Surfblend

300% increase in traffic by focusing on making TikToks, not ads #MakeTikToksnotads

Impressions

+ 2 mio

impressions to our audience from december 2022 – april 2023

Clicks

+ 16.000

clicks to our website from december 2022 – april 2023

CTR

+ 290%

Higher CTR compared to other platforms like Instagram

CTR

+ 36%

Higher CTR by utilising organic TikTok posts as ads versus standard ads

Challenge

How can we showcase all that Surfblend has to offer to a younger audience without losing the authentic touch of the brand? Surfblend wants to make young audiences aware of the potential for surfing holidays and make them become aware of the possibilities to book these trips through Surfblend.

Surfblend started as a group of friends with a few tents in the dunes of Moliets. Their main goal was to enjoy surfing, but before they knew it, 24 years have flown by and Surfblend has expanded to 30 surf & holiday camps. However, the core of it all has never changed and behind every decision has always been a love of surfing. 

Thus, how can Surfblend showcase all they have to offer while still being genuine and having the focus on what makes Surfblend the ideal surf-holiday destination?

“We found a partner!”

" Since we’ve started working with Red Online we've seen not only a growth in sales and ROI, but we’ve found a partner with great knowledge of tourism industry and that helps us in forming our strategy. This also includes adopting new channels like TikTok in a way that suits our company and being relevant towards our guests."
Eric Slokkers
CEO Surfblend

We utilised the strength of TikTok by combining organic posts with advertising to further strengthen awareness of Surfblend and traffic to the website. The campaign used organic TikTok posts by boosting them and showing them next to general ad content. This combination led to a lower CPM & higher CTR as the organic posts resonated with the younger target audience on a more personal level. #maketiktoksnotads

Don’t make ads. Make TikToks

TikTok and other short video platforms have risen in popularity. While the platforms are relatively similar to other social media platforms in its core (share content with others), the main difference is the focus on video and a more authentic & creative approach. Generally speaking, the best TikTok posts aren’t the ones that are clean and have a large budget behind it, it is the posts that have ragged edges and are overflowing with creativity that rise to the top. 

Thus, we found this to be the perfect match for Surfblend with their focus on a more authentic approach and TikTok with a creative focus. 

Organic posts 

By using the organic posts that are created by the Surfblend team in our advertising approach we’re creating a more unified TikTok approach where the user would see the same look and feel for both ads and organic content. The following steps were taken to execute this strategy

  • Ensure enough creative organic TikTok content is available, taking the flexibility into account needed on the platform
  • Weekly checks on best performing & new organic content to ensure creative and best performing content is shown to the target audience.
  • Utilising best performing organic content by pushing it with media budget, rotating weekly (where needed & relevant)

300% increase in traffic resulted from the budget shifted towards TikTok from other platforms.

The following results were from the period of January till April 2023.

As shown below, organic content (MakeTiktoknotads) resonates much better with the target group and leads to an increase of 290% in the rate of which people click through to the website. This increase in CTR has led to 300% more traffic from the young holiday-enthusiasts.  

Click-through rate
Traditional ad content   > 0,29% CTR
#Maketiktoknotads:      > 0,84% CTR

Cost per Click
Traditional ad content   > €0,36 CPC
#Maketiktoknotads:      > €0,12 CPC

https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/what-we-mean-when-we-say-dont-make-ads

The FREE SURFLES is the traditional communication. This performed less well than the new ad.
“The person you-re trying to call” is #maketiktoksnotads communication and performed a lot better (see results).

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RED is the online marketing agency for travel and recreation in the Netherlands, England, Belgium, France and Germany. Since 2015 we are ANVR Branchepartner and from 2020 we have joined the HISWA-RECRON Club as Top Supplier. We work for OTA’s, travel agencies, holiday parks, campsites, destinations, resorts, attractions, zoos and hotels.

RED is the online marketing agency for travel and recreation in the Netherlands, England, Belgium, France and Germany. Since 2015 we are ANVR Branchepartner and from 2020 we have joined the HISWA-RECRON Club as Top Supplier. We work for OTA’s, travel agencies, holiday parks, campsites, destinations, resorts, attractions, zoos and hotels.