Introduction to TikTok

TikTok is a video-sharing social media platform that has over 3.7m active users in the UK (Social Films, 2021).

Despite being initially launched in 2016, the popular app has dominated the social media scene for the past year, sparking trending dances and hacks that have spread online like wildfire.

The largest share of TikTok users (26%) in the UK is aged between 18-24 years old (Social Films, 2021), proving mostly successful with the Generation Z audience.

TikTok is mainly made up of short-form video content, which poses a great opportunity for tourism businesses to show snapshots of their business in a fun and unique way to the younger generation.

In this walkthrough, we will talk you through TikTok’s top features, answer key questions, and give you a glimpse of how you can use them for tourism in 2021.

How Long are TikTok Videos?

TikToks can be up to 15 seconds long, but users can also connect multiple clips together for up to 60 seconds of total recording. You can also upload longer videos that have been recorded outside the app itself.

This helps businesses who want to experiment with and expand their content offering. For example, you can do trial and error tests on which type of video performs best - plus the more you offer, the more you’ll be engaging with your audience.

What Type of Content Is on TikTok?

While TikTok content is short and condensed - it is easy to digest and entertaining to watch.

TikTok is well-known for its lip syncs, dancing, challenges, comedy and life hacks content. Usually, a certain trend will inspire widespread coverage, with users putting their own spin on it. This could be anything from a particular dance, comedic audio clip or a how-to hack.

Other movement-based activities are popular on TikTok, including gymnastics, cheerleading and parkour.

To get in on the action and appeal to younger viewers, businesses such as Seventeen and NBC Universal have hosted short ‘shows’ on TikTok, with condensed content to suit this preferred, short and snappy method of consumption.

For a tourism business, you can easily jump on the TikTok trends - whether it be simple, short behind-the-scenes snippets, staff attempting a dance challenge, or a before and after of setting up a market stall.