The TikTok ban is reshaping creator recruitment and agency best practices on social media
While TikTok’s status in the U.S. still hangs in the balance, agencies are already shifting the way they recruit creators and develop strategies for their creator campaigns moving forward.
Now even as marketers warily resume their influencer marketing spending, agencies feel pressured to put more emphasis on creators’ multi-platform presence and flexibility in their advertiser contracts. It will no longer be enough for creators to have a million followers on any single platform.
“It kind of makes you think a little bit more deeply about the campaigns moving forward each and every deliverable the way we go about future campaigns, as well,” said Ria Madon, senior director of creator partnerships at social media agency Superdigital. “Moving forward, [the focus is] working with creators who have diversified their platforms and have similar reach on all platforms, versus just one or the other — it’s affecting that thought process across the board for me.”
This comes as TikTok faces a 75-day extension on its previous Jan. 19 ban or sale deadline in the U.S., as talks of a potential sale are simultaneously ongoing with several tech giants and rumored interested buyers. Many agencies and creators have been repurposing their short-form content for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Snapchat and expanding other products and content, like newsletters, merchandising or personal websites.
The social and influencer agencies in particular are trying to be more sophisticated in how they recruit different types of talent and creators — stressing a multi-platform presence on social media, as well as flexibility to make adaptable content should any disruptions arise on any channel. They want to see that creators in general come in not just with a large following, but audience reach and engagement across several major platforms.
Before this threat to TikTok, it may not have been a yellow flag if a creator focused heavily on TikTok and less so on other platforms. Now it’s shifting to look more holistically at social media activity in case they need to pivot mid-campaign. During this uncertainty, many creators were already posting on Instagram Reels, even though they preferred the TikTok algorithm, added Felipe Mendez, manager at United Talent Agency Marketing. YouTube Shorts seemed to be more of an “uncharted territory for many,” Mendez noted. Additionally, some creators are also focusing on transitioning to more long-form YouTube content, as well as using YouTube Shorts.
“Contracts have been created with options so we could remain ahead of the curve, and they’re prepped for any platform changes for future campaigns,” said Mendez.
For UTA, new partnerships seem to be trickling in “a little slower” as brands adapt their deliverables, but budgets are still flowing into TikTok for the time being, Mendez said, anecdotally. “But [creators] definitely more prepared for a quick pivot.” Brands seem to be expecting that, too, Mendez said, and are operating on timelines of three videos in two months versus three in three months.
TikTok’s vulnerability has been a wake-up call for creators and agencies to diversify constantly. At Superdigital, if creators had at least one TikTok deliverable in their work, they recently included “an extra ask” for them to produce alternative content adapted for Instagram and other platforms, Madon explained, adding that the agency expects to see this addendum more widely going forward for their creator agreements.
“Creators will work with us, the agency and the brand to figure out an alternative route for their content deliverables, which sounds like something that should be in all contracts — but quite frankly, it’s not something that I’ve really seen,” Madon told Digiday. “Because it’s not something that we often thought about too much before all of this had happened.”
On the brand side, the agency is looking more closely at the content recommendations to ensure they are not just investing solely in TikTok or Instagram, Madon added. “It was interesting, because a lot of the time we would be replacing one TikTok video with maybe two or three alternate deliverables,” she said.
Understand what’s working
Right now, the focus isn’t exactly on the specific tactics between Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat or even RedNote — but an overall recommendation to “post your content everywhere, track your wins after a few months and pivot based on data,” Mendez added.
This is where UTA has also been reinvesting in its research IQ team to determine the appropriate content strategies for clients, said Stephanie Smith, VP and head of IQ strategy at UTA. The team draws on some 30 data sources to analyze a creator’s “cultural positioning, audience demographics and the key drivers” that could include social content analytics, social listening, audience interests and search activity, per Smith.
“We create a detailed profile of the talent, capturing who they are and what they represent,” Smith added.
On TikTok specifically, UTA worked with clients to review top-performing content and develop recommendations for cross-posting on YouTube and Instagram — like what type of content to make more of and where to adjust if something underperformed. They also reviewed audience demographics and got feedback from followers to home in on where creators need to expand outside of TikTok.
“The custom research [explored] where they want to see their favorite creators appear, such as on Substack, and at what price point they would be willing to pay for premium content,” Smith said.
Smith gave one example of an unnamed client releasing a new cookbook who used data showing that organic content resonated most with her audience — so the promotion was focused on creating “natural moments,” Smith explained.
Madon also believes these strategies will continue to evolve as it varies based on campaign and client expectations, regardless of what ultimately comes of TikTok. Besides YouTube and Instagram, there are some campaigns also testing out Snapchat, as that client was more interested in a Snapchat audience — but that all comes down to the client budget, channels and negotiation process, as well, she explained.
“We’re not thinking of TikTok the same after the temporary ban on Jan. 19,” Madon said. “While short-lived, the impact was majorly felt.”
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