SeaWorld

The objective

Turning travel inspiration into measurable park visits

SeaWorld is the premiere marine animal theme park and conservation organization with parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio. SeaWorld offers up-close animal encounters, award-winning thrill rides, seasonal events and educational experiences for guests of all ages. Over the last 60 years, SeaWorld has rescued, rehabilitation and released over 43,000 animals. For this campaign, SeaWorld look to build positive brand awareness and consideration, while driving incremental park admission ticket sales at target cost per sale.

Ahead of its October–November 2025 campaign, SeaWorld wanted to translate entertainment and travel inspiration into measurable visitation intent and online ticket purchases across its three regional markets. The campaign needed to accomplish two goals across the funnel: build awareness among potential guests while also driving conversions through ticket and pass purchases.

In partnership with Horizon Next, United Park & Resort’s media agency, SeaWorld selected TikTok as a place where audiences actively seek entertainment, travel inspiration and local event ideas. With short-form video suited to both discovery and action, the platform gave the brand an opportunity to reach potential visitors while measuring its impact on brand perception and incremental sales.

The solution

Connecting creator storytelling with automated campaign optimization

SeaWorld worked with Open Influence, a full-service creator and influencer marketing agency, on a creator-led content package designed to feel native to the For You feed. Five creators produced authentic videos highlighting the parks’ attractions, seasonal events and family-friendly experiences. This approach allowed SeaWorld to introduce its destinations through culturally relevant content while maintaining the brand-safety requirements of the campaign.

To turn that content into action, SeaWorld used Smart+ Web to automate and optimize ad delivery across TikTok. The solution dynamically identified audiences with a high likelihood of purchasing tickets in real time, reducing the need for rigid manual targeting. Geographic targeting localized the campaign across Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio, allowing SeaWorld to monitor performance and adjust budget allocation based on the responsiveness of each market.

To understand the campaign’s full-funnel impact, SeaWorld paired Smart+ Web with TikTok’s Unified Lift measurement framework. A Brand Lift Study measured changes in ad recall, favorability, preference and visit intent, while a Conversion Lift Study measured incremental website page views, add-to-cart events and purchases. Together, these studies helped SeaWorld evaluate both brand impact and incremental sales outcomes within the same campaign.

The results

Building stronger brand consideration while generating incremental sales

By combining creator-led content, automated delivery and full-funnel measurement, SeaWorld generated measurable results across both awareness and conversion objectives. The campaign delivered 9.8 million impressions and drove more than 91,700 clicks across the brand’s three regional markets.

The Brand Lift Study recorded a 30.9% lift in ad recall, demonstrating the ability of creator-led videos to capture attention in a native TikTok environment. The campaign also produced a 6.4% lift in favorability, an 8.9% lift in visit intent and a 4% lift in brand preference, helping move audiences from initial discovery toward considering a SeaWorld visit.

The Conversion Lift Study showed that the campaign generated a 9.36% lift in incremental purchases and achieved a 1.97 incremental ROAS. It also delivered an 11.67% lift in incremental page views, representing 167,473 additional page views at a $0.70 cost per incremental conversion.

Platform reporting further showed 10,747 website purchases and approximately $1.13 million in total revenue across the three markets. Together, these results demonstrated how creator storytelling and Smart+ Web could help SeaWorld build brand interest while also contributing to measurable ticket sales.

Tips & takeaways

• Use creator-led storytelling to introduce destinations and experiences in a way that feels natural to the platform.

• Connect upper-funnel creative with an automated conversion solution to move audiences from discovery to purchase.

• Localize campaigns by market so budgets can be adjusted according to regional performance.

• Pair brand and conversion studies to measure both changes in perception and incremental business outcomes.