I’ve been posting the same AI-generated content across different platforms for six months now. Same videos, same everything. But the results were insane – identical content performing wildly differently.
TikTok: 300K+ views regularly. YouTube Shorts: 150 views average. Instagram: Somewhere in between.
At first, I thought it was algorithm luck until I started analyzing what actually works where. And what I found was fascinating.
## Platform-specific Patterns I Found
**TikTok Optimization:**
* 3-second emotionally absurd hook dominates (not about production quality)
* 15-30 second maximum (longer content tanks hard)
* Deliberately absurd AI aesthetic works (don’t try to hide that it’s AI)
* Beautiful impossibility performs better than fake realism
**Instagram Prioritization:**
* Visual excellence above all else (needs to be distinctive – positive OR negative)
* Seamless transitions critical (choppy edits destroy engagement)
* Story-driven content over pure visual spectacle
* Higher tolerance for “polished” AI look
**YouTube Shorts Differences:**
* Extended hooks work better (5-8 seconds vs 3 on TikTok)
* Educational framing performs way better than pure entertainment
* Lower visual quality acceptable if content value is strong
* Longer format allows for more complex narratives
## The Breakthrough Insight:
Don’t reformat one video for all platforms – create platform-specific versions from the start.
## My New Workflow:
* For TikTok: Focus on immediate visual impact, shorter cuts, more jarring transitions
* For Instagram: Smooth, aesthetic, story-driven
* For YouTube: Educational angle, longer development
## Technical Execution Tips:
* Opening frames are critical (first frame determines entire video quality)
* Generate at least 10 variations of opening shots for each platform
* Raw AI output is often perfect (don’t over-process thinking it improves things)
## Virality Patterns from My 1000 Video Analysis:
* What works universally: Generate immediate questions (“Wait, how did they…?”), beautiful absurdity over uncanny valley realism, strong emotional response in first 3 seconds (positive OR negative doesn’t matter)
* What fails everywhere: Trying too hard to make AI look “real”, over-processing with effects, generic “cinematic” prompting without specific vision
## Content Type Formulas That Work:
* Products: Macro lens, spinning platform, studio lighting, shallow DOF
* Portraits: 85mm lens, golden hour backlight, gentle wind in hair
* Action: Handheld camera, motion blur, dust particles in light
## The Cost Optimization Reality:
Volume testing across platforms gets expensive fast with Google’s direct pricing. Finding cheaper access to veo3 through third parties has been game-changing for actually being able to test what works where.
## Key Takeaway:
Same content, different optimization strategy for each platform. Performance improves dramatically when you stop trying to make one video work everywhere.
Started doing platform-specific optimization two months ago and overall engagement across all platforms went up like 400%. Worth the extra generation time.
What platforms are you seeing the best performance on? Curious if others are seeing similar patterns.