Top TikTok Trends You Need to Jump On (Before They Blow Up)
Social media-savvy marketers, brands, and influencers know that the best time to be part of a trend is before it goes viral. Once viral TikTok trends take off, it’s already too late. Social media moves fast, and TikTok is no exception.
Sure, the latest TikTok trend ideas are fun to watch. But as someone with a product to sell, a brand to promote, or an image to uphold, you know they’re opportunities to reach new audiences, cultivate engagement, and remain top of mind. In the hip, young world of TikTok, jumping on these trends early enough affects your visibility and how many people you reach.
Let’s take a look at 5 TikTok trends that are gaining momentum — before everyone else catches on. We’ll also show you how to look for trends that are about to go viral.
Why TikTok Trends Matter for Growth
TikTok is driven by virality more than other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Its unique algorithm has allowed trending TikTok sounds, hashtag challenges, and memes to dominate its For You pages (FYPs).
Trends Drive Visibility
The platform’s algorithm favors timely, trendy content, so quickly capitalizing on the right trend can drastically increase your visibility, even if your account is new or you only have a modest following.
Being part of these trends tells its algorithm that your content is current and relevant, giving it a higher chance of being displayed on FYPs.
Trends Elicit Engagement
Trends generate buzz and encourage engagement. Dance challenges, for instance, have proven effective in getting people to produce and upload their own dance videos.
Instead of spending long hours conceptualizing content, marketers can hop on a growing trend that has already proven itself in terms of engagement. You don’t need a big marketing budget, and you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. TikTok rewards relevant content as long as it’s what people want to see.
They Help You Stay Culturally Relevant
The ability to shape and participate in trends sends a message. It shows that you know what’s going on and are part of the conversation, making you more relatable and appealing to your audience.
Trends Allow You To Define Your Personality
Whether as a brand or influencer, the platform’s design supports more casual, fun, and amusing content. This enables you to reach out to your audiences in less structured ways while allowing companies to connect with audiences on a more personal level.
The TikTok Difference: Giving Smaller Companies a Chance
Though it’s a relative newcomer, TikTok has firmly established itself as a social media network with a giant and diverse user base boasting high engagement rates. Unlike other platforms, popularity and the size of your following are immaterial. By leveling the playing field, small businesses, up-and-coming influencers, and new brands can quickly expand their organic reach, enjoy near-instant TikTok engagement, and connect with their audiences — all vital for growing one’s social media presence.
Another of TikTok’s unique attributes is its ability to facilitate product discovery. Up to 81% of the social media network’s 1.5 billion active users admitted that TikTok introduced them to new trends and topics they didn’t know they liked. Meanwhile, 74% of American women from 18 to 49 years old said they use TikTok to discover new products.
At the end of the day, brands and marketers mustn’t underestimate the possibilities that TikTok trends offer. They’re powerful tools that facilitate visibility, engagement, and growth. With the right content and timing, even the smallest players can achieve a social media breakthrough, allowing them to be seen by millions.
5 Emerging TikTok Trends Right Now
TikTok trends emerge lightning fast. They also hit big and burn out just as quickly. Hence, speed is of the essence if you want to make an impact on the channel’s users.
Take a look at some of the emerging TikTok trends that are on their way to becoming viral:
#1: The “Who Are You To Others” Trend
Simple to create and fun to watch, the “Who Are You To Others” trend is all about sharing how others see you. Each line mentions a different perspective from someone in your life.
Check out this TikTok example to get an idea of how to pull it off.
Pro Tip: Brands can ride this trend by mentioning how different groups see them. For example, a small candle brand named Wick & Wonder can use the following text overlay:
Wick & Wonder to most
Wickie to our regulars
W&W to our stockists
The candle place to our neighbors
Magic makers to our team
Warmth to your favorite nook
#2: The “I’m So Hungry I Could Eat _____” Trend
It all began when a TikToker exclaimed on camera, “I’m so hungry I could eat a kid!”
People began coming up with their own funny ways to end the sentence. Feel free to use different creative formats when adopting this concept. This video, for instance, filmed children’s wacky and unexpected reactions as they were told the line.
#3: The Viral “Savage” Challenge
Looking for viral challenges that people can get on board with? Ask people to join the Savage Challenge by following the dance choreography of “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion. Request them to tag you.
Watch this Asian dance group on TikTok for inspiration.
#4: The “Send My Love” Trending Audio
Adele’s 2015 hit, “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” is experiencing a revival thanks to TikTok’s trendsetting algorithm. You can use this catchy trending audio to celebrate business or personal milestones that usher in change, including product launches, career shifts, a rebranding, or even the end of habits that no longer serve you.
This user included a remixed version of the tune coupled with her own video montage.
#5: The “My Pet Peeve” Trend
Here’s a chance to use trending audio and content. The concept is simple: lip sync to the Natalie Portman quote, “My pet peeve is people saying ‘I know exactly how you feel.’ Nobody knows exactly how you feel.”
Edit the clip so your own pet peeves show up onscreen as text.
Feel free to tweak these emerging trends so they become uniquely yours. Don’t forget to add relevant, popular hashtags to boost discoverability and help the platform recognize your content.
How To Spot TikTok Trends Early
The good news is you don’t have to rely on lists like these to spot and jump on trends before they become huge. Here are different ways you can discover trends on your own:
Visit the TikTok Creative Center
The TikTok Creative Center is the app’s very own trendspotting tool. From here, you can:
– See the top creators
– Research which videos and products are trending
– Find trending audio
– Use the platform’s music library
– Check out the ads library
– Review the most successful creative strategies
You can also monitor how keywords and hashtags are doing, including the number of views and related posts they have. The social media network compiles various information into an “Interest Over Time” graph, where you can see if interest is rising or falling.
Once topics reach or near the 100-mark, it could mean that the trend is almost over, and you’re getting into them too late. This also indicates that the competition is a lot higher.
To validate and learn more about trending topics, look into:
– What’s trending on other social media sites
– Website analytics (your own and your competitors’)
– Message boards like Reddit
– E-newsletters within your niche
– Google Trends
Combine insights from the TikTok Creative Center with these methods.
Trendspotting Tools
Researching trends is time-consuming. It’s also highly reliant on your ability to access and analyze different information. Trendspotting tools give marketers a leg up by allowing them to quickly anticipate changes in the market and proactively adapt to them. These tools pull information from various sources and translate it into usable insights, enabling content creators to spot emerging patterns, market dynamics, consumer behavior, and societal influences before they become mainstream.
The algorithm of the trendspotting tool, Exploding Topics, monitors millions of data points, presenting users with a list of potential trends. It can show trends according to industry, growth status, search volume, product, brand, and discovery date. Imagine how these features fast-track and improve the process by allowing you to focus on strategy instead of data-gathering!
Other popular social listening tools include Brand24, Meltwater, and TrendTok.
How To Use TikTok Trends Without Losing Your Brand Voice
We all know there’s a huge difference between someone “in the know” and a mindless follower. In the first scenario, you’re a tastemaker. In the second, you risk losing your identity.
So, how can you follow TikTok trends without drowning out your brand voice?
Choose Brand-Aligned Trends
Not all up-and-coming trends will fit your brand identity. They may not be relevant to your mission and vision, or they may not be what you stand for. Before devising a marketing strategy and choosing which trends to capitalize on, know your values and what you want to represent. Then, choose accordingly.
Make Trends Your Own
Once you’ve selected a culturally relevant theme that fits your identity, put your own spin on it. Employ your brand colors, style, and other unique attributes. Creatively personalizing trending content while keeping messaging consistent shows thoughtfulness, authenticity, and effort. It’s also more compelling and attention-grabbing, helping you become known for quality content.
Create an Authentic Connection
Use your branded content to start a conversation. Cultivate audience connection by:
– Asking a genuine question in your caption or video
– Replying to comments with warmth and personality
– Creating follow-up content based on feedback
– Showing behind-the-scenes moments
By following these guidelines, you can be part of emerging trends and optimize visibility while retaining your brand identity.
Brand and Creator Who Are Winning on TikTok
The social media teams behind these accounts deserve an award for creating unforgettable TikTok content that keeps audiences scrolling and wanting more:
DuoLingo’s “Unhinged” Lime Green Owl
The mascot of the language learning app, Duo the Owl (full name: Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo), has stolen millions of hearts on TikTok. From demanding answers from the CEO, to a flash mob dancing to a trending song, and a video playfully describing what Duo is looking for in a life partner, DuoLingo keeps its content fun, original, and engaging.
Earlier this year, the company announced that Duo died from being hit by a Tesla Cybertruck. People were told they could revive the beloved mascot by taking more lessons on the app. It was later revealed he faked his death. The stunt earned DuoLingo mad respect from the marketing community while reinforcing its mascot’s “unhinged” online personality.
The DuoLingo TikTok account has rightly earned its nearly 17 million followers and over 456 million likes. Zaria Parvez, who helps manage the social media profile, demonstrated her keen understanding of the character, explaining in a 2021 article, “The way I think about it, especially when I’m commenting as Duo or creating content as Duo, is Duo is that pushy friend that motivates you.”
“But we never want Duo to be that pushy friend that makes you hate your existence. He wants you to do well and will always be up in your business. The way to make Duo love you is to do your lesson,” Parvez added.
Khaby Lame: Making a Statement Without Saying a Word
Khaby Lame is proof that you can achieve TikTok stardom without uttering a word. The Senegalese-Italian is one of the most notable success stories on the platform, known for his simple, funny, and reaction-based skits.
The 25-year-old rose to fame during the pandemic when he began releasing videos that humorously poked fun at unnecessarily complicated “life hacks.” Though he has yet to say a word, his gestures and facial expressions are relatable and have a universal appeal. Even Lame’s influencer marketing efforts, where he promotes Kellogg’s cereal, retain his signature flair and comedy.
Lame has over 162 million followers and 2.5 billion likes.
These case studies illustrate how TikTok can turn unknown brands and personalities into social media legends.
Final Thoughts: The Power to Boldly Shape Trends
Succeeding on TikTok depends on your ability to spot trends before they go viral and make them your own. Though we named five emerging trends that employ viral challenges, trending audio, and more, simply creating formulaic content won’t merit the kind of success that DuoLingo, Khaby Lame, and other TikTok stars have achieved.
It’s just as important to infuse your content with your unique personality, perspective, and identity. Paired with a strong sense of which themes align naturally with your brand, these elements empower you to not only participate in trends — but to shape them with confidence and authenticity.
