When I joined ABC News and GMA3, the TikTok account had roughly 100 followers. During my tenure leading social strategy and content production, the operation grew the account beyond 1.2 million followers while expanding video views, engagement and production.
Those results were not the product of one viral moment or a secret posting schedule. They came from a series of practical decisions about audience, format, editorial judgment and workflow.
1. Stop treating the platform like a distribution endpoint.
A television segment and a useful TikTok are not automatically the same piece of content. The source material may be identical, but the opening, pacing, framing and reason to care have to work for someone encountering the story in a vertical feed.
That meant asking a different question. Instead of “What clip should we post?” the team had to ask, “What is the clearest, most compelling version of this story for this audience, in this environment?”
2. Repeatable formats create more value than isolated hits.
A viral post can produce an impressive screenshot. A repeatable format produces an operating advantage. We focused on structures the team could recognize and reproduce: clear explainers, useful takeaways, timely reactions, personality-led moments and sharp edits that respected both the story and the viewer’s time.
The goal was not to make every post look identical. It was to eliminate the need to reinvent the entire creative process every day.
3. Editorial trust is a performance asset.
News brands sometimes assume that platform-native content requires lowering their standards. It does not. The strongest work translates authority into a format people will actually consume.
Speed mattered, but so did context, accuracy and judgment. The content had to feel native without becoming careless—and accessible without stripping away the substance that made the brand credible.
4. Growth requires a production system, not just good ideas.
More output is not automatically better. But when a team has clear priorities, reusable formats and a faster path from idea to approval, it can create more without creating chaos.
During this period, production increased 150%. That mattered because it represented more opportunities to learn which subjects, openings, voices and formats earned attention. The system created a feedback loop between publishing and strategy.
5. Commercial content should receive the same editorial thinking.
Branded content often underperforms because the audience can feel the machinery of the integration. We revised the social approach so paid work began with the same questions as editorial work: Why would someone stop? What does the viewer receive? How should the idea behave on this platform?
The revamped paid-integration strategy contributed to $3 million in year-over-year branded-content revenue growth. The lesson was not that advertising should disguise itself. It was that commercial content still has to respect the audience.
What leaders should take from this
The answer is not “post more TikToks.” The useful question is whether your team has made the decisions required to operate well:
- Do you know the distinct job each platform performs?
- Are your formats repeatable without becoming formulaic?
- Can the team move quickly without weakening trust?
- Does performance data change what you make next?
- Can commercial work create genuine audience value?
If those decisions are unresolved, a larger content calendar will simply scale the confusion. Strategy is what turns activity into a system—and a system is what makes growth more repeatable.
Performance figures reflect results achieved during Brandon Lopez’s tenure leading social strategy and content production at ABC News/GMA3. They are presented as prior professional experience, not as True Reach Media Group client results.