• Social Strategy Consultant for agency Second Rodeo, establishing social approach for client Perplexity (AI search engine valued at $9B, with millions of monthly users and a top-ranking app)

  • Perplexity had an existing TikTok account that was not scaling or earning any significant engagement. We suspected that a history of paid boosting had stunted its organic reach. Meanwhile, the brand also had no presence on YouTube Shorts, a rapidly growing short-form video platform.

    We needed to:

    • Establish a data-driven short-form content strategy

    • Experiment, test, and iterate to find the best content format, optimizing for maximum organic reach and engagement

    • Launch a new YouTube account (KPIs: Views, Audience Growth)

    • Determine if a new TikTok channel would perform better than the existing one (KPIs: Views, Engagement Rate)

  • TikTok: Initially, we posted on the existing account, but we saw the pattern of limited traction continue. To validate our theory that a fresh start would yield better results, we took a chance and launched a whole new TikTok channel, optimized by:

    • Establishing a refined content voice and clear editorial style

    • Applying short-video optimization best practices (hooks, captions, pacing)

    • Focusing on a consistent format instead of the previous mixed-content approach

    YouTube Shorts: We launched the channel from scratch, focusing on:

    • Strong hooks to immediately capture attention

    • Unique, curiosity-driven topics to encourage watch-through

    • Thumbnails and titles optimized for high click-through rates

    For both, we operated on the following principles: 

    • Experimentation is everything:  we tested different hosts, styles, and topics, allowing the data to guide us.

    • Algorithms reward consistency, clarity, and engagement-driven storytelling: our strong editorial voice and strategic optimization won us visibility

    • Sometimes, taking a calculated risk is necessary:  launching a brand-new TikTok was a bold move, but it paid off

  • TikTok

    In two weeks on the new account, we organically amassed:

    • 3.2M organic views

    • 353K engagements 

    • +340% Engagement Rate over platform benchmarks (11% vs 2.5%)

    YouTube Shorts

    In 10 weeks, our organic efforts earned:

    • 2.2 Million organic views

    • 6K Subscribers