Northern Ireland's first ever TikTok house has closed its doors after a successful project which shone the spotlight on more than 20 local businesses.
The unique pilot named the VAVA Club, accumulated more than four million views during its one-week project in two Belfast-based Hagan Homes' properties. VAVA Influence, the company behind the concept, said the experience was created to allow local creators to collaborate with one another and to support local business in the process.
And new figures released after the eight influencers from across the island of Ireland moved out of the two modern detached properties have illustrated how successful the campaign has been.
Read more: Meet the NI women connecting social media influencers with the business world
The NI influencer marketing firm said content made during the seven-day stay at the properties, both on site and on location, welcomed 4.2 million views at least, with third party shares that weren’t monitored adding to that statistic.
A total of 96 videos made by the residents for the TikTok platform also generated 269,301 likes and 4046 comments while further exposure across other social media platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, beckoned further likes and conversation.
Twenty-four NI businesses spanning food and drink, leisure, hospitality, beauty and interiors availed of the opportunity to gain exposure to a new, younger audience during the project, with Hagan Homes, the property provider boosting its TikTok following by more than 500%. Hagan Homes-specific content attracted 2.1 million views alone.
Jim Burke, Sales and Acquisitions Director, Hagan Homes said: “Our motive for providing the property for this project was to give our name and portfolio exposure to a whole new audience via a new marketing tool. We saw it as an investment in the future buyer and our first foray into the influencer world.
“We never imagined the volume of exposure the VAVA Club would have given us over the one week, let alone did we foresee interest in our own account as a result. What it tells us is marketing for any consumer-facing business is more multifaceted than ever before.
“Our name will have been foreign to the majority of TikTokers before this experience, but today we have a new following of potential homebuyers. I think for any business it’s important to be open to how our customers consume content and ensure we respond to the trends. It was our pleasure to provide the backdrop for VAVA Club’s TikTok House.”
VAVA Influence, co-founded by Francesca Morelli and Chloe Henning, was behind the concept. Francesca Morelli said the experience was set up following the end of Covid restrictions and to keep NI in sync with social media campaigns across the UK and the parts of the world.
She said: “Hosting NI’s very first TikTok House this summer was a great way to do that and our figures reveal that all guests in the property and businesses had their expectations surpassed during the project.”
Ms Henning added: “We worked very hard to make sure that this initiative was fun, entertaining, and beneficial for the creators, their followers and the amazing sponsors we had on board and our figures confirm that was indeed the case.
“The feedback we’ve had from the companies involved and the TikTokers themselves has been phenomenal. It demonstrates how we market and sell products and services is evolving and it has proven to many industries that influencing is an excellent tool that can coincide with traditional marketing avenues to further boost exposure.”
From music to comedy, beauty and crafts, the eight influencers came from all over the island of Ireland. Among those influencers was Nia Gallagher from Co Longford. The 21-year-old posts about make-up, fashion and sport. She posted 11 videos during her stay generating 314,332 views, almost 40,000 likes and 207 comments.
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