Insights and Trends for Songkran & Summer 2024

TikTok has revealed its market and consumer insights for the upcoming Songkran and Summer 2024 festivities, with a focus on enhancing business impact and growth for brands during these vibrant seasons.

Utilizing entertainment-first content and creative-at-scale impacts, these insights serve as a valuable resource for brands looking to significantly elevate their engagement with consumers.

The Songkran festival of 2024 is poised to be a major event, projected to rank among the top 10 global festival destinations, supported by the Thai government. This presents a substantial opportunity for brands to connect and captivate their target audience by leveraging the heightened accessibility of the platform to enhance engagement and drive sales during this crucial festival period.

To maximize impact through entertainment, studies conducted by various leading researchers indicate that TikTok serves as a destination for entertaining discoveries across all categories, leading to inspiration and action. In Songkran 2023, video content saw a notable increase of 4.4 times, and video views rose by 3.4 times across diverse categories, ranging from food to finance, effectively attracting users.

Furthermore, statistical insights into user behaviour have been revealed, indicating:

•    9 out of 10 users find content they enjoy while 1 in 3 use TikTok as a search engine. 

•    The platform's influence is evident, as 82% of consumers' purchase decisions are swayed by entertaining content. 

•    85% expect social and entertainment platforms to offer comprehensive brand and product content. 

•    83% of Thai TikTok users searched for Songkran & Summer content on TikTok and 86% are expected to spend more time on TikTok than usual this Songkran & Summer. 

•    64% of users depend on the platform to keep up with emerging trends during the festivities. 

•    More than 56% report that TikTok consistently helps them discover interesting new product launches.

•    50% of Thai TikTok users are inspired by entertaining content to purchase products that are trending, and they also look for various promotions on the platform to plan their spending of bonus money. 

This demonstrates opportunities for brands to present their product creatively with entertainment for driving impact and become a part of consumers' enjoyable journey during this Songkran and summer season on TikTok.

Songkran & Summer is an indulgence season

TikTok's data highlights a surge in indulgence and spending for Songkran & Summer. According to the platform's statistics, an overwhelming 98% of users are poised to indulge in online shopping, with 95% also planning to hit offline stores during this festive period, 80% of these users are expected to browse through TikTok Shop for their purchases.

The categories topping the shopping lists reflect a diverse range of interests: food and beverages, automotive, beauty and personal care, electronics, fashion, accessories, and travel. 

•    90% of users plan to splurge on food and beverages, with anticipated spending to surge by 52% compared to other times of the year. 

•    Beauty and personal care products are not far behind, with consumers ready to spend 40% more than usual, and a significant 67% (particularly 75% in the Northeast) prioritizing these products.

•    65% of consumers gather information from as early as January. Of these, 85% have their sights set on a new car, and 45% on motorcycles, as 54% aim to facilitate comfortable travel for their families during the holidays, and 49% show interest in the latest technological advancements.

•    Electronics are expected to see a 60% increase in expenditure over the typical year, with 64% of consumers planning to invest in this category—a figure that jumps to 1.7 times higher in the Northeast region.

The data also points to planned expenditures of bonus money. 7 in 10 users plan to channel their bonuses into shopping sprees, while 6 in 10 are earmarking funds for travel or festivities with loved ones. However, fiscal prudence is also a theme, with 72% of consumers considering various financial products and half reassessing their insurance policies, which highlights a balanced approach to financial health and leisure spending during Songkran and summer. Brands can leverage TikTok's insights by aligning their offerings with consumer spending behaviours and enhancing their presence on the platform. This is a crucial opportunity to tap into heightened user engagement and drive sales.

Connect creatively with consumers

TikTok has unveiled a holistic strategy for this Songkran and summer, blending user-centric content with seasonal trends to amplify brand engagement to its fullest.

Highlighting Songkran and Summer Recommendations is key, with 61% of users actively seeking such guidance and 64% showing keen interest in Seasonal Exclusive Items, distinct and novel food and beverage products.

To further elevate the festive experience, 73% of users show a preference for content that fuses Songkran and summer elements to Bring Up the Vibe. TikTok also serves as a hub for finding inspiration and trending content by compiling a mix of hashtags, music, creators, and engaging videos in the TikTok Creative Center, which brands can utilize to craft compelling content.

The strategic use of official hashtags like #สงกรานต์2567 is the key tactic to gain traction during this peak period and allow brands to effectively engage with the community and inspire through trending content on the platform

Brands are encouraged to adopt these guidelines creatively by leveraging festive sound and music, utilizing Songkran and Summer’s hashtag/filter, providing recommendations or tips to get ready for the season, adopt trends in your creative while Building deeper connections through creators.

Drive success through TikTok's innovative solution

TikTok is set to boost the success of businesses in the Songkran and Summer 2024 seasons with its updated Full-Funnel Solutions.

The platform offers a range of options for brands to enhance user journeys from discovery to purchase with the suite of tools: TopView to attract user attention, Focused View to inspire a captive audience that helps build intuitive buying, Branded Mission & Branded Effect for deeper engagement, and TikTok Shopping Ads for driving conversions.

These tools are designed to help brands maximize their visibility and engagement with TikTok's vast and dynamic user base during the festive period.

"TikTok is committed to being a platform that inspires creativity and brings joy. These insights demonstrate that entertainment can amplify and unlock a multitude of marketing opportunities for brands during Songkran and throughout the summer season. Brands can become part of the TikTok community by leveraging our full-funnel solutions to create engaging entertainment content that increases consumer engagement with brands to drive sales growth and achieve marketing goals efficiently," said Cholticha Ngamkamollert, Head of Client Partnership TH, TikTok.