From Search Data to $25K in Sales
Klook handed me a product catalog covering Japan, Shanghai, and Southeast Asia. No brief. No content plan. Over four months, I built a research-driven content strategy from scratch, choosing which products to feature, when to publish, and how to frame each video.
Over four months, the campaign produced:
997,299 total views across Instagram and TikTok
$25,651 in tracked sales through promo codes and affiliate links
215 bookings attributed to content
1,054 high-intent leads via DM automation
But how?
01
Research & Discovery
I started with the audience, not the catalog. Before choosing a single product, I needed to understand what travelers were searching for and where existing content fell short.
AnswerThePublic surfaced the specific questions people typed into Google. For example "Universal Studios Japan," the top clusters were about express passes (are they worth it, where to buy, can you get them at the gate), tickets, and Super Nintendo World logistics. For "Japan Shinkansen," people wanted step-by-step booking guidance, ticket types, and route comparisons.
TikTok Creator Search Insights confirmed these gaps from the content side. For Shinkansen content, the platform flagged "step-by-step Shinkansen ticket buying" and "comparing online vs station tickets" as underserved angles. The audience skewed 25% US and 20% Australia. For USJ content, "first-time USJ tips" and "how to beat USJ crowds" showed high search volume with few quality answers. US viewers made up 37%, followed by the Philippines at 18%.
This gave me two things: a clear picture of who the audience was (English-speaking, planning a first trip to Japan) and a ranked list of content gaps I could fill using products from Klook's catalog.
02
Content Strategy
I matched research findings to Klook's product catalog, then sequenced content around seasonal relevance and search demand.
September opened with USJ (Halloween Horror Nights was live, driving seasonal search spikes) and Shanghai Disneyland (a first-timer guide targeting an underserved market). October shifted to practical logistics: a Fuji-Q Highland guide pairing Mt. Fuji views with Klook's transportation options, a Kansai Pass usage guide, and a dedicated USJ Express Pass guide built from the top AnswerThePublic questions. November timed the Klook Pass Greater Tokyo guide to Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, then published the Shinkansen guide (Osaka to Tokyo, full booking process) targeting the highest-demand content gap I found. December rounded out with Shanghai's Immersive Tang Dynasty experience and a China e-SIM guide.
Every video answered a question I found in the research. The Shinkansen guide addressed "how to book Japan Shinkansen tickets" and "where to buy Japan Shinkansen tickets." The USJ Express Pass guide tackled "is the express pass worth it" and "first-time USJ tips." The content wasn't promotional by default. It was useful by design, with Klook positioned as the tool that solves the problem.
03
Hook Testing & Iteration
I tested hooks using finished content, not drafts. After publishing, I monitored retention curves and trimmed sections where viewers dropped off. Videos that held a higher hook rate earned higher views. The correlation was direct.
The USJ Express Pass guide is a good example. The hook came straight from search insights: people wanted to know if the express pass was worth it and which rides to prioritize. I opened with that tension instead of a generic intro. The video went on to become one of the top three performers across the entire campaign.
Each round of testing informed the next video. Hooks that framed a clear problem ("you're doing this wrong" or "here's what nobody tells you about X") outperformed hooks that led with the product or destination name. By November, the Shinkansen guide and BFCM content both benefited from patterns I identified in September and October.
04
Top Performers
Osaka/Tokyo: Shinkansen Guide 429,100 reach · 51,281 interactions · 815 DM runs · 543 direct clicks The highest-performing piece in the campaign. Built to answer the most-searched questions I found in research. The video walked through the full booking process from Osaka to Tokyo using Klook.
Black Friday Cyber Monday: USJ Express Pass Guide 415,200 reach · 43,394 interactions Captured peak seasonal demand during BFCM. The hook addressed the exact question AnswerThePublic surfaced months earlier: is the express pass worth it?
Shanghai: Disneyland First-Timer Guide 77,280 reach · 8,486 interactions Smaller reach, but it filled a specific gap in Klook's China offering and served an audience with fewer content options.