Social Distribution

Social is where developers discover products between commits. This skill turns strategy and long-form content into platform-native posts — not the same caption pasted everywhere. Each platform has different norms; respect them or get ignored.

Chains from [[growth-strategy]] (channels, pillars, calendar) and [[content-marketing]] (articles to snippet). Feeds traffic to landing pages optimized via [[seo-growth]]; engagement handled by [[community-engagement]] in comments and DMs.

When to Use

• Daily/weekly social posting cadence
• Launch announcement threads (X, LinkedIn)
• Repurposing a blog post into social snippets
• Product update posts, feature highlights, tips
• Engagement replies and quote-tweet strategy (templates)
• Planning a Show HN / Product Hunt / Reddit launch post

Skip for long-form articles — use [[content-marketing]]. Skip for in-community moderation — use [[community-engagement]].

Process

1. Load the distribution brief

From [[growth-strategy]] or gather:

• Platforms (primary + secondary) — X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, etc.
• Cadence — e.g. X 1/day, LinkedIn 3/week, Reddit 1/week value post
• Campaign theme — this week's pillar
• Links — landing page, UTM-tagged URLs per platform
• Voice — technical, helpful, no cringe hype
• Assets — GIFs, screenshots, demo video links from content team

Build UTM pattern: ?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=[campaign]

2. Platform playbooks

Adapt format and tone per platform:

X / Twitter

• Hooks in first line — pain, stat, or bold claim
• Threads: 5–10 tweets, one idea per tweet, last tweet = CTA + link
• Code snippets, screenshots, short demo GIFs perform well
• Reply to relevant dev conversations (don't spam links)
• 1–2 hashtags max; often zero is better

LinkedIn

• Professional story arc — problem → journey → lesson → soft CTA
• Carousels: 5–8 slides, one point per slide, last slide CTA
• Tag people sparingly; authenticity over engagement bait
• Comment on posts in your ICP's feed

Reddit

• Read subreddit rules first — many ban self-promotion
• Value-first post: full guide in text; link at end or in comment if allowed
• r/SideProject, r/webdev, r/cscareerquestions, r/startups — pick where ICP lives
• Never astroturf; be transparent you're the builder

Dev.to / Hashnode

• Cross-post tutorials with canonical URL if blog exists
• Add discussion tag; engage in comments

Hacker News / Product Hunt

• One-shot launch; prepare title, tagline, first comment (maker story)
• HN: "Show HN: [Product] — [specific benefit]" not marketing speak
• PH: clear screenshots, maker comment, respond to every question for 24h

3. Content batch — weekly pack

Produce a 7-day pack (adjust cadence to brief):

Each row: full draft text ready to copy-paste, character count for X, hashtag notes.

4. Launch sequence (when applicable)

For product/feature launch, run this sequence:

1. T-7 days — teaser ("building something for dev networking")
2. T-3 days — problem thread (pain without naming product)
3. T-1 day — "launching tomorrow" + what to expect
4. Launch day — thread + LinkedIn + Reddit/HN/PH per brief
5. T+1 — thank you + early user highlight
6. T+7 — results/learnings post (transparency builds trust)

Draft all six in one sitting; schedule or queue.

5. Engagement rules

• Reply within 24h to comments on your posts — template helpful replies, not "thanks!"
• Quote tweets / reshare user wins and feedback (with permission)
• Never argue in public threads — take heated DMs offline
• Track which hooks got saves/shares — feed back to [[growth-strategy]] weekly review

6. Compliance and quality gate

Before publishing:

• Link works and UTM tags correct
• No unverified claims
• Platform character limits respected
• Reddit/forum post follows that community's rules
• Screenshots don't expose private user data

Common Rationalizations

• "Same post everywhere saves time" — Lazy cross-posting gets zero engagement everywhere.
• "More hashtags = more reach" — On X and LinkedIn, hashtag stuffing looks spammy.
• "Reddit is free advertising" — Reddit will ban you. Lead with value.
• "We'll engage later" — First-hour replies boost reach; schedule time for launch day.

Red Flags

• Every post is "Sign up now!" with no value
• Links broken or missing UTM tracking
• Launch day with no maker story or demo
• Ignoring comments on launch posts
• Posting promotional content in communities that forbid it

Verification

Distribution pack is done when:

• Weekly post pack with full drafts per platform
• UTM links defined for each platform
• Launch sequence drafted (if launch campaign)
• Engagement reply templates for common questions
• Platform rule check for Reddit/forum posts
• Quality gate checklist passed