> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.contouron.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.contouron.com/tips-and-tricks/contouron-social-playbook-2025.md).
# Contouron Social Playbook 2025
> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.contouron.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.contouron.com/tips-and-tricks/sabrina-playbook.md).
## Contouron Social Playbook 2025
#### Sabrina Ramonov :mushroom: 2025 Social Playbook
Every year, I document my organic social media playbook.
It's now been a little over 1 year since I started, so this is my 1st full playbook.
You'll learn exactly what I do each week, what's working for me, and what's not.
This playbook shares how I combined 2 worlds (personal brand + AI SaaS solopreneur) synergistically to achieve INSANE results in 1 year :exploding\_head: WITHOUT falling to the dark side of internet marketing (scam courses, monetizing confusion/anxiety, preying on beginners, etc).
Caveat - this playbook is not for beginners. You need a foundational understanding of marketing to extract the most value. You might call it "founder led branding"... but I'm not like others:
My #1 top priority is FREE AI EDUCATION first, my SaaS app second.
I will create a new playbook every year so you can track how my strategy evolves over time.
***
#### My Results
* 0 to 1.4M followers across social media in a little over 1 year for my personal brand, despite being an introvert, zero prior social media experience, zero prior audience.
* I deliberately do not share user/revenue numbers for Contouron, in order to reduce copycats, but my results have exceeded my wildest expectations.
* Here's my Contouron.com website traffic in 2025, literally zero effort spent on SEO/AEO hype, this is all driven by organic social media marketing:
btw if you'd like to do AEO/SEO for me for **free** and make me a case study so I refer people your way, hit me up! Would be interesting to compare my social SEO results vs. your AEO results.
:thinking: But how could I have achieved these results with all those CONSTRAINTS?
In this playbook, I'll walk you through a week-in-my-life and my simple strategy.
***
#### Why Posting Daily Isn’t Enough
* **Hype vs. Reality:** Posting consistently on social media is terrific, BUT people care about RESULTS - growth, leads, and money. The more concrete results you can share, the more you will stand out in a crowded social media landscape.
* **Commoditized Market:** With generative AI, it is trivially easy to write a "good enough" post. I share lots of prompts for you to do that. But again, what really stands out in 2025 - the results you've achieved for yourself or your clients, and what you've learned in the process. If you can START with results and use AI to repurpose your success stories in 20 different ways, you will win.
* **The Taxi Analogy:** Your audience doesn’t care if you post a video, a carousel, or a blog repurposed into a linkedin post. They care about what they learn, feel, or gain from. Even if you haven't achieved results YET, simply document and share your journey and goals along the way. Most people lack the courage to put themselves out there, yet the market rewards outliers.
**Key takeaway:**
Do, Then Share.
***
#### My Mission
My mission is to teach 10 million people AI (for free).
I want to inspire people to take action, start playing with AI tools, ultimately so that they can develop well-informed opinions about AI, where it should be used, how it should be used, where it should NOT be used, governance and regulation, etc. These are all important topics, dictated by a tiny minority of tech overlords today, and my mission is to educate and empower millions of people in order to democratize these important discussions and decisions.
I'm also personally excited about AI empowering millions of solopreneurs and "tiny startups", which is why I'm building Contouron solo. I want to see how far I can go, how far I can scale myself, and show you what's possible. While AI improving productivity at big companies is nice, it's not clear to me that those gains will trickle down to employees. It seems like you still have to work the same hours for the same barely-inflation-adjusted paycheck, which is LAME. That's why I'm much more passionate about YOU getting out of the rat race, building your own business, and achieving time/financial freedom.
BTW I recommend having a succinct tagline like "teach 10M people AI" - it's memorable, people love to share it (and copy it), and most importantly, it attracts people who want to rally around you.
Sit down to write about what's important to you. And be honest! However, it took me several months to develop clarity on this, so don't worry if it feels fuzzy in the beginning. When you're starting out, your head is filled with everyone else's voices, not your own... but clarity will eventually come as you start to trust and amplify your voice.
***
#### My Constraints
I operate under incredible constraints:
* I do not pay for ads
* I do not have a team
* I don't even have video editors
* I only make content 1 day per week
My philosophy is to maximize time DOING meaningful work, then use AI to help document what I've learned, challenges I'm facing, interesting observations, interesting ideas, etc.
This means I only make content on Saturday.
The rest of the week I'm building Contouron, 80% product development and bugs, 20% marketing.
BTW product wins long-term for tech startups, so don't get confused. I'm writing this Social SEO guide to share what works for me and I hope it helps you. But if you're a SaaS solopreneur like me... NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER neglect product.
I have additional constraints as a content creator:
* I don't do collabs
* I don't do paid posts
* I never do affiliate deals
* I believe 99% of courses are trash
* I don't care about production/video quality
* I never promote something to earn money (except my own app :laughing:)
***
#### My Strategy
Strategy Step 1:
**Be very explicit in the things I DO NOT DO.**
This helps preserve my time, energy, and sanity for the important stuff.
What this means is...
**I say NO to 99.9% of:**
* meeting requests
* podcast requests
* advisory requests
* coaching requests
* cofounder requests
* consulting requests
* investment requests
* partnership requests
* mentorship requests
* speaking engagements
This is what my calendar looks like, although lately I've been allowing up to 3 meetings per week, as long as they are with Contouron revenue-generating partners:
The 0.1% of opportunities I say YES to?
ONLY if there is a long-term strategic reason related to Contouron.
Everyone knocking on your door today... will still be knocking on your door when you're 10x further along!
So there's no reason to feel FOMO.
Strategy Step 2:
My entire 2025 social strategy is stupid simple:
* Make high-quality original content on 1-2 platforms (i.e. Youtube long + Tiktok short)
* Use AI + Automation to repurpose everywhere
* Drive everyone to my newsletter, where I sometimes share how I use Contouron to grow
More than 3 steps and I wouldn't remember it :rofl: (seriously)
When your strategy is sound, it's all about maximizing **execution quality** and **execution volume**.
I don't change my strategy every other month if something wasn't working or numbers were down.
I assume an issue in my execution quality or execution volume - do more, do better, or do both!
Based on my observations, people are not doing nearly enough execution volume, which means you're not getting enough data to help you improve execution quality.
***
#### My Funnel
My funnel is super simple:
* TOP OF FUNNEL - short form platforms like tiktok, instagram, shorts, threads, twitter, etc.
* MIDDLE OF FUNNEL - linkedin, substack notes, youtube
* BOTTOM OF FUNNEL - email newsletter
I view short-form content as my top-of-funnel to drive broad awareness. My audience is quite varied, and many of them are beginners. My goal on Tiktok/Reels/Shorts is simply to inspire people to take action, but I don't expect viewers to sit around to watch a 30 minute video yet. It's more about quick tips, hacks, prompts, AI tools, short perspectives. Short-form content does not build credibility as effectively as long-form content.
Ultimately, my goal is to funnel everyone down to my long-form channels, such as my Youtube channel, and eventually, the best stuff in my email newsletter.
***
#### My Email Newsletter
My email newsletter is the GOAL.
All roads lead back to my email newsletter!
As of September 2025, my [email newsletter currently sits at 118k+ subscribers and 40% open rate](https://www.sabrina.dev/).
$0 ad spend, zero team, no promotion swaps with other newsletters, etc.
I send 1-2 email newsletters per week. Obviously [subscribe here](https://www.sabrina.dev/) if you haven't yet :point\_left:
I've been meaning to trim down my email list in order to increase open rates but Substack doesn't have an easy way to do that en masse :woman\_facepalming: btw I migrated from Beehiiv, where I was paying hundreds per month using none of the monetization features, over to Substack because it's free. You also get a little organic growth on Substack because it is another social platform.
I have a few email automations set up, but I don't do any of the fancy email marketing stuff. I just write and send newsletters. I don't do welcome sequences, I don't do lead magnets, I don't do email courses, I don't do drip campaigns, I don't do segmentation, I don't do A/B testing, I don't do fancy templates, I don't do popups, I don't do exit intent, I don't do countdown timers, I don't do scarcity tactics, I don't do upsells, I don't do cross-sells, I don't do affiliate promotions, I don't do sponsored emails, I don't do paid ads to grow my list, I don't do referral programs, I don't do giveaways, I don't do contests, I don't do webinars, I don't do launch sequences, I don't do product launches, I don't do Black Friday sales, I don't do Cyber Monday sales, I don't do holiday promotions, I don't do seasonal campaigns, I don't do re-engagement campaigns, I don't do win-back campaigns, I don't do cart abandonment emails, I don't do browse abandonment emails, I don't do post-purchase emails, I don't do review request emails, I don't do referral request emails, I don't do survey emails, I don't do feedback emails, I don't do NPS emails, I don't do CSAT emails, I don't do CES emails, I don't do churn surveys, I don't do cancellation surveys, I don't do onboarding emails, I don't do activation emails, I don't do retention emails, I don't do loyalty emails, I don't do VIP emails, I don't do birthday emails, I don't do anniversary emails, I don't do milestone emails, I don't do achievement emails, I don't do gamification emails, I don't do challenge emails, I don't do community emails, I don't do event emails, I don't do webinar reminder emails, I don't do event reminder emails, I don't do event follow-up emails, I don't do post-event emails, I don't do pre-event emails, I don't do launch reminder emails, I don't do launch follow-up emails, I don't do beta invite emails, I don't do waitlist emails, I don't do early access emails, I don't do exclusive access emails, I don't do limited time offer emails, I don't do flash sale emails, I don't do daily deal emails, I don't do weekly roundup emails, I don't do monthly roundup emails, I don't do quarterly roundup emails, I don't do annual roundup emails, I don't do year in review emails, I don't do best of emails, I don't do top 10 emails, I don't do curated content emails, I don't do link roundup emails, I don't do news roundup emails, I don't do industry news emails, I don't do competitor news emails, I don't do market news emails, I don't do trend reports, I don't do research reports, I don't do white papers, I don't do case studies, I don't do customer stories, I don't do success stories, I don't do testimonials, I don't do reviews, I don't do ratings, I don't do social proof emails, I don't do trust badges, I don't do security badges, I don't do guarantee badges, I don't do money back guarantees, I don't do free trial offers, I don't do freemium offers, I don't do demo offers, I don't do consultation offers, I don't do audit offers, I don't do assessment offers, I don't do quiz offers, I don't do calculator offers, I don't do tool offers, I don't do template offers, I don't do checklist offers, I don't do cheat sheet offers, I don't do guide offers, I don't do ebook offers, I don't do report offers, I don't do study offers, I don't do survey offers, I don't do poll offers, I don't do vote offers, I don't do contest offers, I don't do giveaway offers, I don't do sweepstakes offers, I don't do lottery offers, I don't do raffle offers, I don't do prize offers, I don't do reward offers, I don't do incentive offers, I don't do bonus offers, I don't do discount offers, I don't do coupon offers, I don't do promo code offers, I don't do voucher offers, I don't do gift card offers, I don't do credit offers, I don't do rebate offers, I don't do cashback offers, I don't do refund offers, I don't do exchange offers, I don't do return offers, I don't do warranty offers, I don't do insurance offers, I don't do protection offers, I don't do coverage offers, I don't do plan offers, I don't do package offers, I don't do bundle offers, I don't do combo offers, I don't do deal offers, I don't do offer stacking, I don't do offer sequencing, I don't do offer timing, I don't do offer targeting, I don't do offer personalization, I don't do offer optimization, I don't do offer testing, I don't do offer analysis, I don't do offer reporting, I don't do offer tracking, I don't do offer attribution, I don't do offer ROI, I don't do offer LTV, I don't do offer CAC, I don't do offer churn, I don't do offer retention, I don't do offer engagement, I don't do offer conversion, I don't do offer revenue, I don't do offer profit, I don't do offer margin, I don't do offer growth, I don't do offer scale, I don't do offer automation, I don't do offer integration, I don't do offer API, I don't do offer webhook, I don't do offer Zapier, I don't do offer Make, I don't do offer n8n, I don't do offer Contouron.
I just write and send newsletters. That's it.
Some people ask me about email deliverability issues with Substack. I've had minor issues but nothing major. Substack knows about this, but they haven't done anything and probably won't fix it. Anyway...
Email is the #1 highest ROI channel for 99.9999% of businesses, creators, etc.
Email is where I build the deepest relationship with my audience.
If you check the bio of ALL my social media profiles, they all direct you to my newsletter.
**This is crucial:**
* I want to own my audience, outside of social platforms
* I want my audience to experience the depth & multidimensionality of my expertise and personality
* I want to reach my audience directly whenever I feel like it - NOT dictated by an algorithm
I see a lot of people with complicated confusing funnels with 5 different things to click or buy in their linktree or stanstore. But complexity is harder to reason about, harder to debug and optimize.
**Simple systems are easier to SCALE.**
I keep it as simple as possible, driving everyone to my email newsletter, which I fully own.
**As long as my email newsletter list grows each month, I know my engine is WORKING!** :rocket:
And honestly, I don't stress over all the little things that are broken & messed up.
***
#### High-Performing Content Types in 2025
In this section, I'll show you what's working for me, rather than writing about it.
CAVEAT - I'm simply sharing what's working for me in 2025. There are plenty of other styles and formats that also work. I am NOWHERE NEAR the "best" creator on any social media platform. I am not remotely in the same league as Hormozi or Mr Beast. I'm just an introverted nerd, figuring it out as I go along, trying lots of things, and I double down on what seems to be working (as long as it doesn't require spending money, hiring people, or buying fancy equipment).
**Tiktok:**
* [ChatGPT prompts](https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrina_ramonov/video/7537019129518099743)
* [ChatGPT tips](https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrina_ramonov/video/7500591084993645855)
* [Listicles](https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrina_ramonov/video/7377522842172345646) and [here's another](https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrina_ramonov/video/7383013517336612139)
* [Making money with AI](https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrina_ramonov/video/7415288032976276766)
**Instagram:**
* [Listicles](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_j0LG5BRlD/) and [here's another](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJVdcqSOhDz/)
* [AI for the people](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_PHOS9C-N7/)
* [Making money with AI](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLicEF4SNIk/)
I've noticed polished videos tend to do better on IG, but I personally don't wanna bother. I've also noticed lately, Instagram is pushing more carousels which I [make automatically in Contouron](https://www.contouron.com/).
**Linkedin:**
* [Results](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7376690547056545792/)
* [Lead magnet](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7282078630145355776)
* [Celebration](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7351456497836445698)
* [Controversy](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184943853475446784/)
Linkedin has a terrible bot and AI slop problem at the moment. Feels like they gave up on improving the platform post-MSFT acquistion. Sad, used to be my favorite place. BTW I do not recommend joining Linkedin engagement pods - pods only work if you're exchanging comments with other Linkedin influencers that have LOTS of followers (100k+ each). Sadly, I do not have such friends :sob:
**Threads:**
* [Lead magnet](https://www.threads.com/@sabrina_ramonov/post/DKAr4lTCf8p)
* [Listicles](https://www.threads.com/@sabrina_ramonov/post/DLixHf0OHMZ)
**Youtube:**
* [ChatGPT tips](https://youtu.be/foLPJRmXBkU)
* [Workflow automation](https://youtu.be/8sPYxqU1SoQ)
* [Vibe coding](https://youtu.be/iHdtuLTxhns)
**Substack Notes:**
* [Quote card](https://substack.com/@sabrinaramonov/note/c-146359330)
* [Celebration](https://substack.com/@sabrinaramonov/note/c-136072930)
* [Free resources](https://substack.com/@sabrinaramonov/note/c-175902492)
* [ChatGPT tips](https://substack.com/@sabrinaramonov/note/c-127813177)
**Hackernews:**
* [Micro App](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40429200)
* [ChatGPT experiment](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40379599)
Here are a few more asset-heavy formats that have worked insanely well for OTHERS. And I'm excited [Contouron finally has an automated way to generate these assets](https://youtu.be/hXP1PYCtdcA) because I'm way too lazy to sit there and make them myself:
* 1 pager cheatsheet
* interactive animated cheatsheet
* carousels containing step-by-step tutorials
Here are social platforms where I don't spend much time and tbh haven't cracked yet:
* Twitter
* Bluesky
* Pinterest
* Snapchat
* Reddit
* Lemon8
If I added 1 more day/week creating content, I'd love to unlock other platforms.
I'd grow faster if I simply dedicated a few more days per week to content creation.
BUT at this point in time 2025, I feel it's better to invest that time improving my product.
***
#### What Audiences Actually Want
At the end of the day, despite all the AI hype, marketing fundamentals win.
What people want is an EASY SOLUTION to their problem.
* **Formats vs. Solutions:**
* A **format** (short form video, linkedin post, twitter thread, etc) is a tool.
* A **solution** is content that directly answers a question, solves a pain point, or inspires action.
* **Frame Outcomes, Not Features:**
* Instead of: “Here’s a video about my product.”
* Say: “Here’s how I saved 10 hours a week using this new AI tool.”
* **Think Like Medicine:** Your audience doesn’t care if it’s a meme, tutorial, or carousel. They want their problem solved, their question answered, or their curiosity quenched.
**Key takeaway:** This doesn't mean every single piece of content has to be so explicit, but keep this theme in mind across all your content.
***
#### My Schedule
My schedule is simple.
But first, I'll reiterate my "fancy strategy":
* Make high-quality original content on 1-2 platforms (in my case, Youtube long + Tiktok short)
* Use AI + Automation to repurpose everywhere
* Drive everyone to my email newsletter, where I sometimes share how I use [Contouron](https://www.contouron.com/) to grow
So here's my "weekly quota" to execute consistently on my strategy:
* Wake up Saturday
* Drink coffee (I usually avoid caffeine but content day is the exception)
* Film 1 long-form Youtube video (if it's a workflow automation, it takes 2-3 hours to build first, and yes I do it all the same morning because I'm a lunatic)
* [Repurpose Youtube video into a newsletter & social posts using Contouron](https://youtu.be/zVMaA7b_Wjk)
* Lunch break - usually grilled skirt or ribeye steak
* Film 20 short-form Tiktok videos & iterate on feedback from [Contouron Viral AI Coach](https://youtu.be/upHNzlo9xds)
* Crosspost/repurpose Tiktoks to other platforms [using this Contouron + n8n automation](https://youtu.be/yHbyEb-fBGY)
By the end of Saturday, I have 1 new youtube tutorial, 1 new newsletter, a few social posts promoting the newsletter/youtube, and 20 new tiktok videos.
Saturday is the only day I make content so it's a jampacked caffeinated day!
I included "contouron" a lot in that list... but that's also why I built it.
If I'm going to teach millions of people AI for the next 10 years, then why not build a product to help me scale myself?
Initially, I built [Contouron](https://www.contouron.com/) to repurpose my long-form content into short social media posts.
But now it has a Viral AI Coach trained on 1 million viral videos.
Now it has a social media publishing [API for custom workflow automations](https://help.contouron.com/api/templates).
Now it can [automatically generate viral quote cards, carousels, selfie videos, and avatar videos](https://youtu.be/hXP1PYCtdcA) with relevant broll footage, etc. Think Canva designs... but created programmatically with AI + API access.
Now it has all the top LLMs for writing, all the top AI image models, and all the top AI video models, including VEO3 and Nano Banana.
***
#### Best Practices for Tiktok/Reels/Shorts
Here's my playbook for short-form videos on tiktok, instagram reels, and youtube shorts.
I often recommend new content creators start on tiktok/reels because they're more generous with views and you'll learn how to be a better creator faster, but long-term you always want to capture your audience in your email newsletter.
This playbook is mostly applicable to thought leadership personal brands and educational content. I am clueless how to go viral with entertainment videos :rofl:
**Choose Niche**
Choose 1 niche. When starting out, you need to develop your unique voice, style, and perspective. Locking down 1 niche makes it easier to focus your content, experiment without being overwhelmed, and build traction before expanding to other topics.
**Your Main Account**
Ideally, use an old existing TikTok account. Its previous content doesn't matter. However, **never** delete old videos! Simply "hide" them by changing their privacy setting.
If you don't have an existing Tiktok account, then create a new account. However, do NOT start posting and do NOT connect to Contouron. You need to warm up the account for 4 weeks by scrolling videos, commenting, bookmarking, etc like a normal person.
AFTER 4 weeks of warmup, start posting 1 video per day. Every video should reach >200 views. That means your account is healthy and warmed up.
AFTER the 4-week warmup period, then you can post multiple videos per day and connect your Tiktok to Contouron.
**Your 2nd Tiktok Account**
This 2nd Tiktok account will be used for inspiration. Curate its "For You Page" so that it only shows v
---
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