Platform Distribution Advisor

What This Skill Does

Recommends the best platforms for distributing a finished piece of content, with a ranked list and a brief rationale for each recommendation based on the content type, format, length, and intended audience.

When To Use This Skill

• You have finished content and are deciding where to publish or syndicate it
• You are building a multi-platform distribution plan for a story, episode, or video
• You want to reach a new audience segment beyond your primary publication
• You are adapting existing content for redistribution and need to know which platforms suit it best

What You Need To Provide

Required:

• Content type (article, video, audio, photo essay, data visualization, etc.)
• Topic or subject area (a brief description is enough — one or two sentences)
• Intended audience (professionals, general public, younger readers, regional audience, etc.)
• Content length or duration

Optional:

• Your primary publication or home platform (to help identify gaps)
• Any platforms you are already using, so recommendations stay non-redundant
• Paid vs. organic distribution preference
• Geographic focus (local, national, international)

How the Assistant Approaches This

1. Identifies the content category — text, audio, video, visual — and cross-references it with which platforms are structurally suited to that format (e.g., long-form text does not perform on short-video platforms)
2. Matches the topic and intended audience to the likely user base of each candidate platform, noting where the audience overlap is strongest
3. Produces a ranked list of three to five platforms with a short rationale for each, including one note on what adaptation (if any) the content would need for that platform
4. Flags any mismatch risks — for example, platforms where the content's length or tone is likely to underperform

Output Format

A ranked list of three to five platforms. Each entry includes:

• Platform name
• One-sentence rationale (why this content fits this platform and this audience)
• One-line adaptation note (what, if anything, needs adjusting before publishing there)

Total length: 250–400 words. Plain prose rationale, no bullet overload. No marketing language. Written so a journalist or editor can act on it immediately.

Quality Criteria

• [ ] Every recommended platform is structurally compatible with the stated content format (no recommending long-form articles to a short-video platform)
• [ ] Rationale references the audience or topic specifically, not just generic platform descriptions
• [ ] Adaptation notes are honest — they say what work is required, not just "consider adapting for this audience"
• [ ] At least one recommendation is non-obvious (beyond the most predictable primary platform)
• [ ] No platform is recommended twice or for contradictory reasons

Example

Input

Content type: Long-form written investigation (3,500 words) Topic: How changes to housing inspection regulations over the past decade have led to a rise in unsafe rental properties in mid-sized cities Intended audience: Renters, housing advocates, local government professionals, and general readers with an interest in urban policy Length: 3,500 words, with three data charts embedded Primary publication: A regional news website

Output

Platform Distribution Recommendations

1. Regional news website (primary — already confirmed) Your natural home. Publish in full here first to establish ownership and search presence. Optimise the headline for local search terms and ensure the charts render correctly on mobile.

2. Medium Well-suited for long investigative text that warrants a second life. Housing and urban policy pieces find engaged readers in Medium's civic-interest communities. Republish in full two to four weeks after your original publication date to avoid cannibalising search traffic. Add a canonical link pointing back to the original.

3. LinkedIn Housing policy intersects with professional audiences — urban planners, property managers, local government officers, housing NGO staff — who are active here. Publish a 300-word summary with the key finding and a link to the full piece. The data charts can be posted as standalone images to drive additional reach.

4. Newsletter syndication (via Substack Notes or a partner newsletter) Long investigations perform well when excerpted in issue-focused newsletters. Reach out to one or two newsletters in the housing, city planning, or civic journalism space to offer a guest excerpt. This requires identifying relevant newsletters in advance, but the audience match is high.

5. Reddit (relevant subreddit communities) Communities focused on renting, housing rights, or your specific city or region are active readers of investigative journalism when it directly affects them. Post a plain-text summary of the key findings with a link. Avoid promotional framing — present it as information, not self-promotion.

What this content is not suited for: Short-video platforms (TikTok, YouTube Shorts), image-first platforms (Instagram without a strong visual hook), or general Twitter/X threads unless you invest time in a well-structured thread that can stand alone.

Known Limitations

• Recommendations are based on general platform characteristics and audience behaviour patterns — they are not drawn from your actual analytics or real-time platform data. Treat them as an informed starting point, not a guarantee of performance.
• Platform dynamics shift. Recommendations are grounded in how platforms behave at the time of writing but should be reviewed if significant platform changes have occurred.
• This skill cannot assess whether your publication has existing distribution agreements, exclusivity clauses, or contractual restrictions on syndication. Always check before republishing.
• For highly specialised or niche topics, the assistant may recommend broad platforms when a specialist trade publication or industry forum would actually be a stronger fit.

Related Skills

• publication-timing-advisor
• audience-persona-builder
• platform-content-plan