Let’s Talk TikTok
With over 16 years’ experience working with social media platforms, Jax Buckland is no stranger to executing campaigns for a broad range of consumer brands. Currently working for Wild Card PR as their Senior Social Media Account Director, we asked Jax
for her take on TikTok and how UK hospitality businesses can leverage the platform’s unique format to engage and attract diners.
TikTok loves content that is shared in separate parts so filming a bank of footage that can be cut down into several posts is a great way to start.
Recipe videos remain a consistent top-performer when it comes to food content but a current trend generating great results is chef tips. This could be how to produce restaurant standard food at home, how to prepare large volumes of poached eggs at once or sharing experiments and the science of cooking.
How to improve your posts?
Quality and quantity should be considered when posting with equal measures. Best practice shows that a minimum of two posts per week is favoured by the TikTok algorithm.
Get into the subject of the video straight away. You have less than 3 seconds to grab someone’s attention as they are scrolling through a busy newsfeed.
Trending music especially should be explored as the algorithm really favours users being served the same sound they have engaged with previously, especially on a same or similar subject.
In app, the main metrics to analyse are reach, likes, comments, shares and saves. Reach is a form of passive engagement where users consume your content but don’t take action – this should be measured as brand awareness. Everything else is active engagement with saves being a good indicator of users with intention – to make a purchase, visit a restaurant or recreate a recipe. Outside of the app, success can be measured through increased bookings, content creators visiting and posting about your business or media picking up and using one of your posts.
How can hospitality operators promote their business in a natural way?
One of the most used forms of content creation in hospitality at the moment (and recommended by TikTok) is a voiceover tour explaining your offering. Visually, the edit should show the eyeview of a customer walking into the venue, looking around at the furnishings, drinks going down on the table and cutlery digging into the food. This should be accompanied by a voiceover describing everything shown on screen.
