The objective
Abu Dhabi is one of the world's leading travel destinations, known for its unparalleled leisure attractions and top-level hospitality. The bursting energy of the region attracts millions of tourists yearly. As part of its destination marketing drive, The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) aimed to spotlight and showcase the city’s hidden gems.
The solution
DCT Abu Dhabi uses TikTok to showcase Abu Dhabi in an entirely new light by promoting attractions and events throughout the city. TikTok appealed to them because of its younger, more humanized tone of voice. They also wanted to take advantage of TikTok’s high shareability by leveraging trending topics and sounds to create relevant and engaging video content.
DCT Abu Dhabi creates content on TikTok that is relevant to their target audiences. Using Emplifi’s TikTok integration, the team can analyze the performance of their content, and guide their content creation efforts based on what resonates the most with these audiences.
DCT Abu Dhabi is also able to maintain high interest in their paid content by promoting native content. TikTok makes it easy to share content, and the platform rewards users for sharing the right content. From only 15 followers when it was created and no paid advertisements, Visit Abu Dhabi has come a long way. With a strategy based on relevance and trendy expression, the first video posted on the account received 70,000 views. As of January 2022, the account has over 272,000 followers.
Additionally, in April 2021, DCT Abu Dhabi partnered with TikTok to engage content creators to showcase the best of the emirate with creativity and authenticity, reaching wider audiences worldwide and inspiring viewers to consider Abu Dhabi as part of their future travel plans. The partnership provided viewers with an opportunity to get to know Abu Dhabi through unique content created by locals and residents, highlighting various elements such as iconic destinations within the capital, the people and culture, as well as the city’s exclusivity, offerings, and more.
The results
DCT Abu Dhabi’s paid and organic content strategy has achieved outstanding results. The Visit Abu Dhabi account is among the top three most followed tourism boards globally. As of January 2022, the account has earned more than 110 million views, 1.9 million likes and over 15,000 comments.
DCT Abu Dhabi uses the Emplifi TikTok integration to monitor video watch times and completion rates daily. Most of the account’s average view times are above 50%, with some videos at a 110% watch time (how many seconds a video was viewed for). Their content approach is paying off as many followers are engaging with the page by tagging their friends and requesting additional information about the attractions and events they are promoting. Followers have also expressed their appreciation for the account admin’s creativity and authenticity.
"After we added TikTok to our suite of social media channels, it has proved to be a fantastic and successful platform to amplify the attraction of Abu Dhabi through the palms of a wider audience. This direct channel increases Abu Dhabi’s exposure to a broader demographic of travelers; varying ages, interests, and budgets. Through the DCT Abu Dhabi channel, we can create content specifically geared to these segments. As an Emplifi strategic partner, we participated in the exclusive alpha programme, representing the MEA , which allowed us to monitor and report on our Tik Tok campaigns and tailor our content based on audience reaction and engagement to give us intelligent data insights." - Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi
