TikTok vs. Google Maps: What Fills Weekend Rooms at the Jersey Shore?
by Chelsea Hagon, Senior Designer
1. The Matchup
Two high-intent paths to weekend bookings: creator-led TikToks (organic + Spark Ads) that spark desire vs. Google Maps/Hotel Ads that capture people already searching “Jersey Shore hotels.” Both can fill rooms—just at different moments in the journey.
2. Field Test
We ran a 21-day split across three boutique properties. Equal budgets, shared landing pages, UTMs/pixels/call goals, and nightly pacing tied to occupancy. Success metrics: click-to-book, weekend ADR, RevPAR, and blended CPA.
3. What Won
Maps/Hotel Ads won pure intent: higher click-to-book and the lowest CPA. TikTok trailed on conversion rate but delivered bigger weekend baskets—higher ADR and RevPAR—by nudging last-minute getaways and suite upsells.
Quick read: CTR TikTok 2.7% | Maps/Hotel 4.0% • Click-to-Book 2.0% vs 3.3% • CPA $43 vs $37 • Weekend ADR $305 vs $279 • Weekend RevPAR $230 vs $213. Together, the sequence beat either solo.