After revealing that 38% of Gen Zers are heading to TikTok for holiday inspiration in its recent 'Jetsetting Into Tomorrow'report, we caught up with the Advantage Travel Partnership's head of marketing and chief commercial officer to hear how agents can make the most of the platform.
Where travel meets TikTok
Travel TikTok views are up 410% over the last couple of years according to the social platform's data and, as spotlighted in Advantage's report, well over one in three Gen Zers are finding their travel inspiration on the platform.
Those patterns are directly translating to booking; 63% have discovered a new travel brand while scrolling and 76% are likely to book based on recommendations from other users. So how can travel agents tap into this growing base of potential clients?
Where TikTok meets the trade: tailoring content, fine-tuning strategy and 'trend-jacking'
Chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes' key content strategy recommendation – "understand your target audience and what platforms they are on, and put the right content in front of them" – applies broadly to most social media platforms, but there is value in understanding the nuance of what works on each platform and why, especially on a relatively new one like TikTok, as David Forder, head of marketing, elaborated on.
"Generally, you've got to be able to have a good mix of content going across your social media channels to keep the audience engaged. TikTok is great for potentially getting something out and it to go viral very quickly, and from an audience-building perspective that is valuable."
And how does David suggest agents tap into that virality? With what he describes as 'trend-jacking' – amidst average daily scrolls of 300 feet worth of content, make your mark by piggybacking on trends (viral sounds, hashtags or video styles) to reach users interacting with similar content. Anecdotally, Kelly pulled on a recent experiment where she posted two "equally dull" videos – her words, not reflective of the views of Travel Bulletin – one with a viral sound and one without. The former delivered around 4000% more views.
So next time a viral trend hits the platform, perhaps put a travel spin on it, spotlighting a destination, promotion or your business at large?
"Doing something like that on Instagram or Facebook is much harder – there are fewer guarantees," David added.
"Overall, content on those platforms is almost more personal, they should be about building trust and demonstrating that you're the person to be booking travel with."
Getting the Advantage
Membership to the Advantage Travel Partnership offers a suite of benefits to those who can't accommodate a full-time marketing team member or (despite great advice here from Kelly and David) don't know where to start. David emphasised, "We have a very robust marketing programme for members so we can support with direct-to-consumer activity."
Kelly added, "Being part of the membership gives you access to a range of experts on everything from social media to email marketing, and we work closely with all members, either in groups or on a one-on-one basis, to really help them and guide them in their own business."
