My TikTok Agency Accelerator Experience

If you get the opportunity to experience the TikTok Agency Accelerator program, you are in for a treat! It truly is a career-defining program and the attention that TikTok put into both professional growth and personal development had a huge impact on my cohort.

So, what can you expect? The program kicked off back in April of 2022 and included four offsite sessions, featuring keynotes and panel discussions from industry leaders, and culminated in a three-day residency program in the beautiful Byron Bay. Below, I’ve shared a few of my experiences from last year and hope you feel inspired to apply for the 2023 cohort by the time you've finished reading!

The Keynote Sessions:

So, let’s dive straight into it! Session 1 was all about ‘fandom’, with Zoe Scaman, the founder of UK-based strategy studio Bodacious, taking us through her winning formula:

Community: Peer-to-peer - there is a strong rise of Algorithmic Social Networks leading the charge. Either get with it, or get left behind.

Autonomy: Creative freedom and active encouragement and co-creation with fans is a must!

Equity: Fan ‘buy in’ with shared payback will form deeper connections with your brand's fans aka customers.

Session 2 dove into People-to-People Commerce to help us elevate our thinking and create meaningful ways to connect with customers in an ever-evolving online world. The keynote was Bettina McLeod, Founder & CEO of Try@Home, with my main takeaways as follows:

• Think outside the box - brands can’t evolve if they don’t keep up with the times, but also remember to learn from what’s been done in the past

• Are you really customer-focused if all your interactions with your customers are online?

• Word of mouth can’t be forgotten in the digital age

• Watch what customers do, not what they say

• Brands have never been closer to their customers thanks to technology, so capitalise on it and bring the user in

Session 3, titled the ‘Early Bird gets the Worm’ investigated ‘Sound On’ environments, proving that sound is a force to be reckoned with and can prompt powerful emotional responses in people. The keynote speaker, Ralph Van Dijk, is a world authority on effective sound advertising and audio branding. It was a key reminder of the below:

• No one speaks like a radio ad IRL, so why do brands consistently yell at consumers?

• Our ears are the best ‘bullsh*t’ detectors we have, and they’re hardwired to detect it even within the first syllable of the first word

• In Australia only 1/3 brands have a sonic brand identity

We also heard about powerful examples of how brands are using their sonic branding or music to connect with their customers:

• Maccas 50 years of the big mac sonic branding for consumers to co-create: https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-AU/inspiration/mcdonald's-462 and the UGC created off the back of the campaign: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/maccas-remix

• Bunnings Remix: https://www.tiktok.com/@jaycee/video/6821423322463505670

The final session before the residency, pivoted towards more of a personal development lens leaning into the ‘The Trust Equation’. Trust is one of the most important things in a workplace. It boosts morale, fast tracks relationships, encourages development and acts as a fundamental building block to any organisation. Without trust, teams simply cannot function well. The keynote speaker, JJ Ferrari, was the CEO for Tony Robbins Australia, trained sales teams in 5 countries and has coached, trained, and consulted over 1,800 businesses across 150+ industries. Here are my key takeaways:

• Decisions x Creativity x Confidence = Trust Equation

• Decisions - asking questions is one of the most important parts of decision making

• Creativity - creative energy is a must, the trick is to be able to recognise it in yourself

• Confidence - There are 8 major confidences to acknowledge in self and in others: Financial, Communication, Relationship, Body, Creativity, Decision Making, Learning, Self

TikTok Accelerator Residency Program

The residency was a three-day offsite in the beautiful Byron Bay, home to the Arakwal people. We started off with team building exercises and had TikTok’s very own Cambo and Anny open up to us about what leadership experiences and bias they’ve had to work through as leaders of their trade. This session really set the scene for the next three days, creating an open-minded space for all of us to thrive.

Day two kicked off with ‘Building Your Professional Brand’ with Dan Gregory, looking at how to hack human nature and use design over discipline to create a bias towards success. He started off by pointing out that your brand is what people say about you behind your back and provided us with hacks to shape our own.

We then had Nicole Hatherly join us for ‘The Art of Story Pitching’, where she deep dived into the concept, sharing valuable techniques on how best to influence your clients through insightful storytelling.

The residency then concluded with two amazing keynotes focusing on personal development, starting off with Holly Ransom, named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review. She shared the importance of understanding your drivers and thinking from your “courage zone” rather than comfort.

Finally, Layne Beachley wrapped up the event with a powerful session that brought most of us to tears. As one of Australia’s greatest athletes, she has forged a career spanning twenty years and has used that skill and determination to help young women achieve their goals in whatever field they chose. Layne workshopped ideas and theories that helped us tap into the people we are destined to be.

In summary, this program has been career defining and all of us connected and will continue to connect in future years to come. It honestly was an experience like no other and I personally have grown so much from it. If you’re ready to supercharge your personal & professional development, I highly recommend you apply for the 2023 cohort. You won’t regret it!