The SCALE Formula

Most creators and marketers focus on the obvious strategies for growth - posting consistently, using trending audio, engaging with comments. While these are solid foundations, they aren't enough anymore.

The real secret to mastering short-form video growth? Behavior-Based Content Engineering. That's why I developed the SCALE Formula - a structured approach that helps you work with social media algorithms instead of constantly fighting them.

This formula is based on how social media platforms operate today:

Strategy, Content, Attention, Leverage, Ecosystem. Here's the full breakdown:

1. Strategy

Chasing followers should't be your main objective in your marketing stratey in 2025. Most platforms don't care how many followers you have anymore.

Years ago, your content was primarily shown to your existing followers. That's no longer the case. Social platforms - especially TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts - prioritize interest-based feeds.

An intertest-based feed means your content is pushed to users who engage with similar topics, not just those who follow you. This is a great opportunity for businss owners and creator to get their content [products, service or expetise] seen by people who would have otherwise never seen it.

This growth hack is huge for business owners because it means:

✅ Your content has the potential to reach people who have never heard of you before.

✅ You can attract the right audience by optimizing your content with keywords, captions, and spoken words (yes, AI listens!).

✅ Instead of focusing on growing your follower count, focus on creating content that aligns with what your ideal audience is already searching for.

Example: If you're a marketing expert, include "marketing tips," "content strategy," or "AI tools" in your captions and say them in your videos to help the algorithm categorize your content.

2. Content

Retention Signals equal The True Algorithm Cheat Code. The longer people stay on your content, the more the platform pushes it. Platforms like TikTok make it super easy to quickly swipe through videos and spend hours watching content [without realizing it]. User-generated content is one of the most addicting types of videos out there.

Our brains need more stimulation, especially with the introduction of short-form video content. Have you caught yourself scrolling through your phone while watching a movie? Yup, me too. Since most of us are constantly on a chase for dopamine high, we business owners can use it to our advantage.

The real trick is creating micro-pattern disruptions that force the viewer to stay longer.

Growth Hack:

• Use jump cuts every 1-3 seconds to reset attention.

• Change camera angles to maintain engagement.

• Subtle text animations (but not too much) keep the brain engaged.

• Loop your videos so they autoplay seamlessly—this tricks the algorithm into thinking people are watching longer.

Example: Ever wonder why those "Wait till the end!" videos perform well? They exploit the retention signal, forcing users to stick around.

3. Attention

Most people start videos with "Hey guys" or some bland intro. Stop doing that. The first 0.5 seconds determine whether someone scrolls or stays. It's all about using the correct hook in your videos to create content that is favorited by the algorithm. A hook doesn't always need to be an "I bet you didn't know..." but it can also be a mid-action start point like you are jumping off a cliff, maybe you are an Olympic cliff jumper or something less dramatic like a shocked faced.

Growth Hack:

• Use a curiosity gap ("You won't believe this…").

• Make it personal ("Here's why your Instagram isn't growing").

• Start mid-action instead of a static talking head.

Example: Instead of saying "Here are 3 Instagram mistakes," start with:

"Instagram mistakes are ruining your reach."

"If your engagement is dropping, this is why."

4. Leverage "Hidden Engagement" Tricks

Comments, shares, and likes matter, but hidden engagement signals drive growth just as much. When creating content, always include a CTA. This will tell the viewer what to do next.

You can do this in a variety of ways. For example, you can post a carousel on Instagram featuring a mini tutorial or turn these five tips from this blog post into a carousel. Each "card" contains one talking point; reading and swiping through the carousel signals your post is engaging. The same idea works with one video that is sliced into different shorter clips. At the end of the video, tell your viewer to watch part 2. Of course, we want to know what's happening in part 2, so we jump to your profile to hectically search video part 2.

Even if you are not posting carousels, call-outs such as "save this post so you don't forget" or "save for later for easy access" are other great CTA to include in your caption and in your video.

Growth Hack:

• Swipe actions (like carousel slides on IG or part 2 on TikTok) keep users interacting longer.

• Pinned comments spark debate and boost interaction.

• Encouraging saves ("Save this so you don't forget") tells the algorithm your content is valuable.

Example: Post a carousel with mini-tutorials and say, "Swipe to see the secret tip at the end." This increases dwell time and tells the algorithm your content is engaging.

5. Ecosystem

Most people post randomly without a strategy for keeping people in their content ecosystem. The trick is content stacking.

Content stacking means strategically creating content around one topic, such as "increasing engagement on Instagram." Within this topic you can have six videos. Each video references the otehr video in the sequence. This way, your viewers are more enticed to check out your profile to find the other videos.  

The ecosystem also refers to cross-posting your short-form content to other platforms to attract viewers on other platforms. I recommend changing the caption depending on the social platform and the audience.

Growth Hack:

• Post a TikTok first, then repurpose it as an Instagram Reel & YouTube Short.

• Create a follow-up post referencing a past video (e.g., "If you liked my last post about engagement hacks, here's another trick").

• Build a series instead of one-off posts.

Example:

Post 1: "3 Instagram Growth Hacks" → Call-to-action: "Comment if you want Part 2!"

Post 2: "Here's Part 2!" → Drives return engagement & algorithm prioritization.