Bernie Williams has nearly 15,000 followers on TikTok, where she’s built a following focusing on a specific niche: books via BookTok. It not only helped Williams grow her own audience and figure out what works to go viral, but, last July, led to a new job at creative agency OKRP.
“Our recruiter went through all my social media and contacted me,” Williams said, adding that a friend had recently started at the agency and helped her write her resume. Williams put her personal social media work on her CV and noted that she’s been “featured in articles about being a BookTok influencer”, which can “help legitimize the work – you don’t don’t know how seriously people will take it.”
Williams’ presence on TikTok and her innate ability to understand the platform appealed to the agency, according to Betsy Ross, OKRP’s client affairs manager. “We looked at who Bernie was on the platform,” Ross said. “We had the content to take advantage of real-time trends. Who Bernie was became the answer before we knew what the role would become.
Williams joined OKRP as a trendsetter last summer. (She has since been promoted to senior social strategist.) Since joining, she has used her understanding of social trends to help the agency find ways to stay abreast of current trends for clients, and she uses the knowledge that ‘she’s acquired as a creator and producer to edit content so it’s more likely to go viral.
As TikTok continues to grow and become a go-to for advertisers, some marketers and agency executives are using the platform to scout for talent or take a closer look at the personal profiles of potential recruits. By doing so, agencies hope to find talent with a better understanding of the platform.
“Client demand for TikTok content is growing,” said Bridget Jewell, Dentsu Creative Group’s chief creative officer, social, adding that the agency’s team focused on TikTok content has tripled in size over the past year. last year. The agency began using people’s personal TikToks as a way to find talent and “put candidates in the pipeline,” according to Jewell. “It’s easy for us to understand that they can create content that will resonate,” Jewell said.
Other agencies pay more attention to portfolios that include TikToks that illustrate what potential employees can do for their clients on the platform. Showcasing the ability to create the kind of content that would work well for clients has long been a part of advertising — extending that to TikTok is simply an evolution of that idea to meet the needs of agencies today, executives say.
“Someone’s ability to gain a social network is a really great experience,” said Gabe Gordon, co-founder of social store Reach Agency, adding that while the store has hired creators in the past, it doesn’t. Wasn’t the only reason they were hired. “It’s unique to the times in which we work. Before, people couldn’t do TV commercials or banner ads for fun. It’s a paradigm shift that people have the opportunity to gain the necessary experience and accelerate.
Although Gordon clarified that Reach Agency does not hire employees based on social followings, he noted that there has been an increase in resumes, especially creative resumes, in which people share TikTok content. that they created. Meanwhile, a rental from last summer stood out from the store with a TikTok she designed specifically to apply to Reach. “We saw his incredible ability to tell a story,” Gordon said of TikTok. “It helped her stand out. She showed us that she could do the job.
Glenn Ginsburg, president of QYOU Media, echoed that sentiment, noting that the personal understanding of potential platform employees shows up in interviews and when they present personal profiles “it helps them stand out.”
“When you see someone who is clearly in the mix, gives us the understanding to tell a story in seconds and formats creators and creators, that makes a difference,” Ginsberg said.
The need for the kind of expertise someone might have from their own personal profile on a platform like TikTok is likely more important for boutique agencies than holding companies, according to advertising recruiter Christie Cordes, who noted that “every employee represents the agency much more” in the boutiques. “We see boutique agencies, younger agencies want to see someone master the platform before they hire,” Cordes said.
That’s not to say that agencies as a whole are now combing TikTok for potential hires or that a personal profile will make or break someone’s ability to get hired. Marinda Yelverton, senior vice president of brand solutions at creator commerce company Whalar, explained that hiring talent who is also a creator can be an advantage because they also offer the creator’s perspective. But it’s really a “benefit, not a checkpoint” for the store, Yelverton said.
That’s a view shared by Shuree Jones, paid social group director and influencer at Rain the Growth Agency. “If you have a creator mindset and work in social media, it pays to show potential stores that you can create content,” Jones said. “It’s not necessary, but it’s an extra help.”
Even so, this is less important to Jones than a candidate’s ability to talk about trends in the content they consume and how brands can access that content.
“Someone’s personal social profile is less important to me than their view as a consumer of that medium,” Jones added. “Can you identify three trends on Pinterest? What are your favorite accounts to follow on Instagram? What is your TikTok trend lately? »
Jones continued, “I want to know less about how you produce content and more about how you consume it. For me, our job is to be in the eyes of the consumer and how our brands interact with consumers. »
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