Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach used TikTok Search Ads to reach high-intent travelers, improve conversion efficiency, and strengthen peak-season tourism performance.
The objective
Target high-intent tourists and improve conversion efficiency during the peak season
Daytona Beach, a premier coastal destination in Florida renowned for family vacations and group travel, relies heavily on hotel partnerships for customer acquisition. The brand leverages TikTok Search Ads to precisely target high-intent users actively searching for travel-related information. Its main goals were to boost hotel booking conversions during the summer tourist season, optimize marketing budget efficiency, and expand the reach of its search ads.
The solution
Broad-match and automatic keywords strategy
Daytona Beach implemented a targeted TikTok Search Ads campaign using a "broad match + automatic keyword features" strategy to cover both branded and non-branded keywords, comprehensively capturing diverse tourist search intents. From April to May 2025, the destination added two specialized ad groups. These new ad groups, combined with existing ones, formed a matrix covering the entire user journey, significantly boosting the penetration rate of its search ads.
The results
Efficient breakthrough in summer tourism marketing
Daytona Beach's TikTok Search Ads outperformed expectations significantly, emerging as a key driver of summer tourism growth. By precisely targeting keywords and optimizing ad groups, the search ad CPA dropped to just $0.52—representing only 39% of the CPA for non-search ads. Customer acquisition costs were reduced by over 60%. Meanwhile, the share of search ads in TikTok's total expenditure rose from 10% to 12%, with the budget nearly fully utilized over the past two months.
This campaign not only established a new channel for converting high-intent tourists but also validated TikTok Search Ads' core value in tourism destination marketing, laying an efficient strategic foundation for future peak-season initiatives.
Tips & takeaways
Lean into intent. Targeting high-intent search queries helps capture travelers already looking for options, improving conversion quality.
Use broad match + automatic keywords. This combo expands reach by covering both branded and non-branded traveler searches.
Build a full-journey ad group structure. Multiple ad groups mapped to the user journey increase penetration and drive more efficient CPAs.