I hope you’re having a great summer Sunday.

I am sitting down to write my newsletter after spending a long weekend in Shelter Island, NY.

I ran into a friend last night at Sunset Beach who has done some content work for TickPick, a brand whose content strategy I have referenced to past clients more than once in the past.

For this week’s newsletter, I sat down with TickPick’s social pages to try to find what we can learn and - maybe - apply to our organic content strategy.

BUT FIRST, HERE ARE SOME UPCOMING NEW EDITION EVENTS TO CHECK OUT…

Subscribe to New Edition Events here.

Quick Background

TickPick was founded in 2011 by Brett Goldberg and Chris O’Brien, originally as a patented best deal ranking system, which assigned each ticket a rating from A+ to D.

In the summer of 2012, they raised a $250,000 seed round and built a mobile app that went live in 2014, promising cheaper second-hand tickets to events.

They ran into a bit of controversy in Michigan in 2017, but handled it well.

2018 was when things began to get interesting. 

They struck an endorsement deal with Ric Flair and became the official ticket marketplace for a dozen or so college athletic programs.

This started a series of partnership deals, ultimately leading to a $40M investment round in 2019.

In 2024, the company announced they’re going to do over $1B in revenue. 

That’s a lot of tickets.

The Strategic Syndication Approach

@tickpick

This is how to get Miss Possessive Tour tickets for under $100 #misspossessivetour #misspossesive #misspossessive #misspossesivetour #tate... See more

Content can get overwhelming fast with limited teams and budgets. I always advise clients to syndicate content across platforms—turning one piece into 3-5 different posts.

However, some content performs better on certain platforms. TickPick knows this.

The video above generated 1.4M views on TikTok but isn't on their Instagram feed. They likely engage this creator for TikTok only because they've tested these videos and seen them underperform on Instagram.

Yes, syndicate content, but if posts will underperform and hurt engagement metrics, skip those platforms.

The Lesson: Syndicate content across platforms to maximize ROI, but test performance first—if certain content consistently underperforms on specific channels, strategically skip those platforms rather than posting everywhere.

Thought starters:

• 🏡 A home decor brand could post room makeover videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels, but skip posting them on LinkedIn where they historically get low engagement

• 🎮 A tech accessories brand could share meme-style content on TikTok and Twitter, but avoid posting the same content on Instagram where their audience expects polished product shots

• 🥘 A food brand could post behind-the-scenes cooking videos on Instagram Stories and TikTok, but skip Facebook where their audience engages more with recipe carousel posts

Niche Accounts Can Expand Reach

tickpick

431K followers

View more on Instagram

I said it last week when breaking down Wimbledon’s Content Strategy and I’ll say it again: Collaboration posts are the best organic growth lever right now.

TickPick does this well, collaborating with informal accounts—meme pages and fan accounts—that are hyper-relevant to their content.

For example: Their Barry Bonds Bobblehead Night post went viral. The collaboration partners were baseball media accounts. Had TickPick posted alone, their audience would've been interested, but the niche accounts gave them exponentially larger reach.

The Lesson: Partner with niche accounts that align with your product or customer interests—micro-influencers, hobby communities, meme accounts, or fan pages relevant to your brand.

Thought starters:

• 💪 A fitness apparel brand could collaborate with gym meme accounts, workout influencers, and sports fan pages

• 🧴 A skincare brand could partner with beauty community accounts, dermatology educators, and self-care content creators

• ☕️ A coffee brand could work with morning routine accounts, productivity influencers, and coffee culture pages

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

Make Your Audience Feel Smart

joebonham

50K followers

View more on Instagram

I love TickPick's street interview angle at the NBA Finals. The content is self-affirming—as a diehard Sixers fan, watching this video affirms I'm a true fan.

The reality? They probably asked 40 people, 30 knew the answer and 10 didn't. They edited using the ten who didn't know.

Past advertising made people feel products would improve them. That still works, but people want brands that understand them—validating their fears, dreams, and viewpoints as normal.

The Lesson: Create content that validates customers by showcasing scenarios that highlight common frustrations or celebrate shared values.

Thought starters:

• 🗃️ A bedding brand could create "people trying to fold fitted sheets" videos where most fail miserably, making their organized customers feel validated about their superior tidying skills

• 🐶 A pet food brand could showcase "dog owners who can't identify basic breed characteristics" content, affirming serious pet parents' knowledge and dedication to their animals

• 🍺 A craft beer brand could film "people attempting to describe beer styles" where most get it completely wrong, making beer enthusiasts feel proud of their sophisticated taste and knowledge

Shoot me an email ([email protected]) if you have any questions.

If you want me to dive into any of these more, let me know!

TickPick's billion-dollar success stems, in part, from three smart content strategies: strategic platform syndication, niche account collaborations, and validation content that makes customers feel understood.

If you’re a brand, I’d love to spend 30-minutes with you giving my thoughts on ways to improve your content strategy. Here is a link to my Free Social Strategy Call.

See you next time ✌️