TikTok Archives - The Travel Vertical

Zoom Accidentally Did Something (Steal This Idea) and Visit Lake Charles Goes Viral With a TikTok About a Gingerbread House

August 16, 2022 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Two Sweet (Unrelated) Digital Items We Love

Credit goes to Harsha Kalapala, VP Product Marketing at AlertMedia, an Austin-based software communications company, for this tip on LinkedIn. Maybe you can use it?

“Zoom accidentally created a new (and powerful) marketing channel. 🤫
Here’s how you can launch it in 24 hours…⚡

🧐 That annoying new zoom tab opening up on your browser after every call or webinar? You can redirect it to any page you want! 🙌 (redirects after 5 mins)

That means you can automatically present a “leave-behind” asset to engage your audience after every prospect or customer call! 🤯

Show them a case study, a video, or a custom-designed page to move them down-funnel. Nearly 100% of users will see it. 👀

It doesn’t cost you anything with a business account. Here’s what you need to do:

1️⃣ Request zoom to activate your vanity URL i.e. [companyname-dot-zoom-dot-us] instead of just [zoom-dot-us] – takes about 24 hours. You probably have this if your company is using SSO. Here’s how to activate: https://lnkd.in/g6EQGHFh

2️⃣ Pick the destination URL – it’s smart to put a UTM code or track it as a campaign. 🔗

3️⃣ Plug in the URL here: https://lnkd.in/gVAwb6Kb

That’s it! Easy win. 💪 You’re welcome.”

Visit Lake Charles’ TikTok Goes Viral Promoting Ms. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House

LAKE CHARLES, La. (August 16, 2022)—All in a day’s work, Shalisa Roland, public relations director for Visit Lake Charles (VLC), received a media inquiry about Ms. Jonnie’s Gingerbread House, 720 Alamo St., and needed to provide updated images. Kathryn Shea Duncan, social media director for VLC joined forces with Roland to capture new images and social media content including a TikTok that is currently creating an Internet sensation for local business owner, Kevin Ames.

The TikTok was posted the morning of August 4, and by 10:30 a.m. when Ames opened the store, there was already a line through the parking lot. By this time, the video had already reached 50,000 views. Ames sold out of goods at 2 p.m., and even then, he had customers waiting in line through his dining room area and never had a chance to leave the counter. The following day, Ms. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House sold out at noon, and they’ve sold out every day since at 2 p.m.

As of August 16, the TikTok has more than 118,000 views, 600 comments, and 700 shares. VLC’s Instagram has 11,500 views and 670 likes. Facebook has reached 60,000 people with 84,000 plays, 500 shares, and more than 1,200 comments.

“I never really realized the power of social media. We have been overwhelmed in a good way. We’ve also sold out early everyday since the release of the video! I normally send out about 10 shipments a month. We received about 40 in two days from all over the map in the United States. I am currently looking for help to fill the orders and maintain my store,” said Ames.

The demand for the pies, both at the store front and shipping, resulted in Ames calling in family members to help with production and keep track of orders on social  media. The business has since created its own TikTok account, posted FAQs and the menu on the Facebook page, and Ames is communicating with consumers via social media to inform everyone of product availability and how to receive baked goods through shipping.

TikTok has rapidly become one of the most popular platforms to be adopted into social media strategic plans for destination marketing organizations. Creators can quickly produce compelling content with the potential of instantly bringing people together for a shared experience, which is one of the main goals of social media for destination marketers.

Supporters have come from across the world, including residents who were previously unaware of Ms. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House. For more information, or to view VLC’s TikTok account, log on to www.tiktok.com/@visitlakecharles, or check out Facebook or Instagram for more inspiration on Southwest Louisiana. For details on Ms. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House, find them on Facebook, or call the store 337-474-9278.

# # #

About Ms. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House:

Leona Guillory Johnnie, owner of Mrs. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House, began her baking journey 40 years ago. She went from a home-based bakery to a storefront, offering pies, cakes, teacakes, pralines, and sweet breads. Her son, Kevin Ames, is continuing her legacy today. At Mrs. Johnnie’s Gingerbread House, sweet dough pies are freshly-baked daily for a sweet treat on-the-go or to enjoy in their dining room. The top-selling pie flavors are sweet potato, peach, and pecan.

Case Study: The Coastal Grandmother + Carmel-by-the-Sea

August 10, 2022 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Think Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Martha Stewart, Ina Garten (for a rotisserie chicken recipe), Nancy Meyers (the queen of romcom movies). The coastal granny embodies a summer trend that is SO not trendy; she’s easy-breezy, laidback, yet immaculate and elegant. She’s got hydrangeas, heirloom tomatoes, lots of linen, and a book club.

In case you’ve missed it, The Coastal Grandmother™ effortlessly stylish aesthetic was coined — and trademarked — by TikToker @Lex Nicoleta (142.6K followers) in March. Its creator is 26, lives in California, and she has even created a Spotify playlist (the greatest hits of Frank Sinatra, Otis Redding, Norah Jones, and John Legend included) for which the signature song is “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole.

Nicoleta explains, “So, no you don’t have to be a grandmother to be a coastal grandmother” and you don’t have to live at the coast. But, you sure can GO to the coast, as in the quintessential Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

Why are we telling you all this in The Travel Vertical? Because we love what The Abbi Agency did in strategically pairing the persona with the place. As Owner Abbi Whitaker says, “Well, Visit Carmel and The Abbi Agency knew we had to jump on the opportunity to leverage the news coverage since Carmel-by-the-Sea is SOOOO coastal G-MA. We were the first destination to partner and it resulted in some amazing results!” Read on:

“Post pandemic, The Abbi Agency worked quickly and strategically to set Carmel-by-the-Sea apart from every other West Coast destination as travel was on the rise. With DMOs everywhere working to generate visits and gain attention from shared audiences, we recognized the viral trend taking over both the social media and PR spaces. Carmel-by-the-Sea truly emulates the Coastal Grandmother trend, thanks to the luxurious coastal aesthetic and classic California vibe. We jumped on the opportunity to invite Lex for a Coastal Grandmother’s Getaway, with the goal of targeting a new audience (GenZ) and bringing more eyes to the brand. In doing so, we were the first destination to host the Coastal Grandmother for the itinerary-style partnership.”

The Outcome?

“Social media saw incredible results from the influencer partnership. Lex Nicoleta’s loyal audience loved her content—her three videos, all of which mentioned Carmel-by-the-Sea, received a combined 152,800 views on TikTok. In total, Lex received over 17,000 engagements on TikTok. In the three months following the partnership, Carmel-by-the-Sea’s TikTok platform saw an increase of 1867% in follower growth.

On Instagram, the giveaway reached more than 25,000 accounts (almost a quarter of which were non-followers) with 2,000 engagements, leading to 470 new followers that month. This contest received the most comments out of all posts in 2022, and the third most top-performing post in driving profile visits for Carmel-by-the-Sea.

The strong social media content also generated earned media attention, with stories from Fodor’s Travel, FOX News, and the Washington Post coming to life within three months of the partnership. Together, these articles received upwards of 295,000 coverage views among the top tier outlets.”

Gen Z: TikTok and Instagram Beat Google for Search

August 2, 2022 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Nearly half of Gen Z is using TikTok and Instagram for search instead of Google, according to Google’s own data as reported by TechCrunch. “The TikTok threat to Google’s business isn’t just limited to YouTube, as it turns out. Core Google services, including Search and Maps, are also being impacted by a growing preference for social media and videos as the first stop on younger users’ path to discovery, a Google exec acknowledged today, speaking at an industry event.”

Business Insider reports, “A Google executive has confirmed that TikTok’s format is changing the way young people conduct internet searches, and Google is working to keep up.”

Who’s Who?

Based on widespread consensus as well as new Gen Z analysis by the Pew Research Center, and the U.S. Census Bureau, these are the birth years and ages of the generations you’ll want to use in 2022.

A Big, Big Change: The TikTok-ification of Facebook

July 26, 2022 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Meta is making big changes to its feed to make Facebook and Instagram look and feel more like TikTok. Reporters are widely signaling this as “desperate” and a big step toward the “end of the traditional social network” as we know it and a “prioritization of consumption over connection.”

Late 2021 saw the number of Facebook users sink for the first time in its 18-year history, while TikTok grew in the United States to over 110 million users. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently told staff the company faces an “unprecedented level of competition” from TikTok.

What’s changing in Facebook’s design overhaul?

Facebook will elevate content from creators over posts from friends, including recommendations.
The default screen, “Home,” will display more Reels and Stories from outside creators.
“Feeds” tab will chronologically display content from friends and groups without recommendations.
Instagram announced that from now on any video under 15 minutes will be converted into a Reel.

Users who want to see the most recent posts from friends, family, and favorite pages and groups will find them on a new “Feeds” tab where they can create a “Favorites” list of people and groups they want to see content from.

Let’s be honest

Read how Zuckerberg is pitching the changes. It’s quite different to this headline in the Washington Post, “Facebook forsakes friends and family to compete with TikTok.” Or, the Axios headline, “Sunset of Social Media,” which continues, “Now Facebook wants to shape your online life around the algorithmically-sorted preferences of millions of strangers around the globe. That’s how TikTok sorts the videos it shows users, and that’s largely how Facebook will now organize its home screen.”

Remember, it’s no accident that a Facebook user’s screen does not open to friends and family on “Feeds” by default. Instead, it opens to the algorithmic “Home.”

What could possibly go wrong?

Up until now, Facebook has not allowed a user to have more than one account. Now, they’re testing a way to have up to five separate profiles tied to a single account. Plus, additional profiles won’t need to include a person’s real name.

Facebook says additional profiles are still subject to its policies and that they can’t misrepresent your identity or impersonate others and that some parts of the platform will be restricted to a main profile, such as creating and managing a Page or using Facebook Dating.

Meta Sues Meta

In other news, a small AR/VR company called Meta is suing Meta (aka Facebook). The small Meta was formed in 2010; the big Meta adopted the name in 2021. The small Meta, which had trademarked the name, has provided AR/VR experiential environments for well-known venues like Coachella and SXSW, of which the big Meta was aware. The small Meta alleges that they are assumed to be associated with the larger Meta, and prefer not to be. So, it’s being called a case of reverse confusion in intellectual property. More comments from the small Meta here.

Zuckerberg and Sandberg face deposition

In 2016, Cambridge Analytica scraped tens of millions of Facebook users’ profiles and sold the data to political campaigns. Both CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg must appear under oath for questioning over the next few weeks.

Job cuts

Lastly, Business Insider reports, “Meta employees are bracing for job cuts. Facing new performance requirements and a tougher market, some Meta (formerly known as Facebook) employees believe the company could reduce headcount by as much as 10% this year.”

Roundup: Unexpected News, a Jumbo Typo, and More Tourism News

July 20, 2022 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Unexpected News

Hack attack: In the wee hours in the morning of July 7, Disneyland‘s Twitter and Instagram accounts posted a mixture of racial slurs, calls for violence, and foul language. The posts went up prior to 5 a.m. and were quickly removed, but not before they went out to Disneyland’s 1.5 million followers on Twitter and 8.4 million followers on Instagram. Source: USAE News

“Take a look at the new design for Boom Supersonic’s Overture, which will be manufactured and assembled right here in North Carolina.” The world’s fastest airliner is optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability. The design was revealed this week in the U.K. at Farnborough International, the world’s largest airshow, where the Concorde debuted 51 years ago. Sources: Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and Boom

SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has announced a new influencer agreement that allows anyone paid to advertise products via their individual social media platforms to be covered by the union. The new agreement categorizes “influencer-generated branded content” as a form of advertising; SAG-AFTRA members doing that type of video and/or audio work will qualify for health and pension benefits. Producers of still images are not covered. Previously, the union had covered advertising done by YouTubers. This new influencer agreement takes it further to cover advertising work across all social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Source: Backstage.com

Starting Nov. 1, 2022, employers advertising jobs in New York City must include a “good faith salary range,” showing minimum and maximum salary for every job, promotion, and transfer opportunity advertised. The new law applies to employers having four or more employees (including owners) in any location, in NYC or elsewhere. Fact sheet here.

TikTok has started laying off employees as part of a global restructuring. Several U.S.-based employees had their roles eliminated, including the brand’s Monetization Product Leader. Sharing the news, David Ortiz indicated that 2.5 years ago, he had been TikTok’s first hire outside of China. Source: Ad Age

Yikes, BA.5! The County of Los Angeles is expected to reinstate an indoor mask mandate to take effect July 29, unless there’s a sudden turnaround in Covid tracking metrics. It would apply to indoor shops, offices, events, schools and more. The order would be rescinded once case levels begin to drop again.

Also, indoor mask mandates are already reinstated at several important national parks: Denali, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Yosemite.

The Federal Reserve Board has recommended exploring government-managed digital currency. Called CBDC, for central bank digital currencies, these are legally recognized currencies that allow customers access to digital tokens without a commercial bank account. This would be “faster and cheaper,” says the Federal Reserve for consumers to move funds without a middleman. Dozens of other countries are examining or already developing CBDC setups.

Costa Rica has been recognized as one of the happiest countries on Earth by the Gallup World Index and the Happy Planet Index. Now, they take digital nomad to the next level. President Rodrigo Chaves Robles has finalized the regulations for the Digital Nomads Law (Law No.10,008). This was the final step required to implement the new law, which allows foreign remote workers and their families to reside in Costa Rica for a term of one year, extendable to two years in total. Benefits include no income tax or import tax on job-related equipment. Applicants must have a minimum income of $3,000 USD per month or $4,000 if traveling with a family.

In France, several heavily visited natural sites are sounding the alarm; some villages and sites in rural France are putting caps on the number of tourists. France 24 reports, “The signs of overtourism are everywhere: overflowing rubbish bins, hollowed-out hiking trails from so much foot traffic, more-frequent landslides, up to 400 kg of pebbles a day carried away from the beaches.”

The lost luggage mountain grew so big that Delta Air Lines sent an empty plane to London Heathrow Airport to fetch 1,000 misplaced bags. Delta said it took the ‘creative solution’ and pledges, “We will then forward the bags on to our customers.”

Red alert. London was hotter than the Caribbean and the Sahara Desert this week. Temperatures climbed to 40º Celsius — that’s 104º Fahrenheit — and people were urged to stay off the Underground. Central London = deserted. Note: Air conditioning is simply *not a thing* in most homes and offices throughout the U.K. and (editorial comment) The Queen’s Guard should not have to stand at attention wearing 19-inch tall bearskin hats, heavy-as-weights marching boots, and buttoned up woolen costumes!

Speaking of England, there’s now a ticket landing page for the new permanent Princess Diana – Tribute Exhibition due to open in August 2022, which will actually be located in Las Vegas. (!?!) The 10,000-square-foot royal exhibit will assume long-term residency inside The Shops at Crystals on the Las Vegas Strip.

Start your engines…Chicago is making sports history with NASCAR! 🏎️🙌

The thrilling sport is coming to downtown Chicago on July 1-2, 2023 when a NASCAR Cup Series street race debuts against the backdrop of Lake Michigan and Grant Park. OK!

Jumbo Typo

*It’s from 2018, but it’s making the rounds again*

More Tourism News

*President & CEO of Visit Milwaukee Peggy Williams-Smith*

Milwaukee has been selected by the site committee to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. The decision still needs to be voted on by the party at its August summer meeting; Nashville was the other finalist. There are three potential blocks of dates for the event in July or August of 2024, with that decision expected by the end of this year. It’s projected the RNC will bring roughly 45,000 attendees from around the USA and up to $200 million in economic impact.

Got plans for July 14 – July 30, 2028? The Los Angeles organizing committee has announced the dates for the Olympics Summer Games. The LA28 Paralympic Games will kick off August 15 and close August 27. This is the third time for the city as Olympics host, including 1932 and 1984, and the first time for the Paralympics.

According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, 44% say they are reducing the number of trips and shifting to destinations closer to home because of record-high prices at the pump. This figure is up from 36% in May. Only 12% surveyed said that rising gas prices are not impacting their travel plans. “Fuel costs continue to be a drag on the travel industry recovery,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International.

Last week, nearly 500 tourism-related organizations and associations signed a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and National Park Service Director Chuck Sams III to urge action on an improved reservations system for the NPS. The letter described short booking windows as a major deterrent, threatening to stall the recovery of international inbound tourism. International visitors represented 35% of all U.S. national park visitation in 2019.

(Photo — At Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco where 14 acres has been added to an urban national park, a former military base, by sinking a portion of highway near the Golden Gate Bridge. The project lead was James Corner Field Operations of the High Line in NYC. Twenty years in the making, $98 million was raised in private funds.)

Tourism Ireland staff beside a Green Button ad in NYC.
(Credit: Tourism Ireland, James Higgins)

“Swap skylines for coastlines,” says Tourism Ireland. Aiming for 54 million impressions, the ‘Press the Green Button’ campaign has been rolled out in the USA on major television networks in key gateway cities: New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles plus streaming services: Hulu, WarnerMedia, YouTube TV, Sling TV and Discovery+. Outdoor in New York, Boston and Chicago includes wrapped trains and subways.

“Bay Crafted” is a relaunch of Visit Tampa Bay‘s successful campaign and trail focused on craft breweries and craft cocktails. Turns out there’s 130 years of beer culture in Tampa. Check it out on the landing page.

Graze Soul Bowl (Credit: John Yuccas, courtesy of Meet Minneapolis)

Meet Minneapolis joins the city in celebrating the second annual Black Business Week July 25 – 31 prior to National Black Business Month in August. Several entrepreneurs opened businesses recently in Minneapolis, adding to a thriving community of Black-owned restaurants, shops, and arts organizations that will easily fill a visitor’s itinerary. These new businesses are all striving to bring equity and empowerment to the community they serve through social enterprise efforts and sustainability.

The “Road to PTO” quiz and a recent poll from Samsonite, conducted online by The Harris Poll among 800 US adults, found that while 65% of full-time employees agree that they urgently need a vacation, 72% have used less than half of their vacation days for the year. Also, 20% of full-time employees say they do not have any paid vacation days scheduled for the next three months.

Rhode Island has enacted new Tourism Improvement District legislation. “Seeking to provide a stable solution for the industry, Kristen Adamo and the team at Go Providence teamed up with Representative Lauren Carson of Newport to pass the Tourism Improvement District enabling legislation for all municipalities in Rhode Island,” reports Civitas. “As the first state to enact statewide enabling TID legislation in 2022, Rhode Island follows the 2021 TID Laws passed in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Louisiana.”

L to R: Chef Matthew Kammerer, The Harbour House Inn; Royce Chwin, President & CEO, Destination Vancouver; Kennedy Stewart, Mayor of Vancouver; Gwendal Poullennec, International Director, MICHELIN Guides; The Michelin Man (CNW Group/Destination Vancouver)

Destination Vancouver and Michelin announced the MICHELIN® Guide Vancouver, the latest expansion of the MICHELIN Guide. Vancouver joins Toronto as the only MICHELIN Guide destinations in Canada. In the USA are New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, California, and Tampa/Miami/Orlando.

“The MICHELIN Guide is constantly observing the evolution of culinary destinations around the world. Michelin works with Destination Marketing Organizations, or tourism boards, to promote the travel industry in the respective locations; however, the MICHELIN Guide selections process remains completely independent. While selections remain fully independently determined by Michelin inspectors, Michelin is working with Destination Vancouver on marketing and promotion activities only.”

Gen Z: TikTok and Instagram Beat Google for Search

Roundup: Unexpected News, a Jumbo Typo, and More Tourism News

Unexpected News

Jumbo Typo

More Tourism News

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