How to use TikTok Marketing for your Airbnb?

TikTok is a social media platform that has become a global sensation and is still much talked-about among Generation Z. Consider the numerous potential customers and the marketing opportunities.

Because of this, despite the platform's great popularity and rapid growth, marketers are considering leveraging it to increase brand awareness. There is definitely potential for experimentation among vacation rentals and destination marketers on the platform, even though vacation rentals haven't yet fully embraced and mastered TikTok.

With that said, let's get right to it:

• What is TikTok?
• Why choose to market your Airbnb?
• TikTok for your vacation rental business
• How to market your Airbnb on TikTok?
• Is TikTok a good fit for your business?

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media networking platform that enables users to create, upload, and share 5- to 60-second-long videos of songs, musical challenges, lip-syncing, dancing, and routines that can be categorized under this category.

Formerly known as Douyin, made its debut in China in 2016 and is currently controlled by ByteDance. More than 1 billion people use Tiktok, which is available in more than 150 countries. Additionally, although it is also gaining popularity among adults, Gen Z uses it most frequently.

Since then, TikTok has continued to grow and offer its users additional features. More importantly, the fact that it has evolved into a complete video platform with content suited for all types of viewers is remarkable.

Why Choose TikTok to Market Your Airbnb?

In comparison to other platforms, TikTok's organic reach will go much further in reaching key audiences for property management marketers with limited paid marketing budgets, offering considerably more potential for virality and visibility.

As of right now, over 131.7 billion views TikTok received with the hashtag #travel. Furthermore, TikTok states "the app has gained popularity for showing authentic holiday moments".

Bear in mind, due to TikTok's delayed acceptance by the travel industry and the fact that travel content is still in its development, travel businesses still have a lot of untapped potential with this platform.

Having said that, adapting to TikTok early will present opportunities to establish yourself and build long-lasting relationships with a new audience.

TikTok For Your Vacation Rental Business

1. Hashtag Challenges

To decide how to organize all home feeds, the TikTok algorithm is utilized which primarily concentrates on viral content. Users are encouraged to post their own videos driven primarily by challenges that are accompanied by a hashtag.

Hosts may use a customized sponsored hashtag to boost visibility and which also assists in the SEO of the TikTok landing page. The majority of businesses who use TikTok already make an effort to brand hashtags by including their name or another distinctive aspect in the challenge.

Then, using this hashtag, users can create and distribute their own content that deals with the brand's challenge. However, participating in a hashtag challenge with the TikTok community to promote your Airbnb brand is an enjoyable and effective promotion.

2. Create Social Media Funnel

Despite being a fantastic social networking tool, TikTok has drawbacks. Sadly, it doesn't offer users any helpful information, statistics, or indications to evaluate the success of your marketing strategy.

Having said that, direct your followers to other social media accounts rather than waiting for the platform to deliver information on your revenue development. By doing this, an effort will be made to influence them and include them in a "new" marketing funnel.

For instance, you might have seen connections to the user's Instagram account or website URL on their TikTok profile.

3. Utilize Brand Partnerships

Consider using brand ambassadors if you don't currently have a social media marketing plan. The success or failure of your social media marketing strategy will depend on how effectively you choose your brand ambassador. However, keep in mind that well-known celebrities are not a requirement.

Do some audience research to determine their characteristics. Once you've identified them, look for users who are currently using the significant hashtags you're aiming for. Check out their accounts to see if they've ever worked with particular companies, how they treat their followers, what content they post, how they respond to you and other users, and how they sound.

Once you've decided who you want to work with, schedule a meeting with them and present them with a proposal to assist them with promoting your Airbnb on their profile. By doing this, followers that you might not have thought to approach will become aware of your Airbnb being mentioned by TikTok influencers or users.

4. Affiliate Marketing Referrals

Regardless of the size of the fan base, identify influencers that are a good fit for your Airbnb brand and target market, and offer them a partnership program that provides them with a special discount code to share with their followers.

Next, combine the offer so they can get paid a certain percentage for each coupon used to make an Airbnb reservation using their name. Additionally, forming the appropriate relationships could help in increasing brand recognition and bookings for your Airbnb.

Remember that even while this might not drive a lot of web traffic, if an influencer is savvy enough to profit from it, you'll both gain.

How To Market Your Airbnb on TikTok?

Create an account

Create your own TikTok business account and frequently post great content. Property managers or owners will benefit from doing this as they develop their Airbnb brand. When developing content for TikTok, it's crucial to make it entertaining and keep in mind your target market or the audience as you would with any social media platform approach.

Additionally, be aware that creating content is difficult because it must be original, amusing, engaging, or even intimate.TikTok focuses a great deal on creating engaging content. As a result, you as the property manager will need to devote a lot of time to this. More importantly, give your Airbnb brand a face or a voice behind the videos to ensure that your content on TikTok interacts with viewers.

Also, keep an eye on what's trending on social media and participate in viral challenges or "duets" in response to other people's videos. By doing so, you may engage with the viewers, maintain the freshness of your content, and grow your audience.

Work with TikTok influencers

Choose to collaborate with TikTok influencers to promote your Airbnb on their platform if you think managing your own TikTok account requires too much time and effort.

TikTok influencers are members of the community that produce videos on various topics and have a sizable fan base of followers. Reach out to an influencer and work out a deal that covers both the price and the kind of content they'll produce for your Airbnb brand. Additionally, let influencers experience your Airbnb firsthand so that their audience can trust the content they share.

Remember that working with influencers is a great way to enhance user interaction and broaden the reach of your Airbnb brand without having to spend a lot of time and effort maintaining your presence on the platform.

Encourage guests to post about your Airbnb

As a great way to raise awareness of your Airbnb brand, encourage guests to post and share their experiences while staying at your property.

Additionally, you may use a customized hashtag to entice guests to share TikTok videos with others in exchange for discounts on future bookings.

For instance, the US and Canada's camping, glamping, and RV resort #sunoutdoors now have 46.8M views on their own.

Is TikTok A Good Fit For Your Airbnb Business?

The rate at which TikTok's user base and popularity have increased is astounding. The app can be perfect for marketers looking to target a younger population, even though it is not yet widely used by many vacation rentals.

Without a question, TikTok has enormous potential, particularly if you are highly creative and knowledgeable about online culture. It actually depends on your target market, how much time and effort you put into it, and who that market is.

Whether you think it's a good idea or a waste of time to advertise your Airbnb on TikTok, it will be interesting to see how travel brands establish an organic presence on this rapidly expanding network in the future years.