TheShortlist Report

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Shortlist Report

Head to head

MADA vs Social Tale

Named side by side in 9 TikTok Shop agencies questions. Social Tale came out ahead on 7; on 2 the sample cannot tell them apart.

The Shortlist Report ·

40.0%MADA
53.5%Social Tale
0–7Questions led
2Too close to call

Over 9 TikTok Shop agencies questions measured by The Shortlist Report over 1592 AI responses, Social Tale was named more often than MADA on 7 of them, MADA on 0, and the sample could not separate them on the remaining 2.

How MADA and Social Tale differ

This data does not establish which firm is better. MADA’s strongest result relative to Social Tale was on “Which TikTok Shop agencies work with enterprise consumer packaged goods brands?” (48.2% versus 51.4%), while Social Tale’s strongest result relative to MADA was on “Our TikTok Shop sales stalled after a strong first month. Who can we hire to fix it?” (47.4% versus 18.8%).

Those are the clearest differences in the shared sample. They measure which firm AI assistants surfaced more often for each buyer question, not service quality or client results.

Question by question

QuestionMADASocial TaleAhead
Which agencies work with supplement, apparel, food and home goods brands on TikTok Shop?210 responses55.2%71.0%Social Tale
We are a DTC beauty brand launching on TikTok Shop. Which agency should we work with?239 responses58.6%66.9%Same tier — too close to call
Which agencies specialize in TikTok Shop affiliate and creator programs?159 responses47.2%59.1%Social Tale
Which TikTok Shop agencies work with enterprise consumer packaged goods brands?245 responses48.2%51.4%Same tier — too close to call
What are the best TikTok Shop agencies for a small brand with a limited budget?157 responses29.9%47.8%Social Tale
What are the best agencies for TikTok Shop creator sourcing and management?153 responses26.1%43.8%Social Tale
Which agencies run TikTok Shop paid media and GMV Max campaigns?245 responses27.8%39.2%Social Tale
Our TikTok Shop sales stalled after a strong first month. Who can we hire to fix it?154 responses18.8%47.4%Social Tale
Which TikTok Shop agencies measure profit rather than just GMV?30 responses13.3%40.0%Social Tale

How to read this

Share is the percentage of sampled ChatGPT responses to a question that named the firm at all — a measure of visibility, not of the work. A capable firm little has been written about will score low, which is a fact about how often it gets named and not a verdict on whether to hire it.

"Too close to call" is a result, not a gap in the data. Firms are grouped into tiers holding every firm the sample cannot statistically separate from that tier's leader, so two firms in one tier are reported as level however their percentages happen to fall. On 2 of these 9 questions that is what the measurement supports, and saying otherwise would be inventing precision.

Nothing here is our judgement of who is good. It is a count of who gets named. Both firms are measured over the same questions and the same 1592 responses, so neither is being scored on a sample the other did not face.

The full picture on each

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