PARKDEAN RESORTS

Parkdean Resorts already had something most holiday parks don’t: a dedicated careers TikTok.

When we started, @lifeatparkdean was the only employer brand TikTok in the UK holiday park sector. It was fun, it had personality, and some posts were reaching way beyond its follower count.

But the comments told a different story. Most of them came from guests.

“See you in June.” Not “how do I apply?”

The challenge

The account leaned heavily on trends and the entertainment team. Chefs, lifeguards, maintenance and managers barely featured. Posting was patchy, and too many videos landed under 1,000 views.

Parkdean set four goals:

Grow from 4,897 followers to 10,000 in 2026

Fewer posts under 1,000 views

Comments that sound like future staff, not future guests

Every post reads as employer brand, not consumer marketing

The approach

We started with a full audit of the channel: what was working, what wasn’t, and who was missing.

Then we built a system around Parkdean’s Social Champions, the staff already filming on park. Real people, on shift, on their phones. We edited where it helped.

An ideas tracker: 27 concepts, each tied to a content pillar and a search term jobseekers actually type into TikTok.

A trending sounds bank: trends turned into ready-to-film Parkdean briefs, each with a clear employer brand purpose.

A simple process: ideate, brief, film, approve, post, learn. Then do it again.

The results

From May to early July:

26 posts published

255,000+ total views

204 new followers

A 4.59% average engagement rate in May

In June, views were up 40% on May, and average views per post were up 81%, from fewer posts.

And the strongest-performing creative?

A chef’s day in the life. Filmed on park and Recut by us, it hit 93,000 views, the biggest post of our time working together. It also started showing up in TikTok search for chef and hospitality jobs, which is exactly where jobseekers look.

The long, polished production shoot? 1,272 views.

Why it worked

Because the best employer brand content doesn’t look like employer brand content.

It looks like a chef talking you through prep. Or the team keeping cool in a heatwave, spotted, filmed and posted inside a week.

Real staff talking honestly beat polish every time. And when you build content around what jobseekers search for, the right people find it.

The comments started to change too. Questions about staying on park started replacing “see you in June”. That’s what it sounds like when guests start picturing themselves as staff.

What Parkdean said

“Working with the Hiya team has been great! Dereck, Lucas and Hannah supported Parkdean Resorts with an audit of our careers specific TikTok, and content strategy for a month to inject new ideas into the mix, and support us in our aim to grow our following and engagement, while we also battle TikTok’s algorithm changes. We saw a considerable increase in views and engagement during our time working together, and look forward to working with the Hiya team again!”

Lauren, Employer Brand Manager, Parkdean Resorts

Want a careers channel people actually want to watch? Let’s talk.