Field notes
Playbooks, teardowns and the occasional argument — everything we have learned helping creators grow across every major platform.
TikTok engagement rates look higher than every other platform because they are usually calculated against views. Here is what the numbers mean.
A good Instagram engagement rate depends on your follower count more than anything else. Here are the bands, the formula to use, and how to compare honestly.
There are four common engagement rate formulas and they give different answers. Here is each one, what it is for, and which to quote to a brand.
TikTok hashtags work as topic signals, not reach multipliers. Here is how many to use, why specific beats popular, and what actually drives the For You page.
Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post. Using all 30 is not a strategy. Here is the number that works, the mix, and where placement actually matters.
Hashtag rules do not transfer between platforms. Here is how many to use, where to put them, and what they actually do on each network.
Extract a brand color palette from an image you already have, then turn five hex codes into a system you can apply consistently.
Every vertical feed draws its interface on top of your video. Here are the covered regions per platform, and how to design once for all of them.
An aspect ratio is a shape, not a size. Here is what each ratio is for, how to convert between them, and why cropping down beats scaling up.
WebP vs JPEG is the wrong question on its own. Here is which format wins for photographs, screenshots, logos and social uploads, and why.
Every platform recompresses your upload. Compressing first, correctly, is how you control the result instead of letting their algorithm decide.
Pinterest recommends a 2:3 Pin at 1000x1500. Here is why that ratio wins, what happens to taller Pins, and the title and description limits alongside it.