TikTok has seen massive growth in the last few years, and although it started as a fun space for Gen Zers to share dance routine videos, it has massively evolved since then. Now big brands all over the world are using it to their advantage to help promote their products in a creative and natural way.

Let’s start with some eye-opening stats…

• 90% of users log in to the app every day.
• TikTok users spend an average of 89 minutes a day on the app.
• 47% of users have bought something seen on TikTok.
• 67% agree that TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren’t looking to do so.

Some of those numbers are pretty wild! If the average user is spending 89 minutes A DAY on the app, and almost 50% have said that they’ve bought something seen on TikTok, that is a clear insight into the advertising power of the app and something that you should seriously be considering!

And I know what some of you will be thinking…’GenZ isn’t my customer demographic’ but according to Sprout Social: over 50% of TikTok users are aged 30+! So there’s still a huge audience there to tap into!

So how can you use TikTok to promote your hospitality business?

There are lots of ways to build your presence on TikTok, but the general rule for success is to create content that feels human and genuine. And as backwards as this may sound, you don’t want to sound salesy at all! Instead, you want to create content that naturally builds interest in your business without sounding like you’re just after sales!

Here are some ideas specifically for the restaurant industry, of authentic content that can naturally build interest and trust:

• Do a tour of your restaurant
• Show an insight into a popular dish 
• Show how a dish is cooked
• Invite micro influencers to come and share their experiences at your restaurant
• Show the people behind your business
• Jump on new trends and tailor them to your business

It can seem daunting to get into the world of TikTok at first, but with such a captive audience, can you really afford to not be tapping into this well of potential customers?