With TikTok deadline, agencies are ‘staying the course’ but prepared to respond this weekend

“We’re worn down a little bit by the drama,” said Joanna Fowler, head of talent at Shine Talent Group. “We’re ready to just … move into the action phase, [which includes] building on another platform.”

Reach Agency CEO Gabe Gordon agreed that agencies are ready for a decision and are “are even more prepared this time” with contingency plans already approved from the previous ban discussions. “So if it does come down to the worst-case scenario, all that needs to be done is executed,” Gordon added.

Scenario planning is ongoing

Contingency planning this week is another bit of deja vu. What’s similar is that agencies are staying focused on execution of their backup plans and client or creator contracts. Yet what’s changed is that they feel more equipped going in with more data, such as historical performance on campaigns, budgets, user engagement and platform signals on rival apps, after TikTok’s brief shutdown in January.

“What’s changed is that we now have more signal around platform behavior based on the previous brief TikTok removal from app stores,” said Kevin Goodwin, vp of performance marketing at digital agency New Engen. “That data validated our expectations — user engagement held steady, and adjacent platforms like Pinterest saw a short-term spike.”

Other ongoing strategies include diversifying across social platforms, updating creator contracts and planning to move client budgets quickly leading up to the deadline.

“Advertisers aren’t flinching, they’re staying the course,” said Darren D’Altorio, vp of paid social at Wpromote. “[We can] quickly pivot client budgets toward similar audiences, communities and creative formats across the broader social landscape, like Meta Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snap Commercials and Reddit Category Takeovers.”

This week, agencies are also armed with data backups and technical preparedness, D’Altorio explained: “This time around, we’re taking it a step further by proactively downloading key campaign data ahead of the deadline as a precaution.” Along with the existing contingency plans, it has helped give “clients [the] added reassurance,” D’Altorio said.

Buyer bonanza

While multiple bidders have reportedly surfaced — including Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon and OnlyFans — all eyes have been on Amazon’s last-minute bid, which broke late this week, per influencer marketing agency execs. Agency execs view it as a game-changer in terms of the creator and commerce impact. Imagine if TikTok could have “one-touch seamless checkout on Prime,” said Ross Collins, director of media services at New Engen.

If anything, Amazon’s bid is a signal of TikTok’s impact on consumers and social commerce — right now 45.5% of U.S. TikTok users purchase on the social app, according to Jasmine Enberg, vp of content at eMarketer.

“[Amazon’s] ability to tie together tracking, social commerce and their ad network makes this potentially much bigger than just a platform swap,” Goodwin added.

But just like with their backup plans, execs are keeping an eye on buyers but remaining adaptable: “Each [buyer] means different things for how content works, how creators engage and how brands show up,” said Raul Rios, head of strategy at agency Saylor. “For us, the focus isn’t on guessing who wins the bid — it’s on being ready the day after the ink dries.”

Current investments are stable

At the time of reporting, agencies are seeing TikTok investments holding steady but they are still monitoring through the weekend and into Monday as they await a decision.

Danielle Schultz, director of paid social at PMG, added that sentiment around staying on TikTok is “generally positive” with most clients “staying the course through the weekend and [reassessing] any potential investment shifts on Monday” based on the outcome.

“Leading up to this weekend, we haven’t had any new requests from clients to reassess spend on TikTok,” said Ed East, group CEO of influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy. “This week, it seems like it’s business as usual for creators on TikTok, and we haven’t seen much online discussion or concern around the potential ban.”

Advertisers are perhaps also cautious not to be too reactive, given what they’ve seen from earlier this year. If TikTok is still active now, they’ll keep spending, said Brian Quinn, general manager and president of North America at marketing analytics platform AppsFlyer.

“There’s a bit of whiplash from that last episode, so many advertisers are understandably cautious about making knee-jerk changes to their media strategies for something that may not actually come to pass,” Quinn said.