We reached out to a visual marketing expert to learn more about this rising social platform.
From Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat, it may seem like your core customers are switching from one social media site to another at breakneck pace. And just when you seem to master and build a following on one platform, a new platform pops up and starts gaining traction.
Enter the buzzy new social media app, TikTok. Owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, TikTok enables users to create and share short videos, especially music videos.
While TikTok may be popular with your 15-year-old niece, is there opportunity for operators of tours, activities and attractions to use TikTok to connect with, inspire and sell experiences to potential customers?
We engaged the help of Amrita Gurney, VP of marketing at the AI-powered visual marketing platform CrowdRiff, to help decode TikTok, and identify opportunities.
Arival: What is TikTok, and how does it differ from other social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat?
Amrita Gurney: TikTok is the fast-growing social app of today, with over 1 billion users worldwide. While it is a visual platform like Instagram and Snapchat, it features looping short snippets of video content layered with filters, music and text.
Who uses TikTok?
TikTok is mostly popular with Gen Z. According to Joshua Bloom, TikTok’s head of global business solutions in Canada, TikTok users are predominantly female and between the ages of 13 and 24.
What are the possibilities of TikTok for operators of tours, activities and attractions, if any?
It’s early days for brands to leverage TikTok, but I think it’s relevant to any operators who target the primary demographic that is on TikTok.
If operators are interested in setting up a TikTok account, what are the important considerations?
This is a good time for operators to observe what people are doing before jumping in. It can be tempting to feel like you need to join, but I recommend you start by determining if your target audience overlaps with TikTok’s audience, and then start by watching what kind of content is created and shared.
Is there a business opportunity in TikTok? Can operators expect more sales if they run their account successfully?
I think it’s too early to say. If you have content that gets shared broadly on TikTok, some of your viewers may end up at your destination and choose to take your tour or visit your attraction. But no one has really proven a direct link between TikTok and sales yet, so I would consider it to be more of an experimental platform rather than something you should invest heavily in.
(Psst … Not ready for TikTok? Take a note from the tour operators who are using Instagram to drive brand awareness successfully!)
Join Amrita Gurney at Arival Berlin 2020, where she will present more on the possibilities and limitations of TikTok in her talk, “TikTok in 10″.
