How Can a Travel Agent Use TikTok?

Remember the travel gnome in the Travelocity advertising campaign? yes, that was almost 20 years ago, but there's a valuable lesson, here, about this early viral travel craze. You can look it up on Wikipedia for more info about this advertising campaign, the history and inspiration for it, and go down that rabbit hole if you wish.

For this article, I want to explain that TikTok has more potential to go viral for your channel than Instagram. For YOU. no, The Roaming Gnome has not made it to this platform, but the @roaminggnome has 33k followers on Instagram and has not posted for almost 2 months.

TravelTikTok

For mind-boggling statistics about the virility of some hashtags in the world of travel on TikTok, please refer to this article: TravelTok: Creators and niche travel communities on TikTok

This is a huge audience, but you'll want to remember your goals and objectives and not just post videos for the sake of posting just to "get your name out there." The content has to be engaging and authentic. You will want your audience to relate to you. So, yes. Create relatable videos.

Travel Blog, YouTube, or TikTok for your Travel Agency Business?

You should know that like a blog -- which is articles about topics like travel hacks, adventures, and advice -- is just like TikTok in a way. You can post short videos instead of articles and get more traction, more views, and a larger audience.

It's easier to gain traction with an audience on TikTok than it is on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or a blog website. Instagram allows for the best engagement, though. And for comparison, Instagram gets 10 times more engagement than Facebook.

Let's be smart about this, though. Strategic. Organized. Just like other social media platform (yes, even a blog).

You have to have an "angle." Or, a theme. Or, to put it another way, a consistent way to treat your channel. And by consistency, I mean you are not throwing spaghetti against a wall in terms of your content. Are you mixing cat videos flinging around a ceiling fan in with gardening tips mixed in with travel advice? It's not an effective strategy. Consistency is key.

Identify your TravelTikTok Audience

First, identify your audience. Are you wanting to grow your travel team and attract potential travel agents? That is a different audience than attracting the attention of potential clients who will want to book travel with you. Yet another audience would be your current clients with whom you want to cultivate future, recurring business, as well as referrals.

Do you have a travel specialty? Do you specialize in Disney, African Safaris, luxury cruises, European river cruises, destination weddings, Carribbean, all-inclusive resorts, or something else exotic/interesting? Please post in the comments what your travel specialty is! Inquiring readers want to know!

Your video content will be geared around your travel specialty. You still have many choices within, so be creative and be yourself.

What is the age group of your audience? Younger generations respond differently to content: creative, off-the-wall, less traditional content is very effective for the younger generations.

Ideas for Themes for your TravelTikTok Channel

Choose something that your passion will sustain. Don't choose a topic or trends just to try and get followers. Growing followers on TikTok is not a strategy in itself. That comes organically. Your passion, sincerity and authenticity are what will gain your followers. Be yourself.

Here are some ideas (and a few examples) of what you can do with your TikTok travel channel.

• Skits are wildly popular, and if you are consistent with them, people will subscribe to your channel, craving more. A skit can be as simple as putting on a wig. I could not find examples with travel-related channels, but I have subscribed to a couple that are language-related, and other educational (like explaining about neurodiversity) related.
• Humor goes a long way in terms of attracting a following. If you have a funny bone, try mixing that in with your travel videos: making fun of foibles and mistakes that rookie travelers make? Self-depreciating humor (if done tastefully)?
• Spoof off a popular advertising campaign (like the Travelocity Roaming Gnome) or create your own idea that will catch on as a challenge or an idea that people can participate in (like getting their own gnome and taking pix of it on their travels).
• Aerial photos are popular. If you have the budget to buy a drone, then this is a worthwhile investment if you commit to the process. @cruisespotter does this and has 2.5M followers.
• Flying infinity dresses are all the rage with women (yes, I've seen a few men, too!) in various exotic travel destinations for their photo shoot. I'm not sure that this is something you would want your entire channel to be about, however... Check out @kirabarbielife who has over 133k followers and owns a drone and infinity dresses company called Drones and Dresses. Her sister designs the dresses! How inspiring! She also gives tips for solo travelers.
• Travel photography tips are fascinating. Some creators have their entire channel concentrated mostly on tips for how to make better and best videos and photos during your travels. @tramnble has 170.9k followers, for example.
• If you are a foodie, then this is a no-brainer: food and travel can be your focus. Even within that, you have options to drill down even more niche. Restaurants, famous chefs, unknown but beloved grandmas' homemade cooking in a country or region, farmers markets, cooking international recipes, interviews, etc. Click on this article for more ideas: CookTok: Creators and niche communities on TikTok.
• What is your specialty? Like we talked about earlier, when determining your audience, this could give you ideas for how to treat your channel. Here are some examples:

1. You are a Disney travel specialist, and most of your videos are based on the characters. Or, you can show videos of the Disney cruises and kids activities. Or, you can dovetail your own content with spoofing off current Disney advertising campaigns. @happilyeverabby is a Disney travel agent with 131.6k followers. Her most viral video is pinned to the top of her channel with 2.9M views (it's educational and mediocre. I think you can be more creative).
2. You are a European river cruise specialist and you can of course show video snippets of the cruises you've taken. You could also do a cruise trivia theme, since there are so many adventures and so many countries to explore.
3. You are an advocate of traveling with pets. Give tips, advice, and cute footage of you on the road with your pet. Pet videos have strong virility with TikTok users.

• Tips and hacks are popular, as well. Can you talk about why we should get travel insurance (geeeez, people, this is a thing wise, experienced travelers know, but not everybody)? How about packing hacks? Or, break down a full-blown travel guide that you have written into mini, bite-sized videos to consume?
• Insider guide to a location could be your entire channel. For a country, or a region, or a city. People eat this up!
• Budget travel is one way you could treat your TikTok travel channel. There are endless topics to choose from, so you will never run out of ideas. You can drill down and be more specific, as well: Rome on a budget, Parisian budget travel, Indonesia on a budget, Ways to save on your Disney vacation, etc.

Solo travel, girls travel, over 50 travel, romantic travel, adventure travel, spelunking, scuba livaboards, wine tasting and vineyard travel... you are only limited by your imagination how you want to focus your travel channel on TikTok! DM me on Facebook for more ideas, or leave a comment, below with questions or ideas you have been inspired by this article. Thanks for reading!

In conclusion, you have options, but try to stay focused. Choosing a moniker, title or nickname may help you with this. Are you a travel guru, a cruise queen, or a travel hack genius? Get creative with a name and use that in your hashtag list.

You can get a brief list of travel influencers in this article: TravelTok: Creators and niche travel communities on TikTok

More, in later articles about hashtags, monetizing on TikTok, and encouraging engagement by asking for/doing stitches and duets. Trust me, the importance of hashtags merits an article all on its own!

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