In a crowded market of video platforms, TikTok has emerged as a powerful competitor.
As a travel agency owner, I know you can’t afford to miss out on promoting your travel business here.
This article equips you to leverage TikTok’s full potential. We’ll explore why TikTok is a perfect fit for travel businesses and delve into specific marketing strategies. I’ll also show you how to measure your campaign success.
But before diving in, let’s discuss the key benefits of using TikTok for your travel business.
Why Travel Businesses Need TikTok?
As a travel business owner, there are numerous reasons for you to use TikTok as a marketing platform. I’ve mentioned some significant benefits below.
1. Expand Audience Reach
TikTok has over a billion monthly active users globally, which shows the rapid growth of this social media platform. TikTok’s users are not based on a single region but are worldwide. This global reach helps travel businesses like you to promote your brand on an international level.
From a demographic point of view, TikTok is massively popular with the Gen Z generation, with about 60% of its user base. This diversity enables you to tailor your content to various age groups, preferences, and travel styles.
Another huge advantage is its algorithm, which promotes your content based on user interaction rather than follower count. This advantage becomes helpful if you have just started using TikTok. Based on your travel content, TikTok shows your videos to people interested in traveling, thus helping to widen your reach.
2. Highly Visual Platform
Travel is all about stunning destinations and exciting experiences. TikTok’s format, with its short, captivating videos, is perfect for showcasing these and inspiring travelers.
You can create compelling narratives that are widely shared, increasing your reach. By creating this type of content, you turn your audience into advocates who promote your travel services within their networks.
Inspiring viewers and creating a memorable impression can encourage them to take the next step, like visiting a booking website or planning their next trip.
3. Build and Connect with the Travel Community
With TikTok, you can connect with a global travel community and gain valuable audience feedback and insights. These insights can help you meet changing expectations and adjust your marketing and content strategy accordingly.
A well-connected community is likely to share your content, participate in your challenges, and contribute by making their content to promote your travel brand. TikTok pushes content with high engagement, and you can take advantage of that feature by engaging with your TikTok community.
You can build strong connections with your audiences using different methods, such as community challenges, polls, and Q&A sessions.
4. Viral Possibilities
Unlike other platforms, even small travel businesses on TikTok have a chance to go viral with engaging content. This organic reach can significantly boost your brand awareness and attract new clients.
Being viral also gives you social proof and credibility, as it attracts endorsements from influencers and a surge of user-generated content. This potential helps create a positive brand image.
5. Budget-Friendly Marketing
TikTok is a budget-friendly marketing platform. It is cost-effective compared to other marketing platforms, and the main reason is its organic reach potential. TikTok promotes engaging content. As long as you make engaging content, you can reach your target audience.
If you want to invest money in paid advertising, this platform offers a targeted advertising option where you can filter the target audience. This method ensures that interested travel enthusiasts interact with your ads. That way, you can get the most value for your money.
6. Stay Ahead of the Trends
Utilizing a platform like TikTok showcases your awareness of current trends and positions your travel agency as innovative and forward-thinking, appealing to a tech-savvy audience.
Trends, the ever-changing, relevant content on the platform, offer a temporary boost in visibility. By capitalizing on trending sounds, hashtags, and challenges, you can enhance your brand’s visibility. TikTok’s algorithm favors content made using popular trends.
For example, a trend focusing on “bucket list destinations” presents an opportunity to showcase your travel packages by creating content featuring the destinations you offer.
How to Use TikTok For Tourism Marketing?
1. Create a Business Account
First and foremost, you need a TikTok business account to establish your brand on the platform. To create a business account, create one by signing up. After the account creation,
- Go to the lower right corner and tap on the profile
- Tap on the icon three lines at the top.
- Tap Settings and Privacy
- Tap on Account
- Tap to Switch to Business Account
@tiktokforbusinesssea A #TikTokBusinessAccount is what you need to access analytics and tools to supercharge your #creativity ♬ original sound – TikTok for Business SEA Creating a TikTok business account
You have switched to a business account. In the next window, choose a category that suits your brand, and you are ready to use your TikTok business account.
With the business account, you can access TikTok’s analytics tools, which help track your campaign success.
2. Refine Your Profile
The next step is to optimize and refine your profile. Upload a high-quality logo or image that best represents your brand. Create an engaging and concise bio explaining your travel services and what your followers can expect from your content.
Also, include links to your website and booking platform. As your profile is the first point of contact, make it impressive to attract followers.
3. Knowing Your Target Audience
Knowing your target audience is crucial to developing strategies to excel your brand. This knowledge helps you devise content that resonates with your audience base. Note when your target audiences are most active and likely to engage with your content.
Interact with your audience regularly through comments and messages to gain deeper insights and build relationships.
You can create your travel content as per the target audience’s interests. As a result, it increases engagement rate and increases your brand awareness. You can monetize this increment by increasing the chance of conversion.
4. Exploring How TikTok Algorithm Works
Learning the workings of TikTok’s algorithm enables you to create compelling content. Knowing how the ‘For You’ page works can also widen your content’s visibility.
The engagement in your content, which includes likes, comments, shares, and video completion rates, directly impacts your content’s reach. This way, you can strategize to market your content efficiently and effectively.
Stay updated about the changes in the algorithm to adapt your content strategy.
5. Assessing the Competition
Explore the platform and find out what your competitors are doing. Find out the types of travel content they are making and look into the engagement their audience is making with them, as they are your target audience, too.
Analyze what they are doing good and what they lack. Then, implement the findings in creating your strategy. With this knowledge, you avoid common pitfalls.
Furthermore, look into the trends and gaps in your travel field. Using the trends, you can create content to fill that gap.
6. Develop Marketing Strategy
The next step is to build a strategy. Set clear and measurable goals such as improving engagement rates, increasing followers by X%, etc. Then, you can determine the metrics to keep track of your progress. I have discussed various metrics later in this article.
As per the goals, create a content calendar about each post’s timing, frequency and message or theme. You need to continuously monitor the performance of the posts so that you can use the types of content that are effective and modify your strategy accordingly.
You can explore different features to include in your strategies, such as;
1. Video Replies
You can engage with your audience by making a video responding to the comment. For example, if the user asks you about your travel package, you can respond by creating a video explaining your services.
@peytotheton Replying to @megfronie 4 travel tips for your first time in Paris 🇫🇷✨ #paristraveltip #parisguide #paristraveltok #paristouristadvice #touristdosanddonts #americantourist #paristraveladvice ♬ La Vie En Rose – Louis Armstrong Content creator making video reply to the follower’s comment.
2. Stitch Videos
The stitch video feature allows you to use another creator’s video and add your content to it. For instance, you can use a destination video to inform about the package you have for that location. Two contents occur one after another in the stitch feature.
@dallinhazard #stitch with @aureliestoryy Is Egypt on your bucket list of places to visit? 🤩 #travel #airbnbfinds #airbnb #traveltiktok ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show Stitch content example
3. Duets
Duets is similar to the stitch video feature in that you can use another creator’s content. The difference is that users view the two contents on the screen simultaneously. You can use this feature to give an opinion on another creator’s content.
@scottywartooth #duet with @Trippyhendrix_ Safe Travels! 👋😁 #jesustakethewheel ♬ original sound – Trippyhendrix_ Duet content example
4. Live
It is a popular feature of the platform. You can engage with your audiences in real-time. You can use this opportunity to answer any queries they have about your services. It is a great way to increase your followers.
@ondymikula How to go LIVE on TikTok 🔴 #tutorial ♬ Bananza belly dancer – koleeditss Content creator showing how to go live on TikTok.
5. Use of Effects
TikTok has many visual effects, including green screen effects and interactive background effects. You can make use of green screens to showcase your travel services. You can also create branded effects for your audience to use in their content.
@blakespopnook IM A FUNKO POP! i love this new branded effect by @OriginalFunko ✨ now we can all become our best pop selves and if you want to make one for real you can at Funko.com 🤩 #PopYourself #OriginalFunko ♬ original sound – blake silva Content creator using branded effect
With this information, let’s explore the different marketing strategies you can employ in TikTok. Select the best strategies for your tour packages regarding your target audience.
Without further ado, let’s dive into various strategies to use in TikTok.
TikTok Marketing Strategies
1. Influencer Marketing
Influencers are people who have a large number of followers on a platform. They are famous in their field. They build trust and credibility with their followers. They use their connections with their audiences to recommend products and services.
Travel influencer marketing refers to the marketing method in which you tie up with influencers to promote your travel products and services. It is the most effective form of marketing for your travel agency.
With this method, you don’t necessarily create your own content. Influencers will create it for your brand. However, the main hurdle is to find the right influencers. You have to take your time to find the right influencers.
You can then invite influencers to try your tour package. As they create content, your brand will get the exposure.
You can learn more about influencer marketing in this article: How Beneficial is Influencer Marketing in the Travel Industry?
2. Creating Your Content
Another marketing method is to get on the field and create content showcasing your travel products and services. Unlike other forms of marketing in TikTok, this is where you have all the control over your content.
You need to perform quite a bit of research to know what kind of travel content the creators are making and what is working on the platform.
Test different types of videos to find out which content is more engaging to the audience. Moreover, you need to post the content consistently.
You can even repurpose your video from other platforms, but make sure to edit it to fit this platform.
3. Account Takeovers
Account takeovers let other people use your account to post their content. By doing so, you increase your brand’s reach and gain a relevant audience.
People trust when your brand presents authentic content without being salesy. Brand takeover lets you use that genuine connection between the creator and followers in your favor.
This method is a great way to promote your new travel product and service.
4. TikTok Advertising Using Ads
You can use TikTok ads to advertise your service. You can use different types of ads, such as in-feed and spark ads.
TikTok displays in-feed ads between the content and is hard to spot as it is similar to regular content. There is a high chance audience scroll through this.
Spark ads can be helpful in such cases as you can use regular content as ads. You can use your content or other creators’ content with their permission.
5. User Generated Content
User Generated Content(UGC) is your brand’s most reliable and trusted form of marketing. It is an authentic content created by the creators. You can use branded hashtags and branded effects to generate UGC. Doing a viral hashtag challenge encourages people to participate, as we have seen in the past.
Unlike the ads, creators have freedom and are creative in making content that connects your audience with your brand. It helps to increase your brand awareness.
The simple reason for user-generated content being successful is that people believe when other people give positive reviews of the product rather than the brand itself.
How to Measure Your Campaign Success?
You can use various metrics to measure the success of your marketing campaigns in TikTok. I have listed significant metrics in this article.
1. Views
Views are the basic metric to track. They illustrate how many times the audience watched your video. High views represent that your content is successful in capturing attention.
You can use this metric in different ways. You track the views over time to identify the patterns, such as which days and times are more effective for your content. Use this metric and analyze it with other factors like video length, hashtags used, and content type. This metric helps to identify what content resonates best with your audience.
2. Engagements
Engagement metric measures how the audiences are engaging with your content. It includes likes, comments, shares, and mentions. High engagement means you can capture the user’s attention.
Use engagement rate with views or followers. It measures how actively your audience engages with your content. Breaking down the engagement types helps to analyze on a deeper level. For instance, a high number of shares may indicate the potential for being viral, whereas an increased number of comments may represent a loyal following.
You can also analyze if your audience engages with your content positively or negatively way. With this, you get the opportunity to adjust your tones and styles. When you track engagement over time, you gain insight into the performance of your content to know if your content needs refreshment or a change of strategy.
3. Followers
This metric shows how many users subscribe to your brand to watch your content regularly. More followers mean you have a long-term reach and influence in TikTok.
This metric can show whether you have reached the target audience demographics. A rapid increase in followers may be due to specific campaigns or your viral video. However, a decrease in number shows that your audiences may have changed their interest, and you need to cater to that.
You can compare active and passive followers. Active followers engage with your content regularly. This metric also represents how many viewers you convert to followers with the content.
4. Watch Time
Watch time shows the total time users spend watching your videos. It is a key metric as it can show whether users are watching your content to the end or skipping it.
Longer watch time represents that your content is compelling. To find insights, you can use this metric with other factors, such as engagement.
For instance, if you have high watch time but low engagement, you know that users view your content but need inspiration. Similarly, if you see high engagement but low watch time, you can know if you have placed a call to action too soon.
This metric is also useful for determining which part of your video is uninteresting as viewers scroll to other content. This process helps you modify your strategy.
5. Live Video Analytics
This metric is especially important for live broadcasts. It includes viewer count, time watched, and interaction. It gives you an understanding of your ability to capture and maintain viewers’ attention and interaction.
You can find out what content or interactions were happening at the peak time. Peak time is when you have a peak viewer count so that you can replicate the process in your future sessions.
Also, find out the optimum time for your live session. You can find this by looking for how long you get a high interaction rate in your live sessions. Compare engagement rates before, during, and after the live session. This comparison helps you determine the effectiveness of launching your travel product in your next session.
Examples of Successful Brands on TikTok
1. Red Bull
Red Bull is a Thai beverage company. It has a unique way of advertising. They use extreme sports to associate their brand. They collaborated with people for different extreme sports such as diving, skiing, racing, and more.
They use different types of challenge videos with astounding sounds for the audience’s attention. Red Bull has various branded hashtags on TikTok, like #redbull, #redbulltv and more. They also sponsor several events that touch the emotion of humor.
For instance, this TikTok video garnered over 128M views with 6.4M likes, 25.2K comments, and 308.8K shares. This video is a sponsored event by Red Bull, where participant rides their bikes on the undulated cycle lanes. It touches on the emotion of humor.
@redbull these cycle lanes are getting out of control 😏 #redbull #givesyouwiiings #redbullstalenros #cycling #bike #netherlands #funny ♬ original sound – Red Bull
2. Chipotle
Chipotle is a popular Mexican chain. It has become a successful brand in TikTok, which has leveraged its huge reach to increase its brand awareness. Some of their successful branded hashtag campaigns include the #ChipotleLidFlip and #GuacDance challenge. They have received 360.4M and 1.1B views, respectively.
Besides branded hashtags, they use the influencer partnership strategy and make time-relevant content.
@daviddobrik #ChipotleLidFlip @chipotle #ad ♬ Flip – Future
Chipotle collaborated with an influencer to create this video. This video has got 6.4M views with 620K likes.
Conclusion
TikTok is no longer used just for entertainment purposes. You can do all sorts of things, including selling the product. Your travel business can leverage TikTok’s features to promote and sell your travel packages.
As mentioned in this guide, employ different marketing strategies to get the maximum benefits from TikTok. Consider metrics to measure success and observe popular and successful brands to modify your strategy accordingly if needed.
FAQs
How can TikTok be used for travel marketing?
You can use TikTok for travel marketing in various ways. You can showcase destinations through engaging videos, share travel trips, feature customer testimonials, and provide behind-the-scenes looks at your service.
How do you make a travel video go viral on TikTok?
To make travel videos go viral, create captivating and high-quality content that resonates with your target audience. Use popular music and current trends. Make your content entertaining and informative to encourage shares and likes.
How do I promote my travel package on TikTok?
You promote your travel package by creating videos showcasing the experiences. You highlight your unique selling points and customer reviews for authenticity. Use proper targeted hashtags and calls to action, directing viewers to book or learn more about your package.
How do I create a TikTok business account?
You can create a business account by going to your profile, accessing “Manage Account,” and then switching to a business account. From there, you can access analytics and other business features to enhance your marketing efforts.
How to create a TikTok ad account?
Go to the TikTok ads homepage and click on Create New. Provide your business details and wait. Then, TikTok will review and approve your account.
Can I use TikTok directly to sell my travel packages?
With the integration with e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, etc., you can use TikTok to sell your travel packages directly without leaving the app. First, you have to set up your account on those e-commerce platforms and connect it with your TikTok account.
Do I need a big budget to succeed on TikTok?
Not necessarily. TikTok’s ad campaign can run on a low budget due to its organic reach.
Can I repurpose content from other platforms for TikTok?
Yes, you can repurpose the content, but make sure you edit it to fit TikTok’s style and format. In fact, you cannot only repurpose other platforms’ content for TikTok but also post TikTok’s videos on other platforms.
To know more about what you can do with marketing videos, check this article: How to Use Video Marketing in Travel Business?
How can I make my travel agency’s TikTok account more discoverable?
You can make your travel agency’s TikTok account discoverable in different ways by actively engaging with other users. Participate in current trends and challenges. Apart from that, using relevant hashtags, collaborating with influencers and promoting your account on other social media also helps to make your account more discoverable.
Are TikTok ads profitable?
TikTok ads are profitable when you target your audience with the ads that resonate with them. For this, you have to monitor your campaign closely and refine your strategy from time to time.
