With a billion monthly active users it’s little wonder and many travel companies are waking up to its potential to help them raise brand awareness, and drive transactions, in perhaps a more cost efficient way than traditional marketing methods.

Some are even questioning whether TikTok, and social channels more widely, can help the travel industry recover in terms of how it can help brands drive engagement.

We already know that Gen Z and Millennials are big users of social media platforms for travel research with a recent study from Phocuswright revealing that 39% of U.S. Gen Z see social media as very influential on destination selection and 28% that use the platforms to research in-destination activities.

Big brands are taking notice. Booking Holdings’ CEO Glenn Fogel said in November 2021 that it was increasingly confident of the potential of social media channels and planned to invest more in them.

For Hopper, it’s a definite "yes" when it comes to helping the industry through the crisis. The company points to revenue gains in the past year and user-base growth during the pandemic as evidence of the power of social.

Social media success in travel

Hopper’s advertising is almost exclusively on paid social and says head of user acquisition, Makoto Rheault-Kihara.

“It’s been very successful for us, particularly in times where travel might not be top-of-mind for consumers. Social is great for discovery, whereas search ads rely on people having intent and proactively searching," he explains.

He feels TikTok in particular continues to represent a big opportunity for travel brands to grow organically and adds that it’s “the only social platform left that has organic reach.”

Hannah Bennett, brand partnerships lead, TikTok, says it’s not only about the huge community but also the fact that travel is one of the largest areas of interest for the platform’s audience.

For the hashtag #TikTokTravel she says there have been a billion video views “and counting.”

Other travel brands are taking note. Marriott recently launched a search for three travelers to become Marriott Bonvoy TikTok Correspondents to document “the sights, sounds, places, and people they encounter along the way on TikTok and other platforms of their choice.”

One other benefit of TikTok is its volumes of organic content. In mid-December #houseswap gained a lot of traction when a U.S. user posted about needing a holiday and looking to swap her Boston apartment for somewhere in the U.K.

It demonstrates how something simple, and travel related, can blow up with her video gaining 2.9 million views as well as many home swap offers. 

The only sad part is that the travel industry doesn’t seem to have capitalized on this or other similar posts. Yet.

Rheault-Kihara says that Hopper has observed more adoption from travel brands but that it’s still early days.

“Most travel brands haven’t yet figured out how to successfully engage with users on TikTok at scale, which leaves room for brands like Hopper to stand out and make an impact on the platform.”

While it’s not hard to establish a presence on TikTok even those travel brands that have, including some big names, have few followers and little to no content.

Engaging content

It’s possible they are struggling not only with how to approach the platform’s users but who these users are and what they’re looking for.

A billion monthly active users can’t all be Gen Z and Euromonitor’s recent consumer trends report said older generations were being introduced to the platform by their grandchildren.

Hopper’s Rheault-Kihara agrees that the age range is increasing. 

“The notion that it’s an app solely for Gen Z hasn’t been true for a while. Brands that still hold on to that idea are missing out on engaging with the full audience on the platform.”

TikTok also says that the age profile of its community is diversifying. Bennett says: “A recent Kantar study found 67% of TikTok’s global audience is over 25.”

Her advice to travel brands looking to dip a toe in the water is to spend some time scrolling on the app and watching videos on the For You Feed. 

“This will give you a better idea of what works, what content appeals to you and what trends and themes might be relevant for your brand specifically. It's then about testing and learning with your creative content - not everything is going to go viral, but if you stick with it you'll soon get the hang of what resonates with the audience.”

Bennett adds that brands need to think about about “fitting in” both in terms of their organic content and paid content. 

She also says TikTok offers helps via its advertizing solutions while its recently released TikTok Creative Center helps brands get started.

Content conversion

It’s not only the metrics about the age diverse audience and volumes of active users that travel brands should pay attention to, it’s also the fact that the content is driving purchases.

Euromonitor’s research reveals that more than 30% of consumers bought goods or services after seeing an influencer post or company advertizement on TikTok in 2021.

Although travel purchases cannot be made on the platform currently, Hopper’s Rheault-Kihara says users are engaged and converting but he stresses “the creative needs to be right to actually drive purchases.”

“This is why we’ve seen that it often takes creative iteration to get the most impactful ad.

As the U.S. audience grows on TikTok, we’ve seen performance get better and better. TikTok is also maturing as an ad platform so we’ve noticed an enhanced capability to find the right users.”

Alongside the challenge of fitting in and get the engagement right, the other potential downside is whether the platform’s effectiveness will be diminished with more travel brands establishing a presence on it through both organic and paid-for content.

A recent article on eMarketer highlighted the challenge for TikTok of balancing user experience with increased advertizing on the platform.

Bennett says the brand experience is a priority and that the company encourages brand partners to “make ads that feel native to the platform and as much like TikToks rather than traditional ads.”

Rheault-Kihara’s view is that striking a balance between organic and paid-for content need not be a trade-off.

“If you want the content to perform well from a commercial standpoint, it needs to look like it’s social and native to the platform. The content that performs best commercially is the content that feels most natural to the platform.”

He adds that companies must still ensure content is in line with the a brand’s unique offering.

“Ads that don’t perform well downstream in terms of conversion are the ones that are engaging but don’t fail to highlight Hopper’s unique value propositions.”

BY LINDA FOX