Can you imagine someone asking why Instagram is part of your marketing efforts? Of course not! Because Instagram delivers proven engagement with your audience and holds huge sway in travel inspiration. Yet many marketers DO question whether or not TikTok should be part of their social media strategy. Well, we’re here to unpack the platform’s positive impact on tourism and hospitality brands.
It’s Experiential
Smart marketers use TikTok to showcase more of the experience a visitor can enjoy. Destinations, resorts, hotels and vacation rentals go all in on the platform’s algorithm, romanticizing a lifestyle or location. Many even invite friend groups of influencers to promote their living-life-glamorously content to multiple fan bases at once. With these TikTokers talking directly to the camera, the videos come across as more personal. Commenters will say, “This feels like we’re on Facetime,” and who wouldn’t consider a recommendation from a friend?
It’s Hyper-Targeted
But before you say, “TikTok is only for young people,” you should know that there is a community of grand-fluencers blowing up on the platform for their humor and advice – see here, here and here. Following content trends is a sure way to reach a large number of users – and the algorithm then shapes the target audience based on response. TikTok creates a “For You” feed for every user based on their engagement and interests, so if someone loves to travel, they will be served content that fuels their wanderlust.
It‘s Video-Centric
Whether it’s perfectly-edited video filmed on a digital camera or low-quality footage captured by a Ring doorbell, any type of content has the potential to go viral on TikTok if it catches on with the right audience. Posters gain incredible traction because the platform pushes the content out to so many users at once. Reels is truly Instagram’s effort to jump on the bandwagon. (We said what we said.)
It’s Immediate
Brands who want to advertise on the platform should start by putting their own spin on TikTok trends. Here’s the catch: trends develop daily and are gone before you know it. For this reason, it’s important to post as soon as you see them. We also recommend using trending audios since the algorithm pushes those videos out first. Just be sure to make the captions simple, try to incorporate humor, keep it brief (the average user gives a video about seven seconds before deciding to stay or scroll) and make it more personal/less corporate. Users want their content to feel organic, not targeted.
If you’re asking yourself, “Didn’t I hear something about TikTok and government-owned devices?” you’d be correct. PBS News Hour took a deep dive into it here. What we can tell you for certain – from a marketing standpoint – is that TikTok produces user engagement never before seen on any other social media platform.
For travel and hospitality brands to truly succeed on TikTok, it takes a savvy strategy and nimble response – two traits that fall perfectly into Dana’s wheelhouse. Contact Lynn Kaniper at 609.466.9187 ext. 117 or lkaniper@danacommunications.com to partner with a social media powerhouse.
