, recording equipment, hosting and the first episodes?
• Our podcast is live and we need honest listener numbers: what counts as a download, how hosts filter bots and repeat requests, and which episode figures to report.

Do Not Use When

• training-smartphone-video-production for hands-on phone filming, sound, light and editing skills.
• platform-youtube or platform-tiktok for the full channel operating plan.
• strategy-experiential-marketing for live streams and webinars.
• Stop before cloning a voice or likeness without written consent, or publishing AI-generated video without disclosure.

Required Inputs

Artefact	Source/provider	Required?	If absent
Client name, business type (product / service / B2B / B2C), industry and primary offering	Client	Yes	Ask; hook examples cannot be written for an unnamed offer.
Country/city and primary goal (awareness, lead generation, sales conversion, community, authority)	Client	Yes	Default to Uganda / East Africa and plan for awareness with labelled assumptions.
Platforms in scope (TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp Status)	Client lead	Yes	Blueprint TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp Status and mark the rest not assessed.
Production capacity (hours per week, smartphone only or camera and mic) and on-camera talent (owner, owner + staff, dedicated creator)	Client	Yes	Plan smartphone-only, owner-presented Hub content at the lowest cadence.
Existing videos and what performed best	Native analytics (YouTube Studio, TikTok Analytics, Meta Business Suite)	If any	Start a 14-day baseline before setting targets.
Written consent and disclosure plan for any AI avatar, cloned voice or likeness	The person filmed or cloned; client	If AI video is in scope	Stop; no voice or likeness is cloned without written consent.

Workflow

1. Confirm the need is editorial and channel strategy, not camera training (training-smartphone-video-production), a full channel plan (platform-youtube, platform-tiktok) or a live stream (strategy-experiential-marketing); run the intake in the organic video method.
2. Set platform roles under the three laws (Stop, Hold, Convert; platform-native first; share or solve, don't shill at 80/20) and write a blueprint for each platform in scope.
3. Write hooks with the [Pattern Interrupt] + [Specific Promise] + [Urgency or Curiosity Trigger] formula, at least three for the client's industry, and draft short- and long-form scripts.
4. Test every script before filming against the WILMA test, Handley's six story characteristics and the ABCD check (attention, early branding, connection, clear direction) in ABCD video craft; rewrite any script that triggers no WILMA response.
5. For sales enablement, plan the Selling 7 in priority order (Video 1, then 6, then 3 and 4, then 2, 5 and 7) and brief presenters on the on-camera rules.
6. Assign Hero, Hub or Hygiene to every video type at a frequency the capacity allows, and map one repurposing chain; for AI avatars apply the AI avatar reference and stop without written consent and disclosure, and for podcasts apply the podcast reference.
7. Set the monthly video metrics and the 14-day review rule; correct any benchmark stated without its organic label and rerun the check, then run the anti-slop gate and hand over.

Outputs

Artefact	Consumer	Acceptance condition
Platform-by-platform video blueprint	Content producer	Covers every platform in scope with its algorithm, format and EA audience behaviour; no generic section.
Hook bank and short- and long-form scripts	Presenter; editor	At least three industry-specific hooks; each script passes WILMA before filming.
Selling 7 plan and on-camera rules (when sales enablement is in scope)	Sales lead	Videos ordered by priority with length and placement.
Hero/Hub/Hygiene video calendar and repurposing chain	Content producer; 11-content-calendar	Every video type tiered; one worked chain shows one video becoming 6–8 outputs.
Video analytics table and review rule	Client lead	Metrics labelled as organic benchmarks, reviewed monthly, with the 14-day rule.

Evidence Produced

Evidence	Format	Acceptance condition
WILMA and story-characteristic check per script	Checklist	At least one WILMA response recorded before filming.
Platform specification register (format, length, cadence, date checked)	Table	Each specification is checked against the platform's current help pages or marked not assessed.
Consent and AI-disclosure record (when AI video is used)	Signed consent and disclosure text	Present before any volume production.

Capability and Permission Boundaries

Read and search only; analysis is read-only. Publishing, spend, live account changes, outreach and personal-data processing need explicit, action-specific client authority. Cloning a voice or likeness needs the person's written consent, and AI-generated video needs disclosure.

Degraded Mode

Without the client's platforms in scope and production capacity, return the narrowest qualified result and mark the affected checks not assessed. The hook formula, script templates, WILMA test and a smartphone-only Hub series can still be delivered.

Decision Rules

Condition	Action	Failure or risk avoided
The need is editorial and channel strategy rather than camera training	Choose platform roles and repeatable series before production detail.	A production tutorial substitutes for a content strategy.
More than 20 % of planned videos are promotional	Rebalance to 80 % solve, entertain or educate and 20 % sell.	Algorithmic suppression within 4–6 weeks.
A script triggers no WILMA response	Rewrite it before filming.	Videos that are scrolled past.
Footage is landscape-only but the platform is vertical	Shoot for, or adapt to, the primary platform's native format before repurposing.	A portrait crop that does not perform.
A video is under 14 days old	Keep it running; pull it only if it fails to reach 30 % of the account's average views after 14 days.	Judging on the first 48-hour algorithm test alone.
The brief calls for an AI avatar presenter, cloned voice, or personalised avatar video at scale	Apply ai-avatar-and-personalised-video.md: tool selection, avatar brief, avatar script rules, distribution, and written disclosure and likeness consent before volume production.	Undisclosed synthetic media or a likeness used without consent.
The series is a podcast or other episodic audio show	Apply podcast-and-audio-series.md: the Yes/No fit test, format, minimum set-up, 12-episode plan, EA distribution, and certified download measurement (Procedure 8).	A podcast launched without the capacity or audience to sustain it.
Authority is limited to analysis or planning, or evidence is contradictory	Deliver a read-only plan and approval checklist; pause the affected recommendation and request the source.	Unauthorised publication or advice built on an unresolved premise.

Quality Standards

• Includes a platform-by-platform video blueprint covering all platforms in the client's scope — no platform is covered with generic advice; each section is specific to that platform's algorithm, format, and EA audience behaviour.
• Applies the WILMA test explicitly — the strategy document includes the test and instructs the client to apply it to each piece of content before publishing.
• Provides at least three complete hook examples specific to the client's industry and product/service type.
• Includes at least one worked repurposing chain showing how a single video becomes 6–8 cross-platform outputs.
• Assigns the Hero / Hub / Hygiene tier to every video type recommended, with realistic production frequency matched to the client's stated capacity.
• Includes the video analytics table with the five key metrics, labelled as organic benchmarks.
• All content defaults to Uganda / East Africa market context — equipment recommendations reference local prices, posting times reference EAT, and audience behaviour notes reflect the EA platform landscape.
• British English is used throughout — no American spellings; ai-marketing/anti-ai-slop is applied during drafting and release is blocked on an F from ai-marketing/ai-slop-audit.

Anti-Patterns

• Optimising the hook only. Fix: design for the hold and the convert as well.
• Opening with "Hey guys, welcome back." Fix: start with a bold statement, question or surprising visual in the first 0–3 seconds.
• More than one CTA per video. Fix: one action, clearly stated.
• Relying on sound in Facebook feed video. Fix: add captions and a hook that works without audio in the first 3 seconds.
• Stopping filming mid-sentence after a mistake. Fix: apply the Don't Stop, Can Do It Again and 3-Second Smile rules.
• Posting YouTube links to Facebook instead of native uploads. Fix: upload video natively.
• Publishing AI-generated video without disclosure. Fix: disclose and hold written likeness consent before production.

References

• Organic video method: read when running the intake, writing platform blueprints, hooks and scripts, applying WILMA and the story characteristics, planning the Selling 7 and on-camera rules, building the calendar and repurposing chain, or setting analytics.
• AI avatar and personalised video: read when the video uses an AI avatar or cloned voice (Synthesia, HeyGen, Tavus, D-ID, Elai.io), including personalised outreach, client report and onboarding videos.
• Podcast and audio series: read when the client wants a podcast or episodic audio series, from the fit decision to launch-day distribution and growth.
• ABCD video craft: read when checking hooks, early branding and calls to action against Google's ABCD guidance.
• training-smartphone-video-production: read when the team needs hands-on filming, sound, light and editing skills.
• platform-youtube and platform-tiktok: read when a full channel operating plan is needed.
• AGENTS.md: read when routing to a neighbour skill or engine.
• Anti-AI slop production gate: read when writing hooks, scripts and captions.