Hotels Crank Up TikTok Marketing in Pursuit of Authenticity-Seeking Guests

Hotel marketers are using short-form video campaigns on the social media app TikTok to score views from millions of potential guests. In many cases, this interest — revealed through the popularity of tags such as #smallluxuryhotels (more than 3 million views), #hoteldesign (more than 13 million views), and #besthotel (33 million views) — is prompting people to book trips.

“TikTok is no longer considered a dance-trend app for teenagers,” said Richard Hyde, managing director of Small Luxury Hotels. "The platform is rapidly aging up. We’ve seen engagement from users of all ages on our Small Luxury Hotels of the World account."

AdWeek reports that, as the China-based viral video app becomes more sophisticated, the age of its demographic continues to rise along with the number of users. TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021, with 656 million downloads. 

No matter what the generation of the user, the appeal of the content is universal, Hyde said.

"Authenticity is quickly becoming the new cultural currency,” he said of adopting a more “behind the scenes” approach. “Our hotels are experiential, entertaining, spontaneous, enriching, and fun – like Tik Tok. The platform doesn’t require polished content. Users will sniff out professionally made videos and they won’t perform as well. Our TikTok strategy is based on showing our beautiful hotels from a guest’s perspective.”