5 new TikTok trends that brands can follow

The Jan. 19 deadline President Joe Biden set for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform to a non-Chinese company or face a U.S. ban is swiftly approaching. TikTok’s fate remains uncertain as the platform continues to challenge the looming ban in court and President-elect Donald Trump openly contemplates blocking the ban. Despite the political controversy hanging over the platform, many consumers and marketers have changed little about their approach to TikTok. Two-thirds of U.S. marketers have continued working with influencers on TikTok in the months leading up to the potential ban, according to a recent report from influencer marketing agency Linqia. And, both brands and the consumers they want to reach still regularly look to TikTok to keep a pulse on the latest trends influencing pop culture beyond the For You page. Below are five of the biggest TikTok trends currently influencing both brands and users on the platform. If you missed our most recent round of trends, you can catch up here. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today Subtle foreshadowing Gen Z loves videos brimming with absurdism and purposely jarring editing—just look at the Nutter Butter TikTok account, for example. The “subtle foreshadowing” trend encompasses both elements of Gen Z’s sense of humor, splicing brief clips of some type of unfortunate outcome (such as a tower of crates toppling over or someone tumbling down a staircase) together with the seconds that lead up to that ill-fated moment. The #SubtleForeshadowing hashtag has secured 1 billion views and has been used on roughly 30,000 videos since it first began to gain traction last month, according to data from influencer marketing agency Influential—and the trend is continuing to entertain TikTok users long after its late October peak. Despite what the trend’s name suggests, the glimpses at the unfortunate ending of the video should be anything but subtle. Staging a convincing mishap such as an accidental fall can be difficult to pull off, but bloopers from prior shoots could be great fodder for a “subtle foreshadowing” video. The outcome hinted at through the flashes of foreshadowing doesn’t necessarily have to be potentially harmful, either—plenty of TikTok users have participated in the trend with more mundane scenarios, such as splicing clips of themselves going to bed throughout a video of them attempting to study. Brands such as Teletubbies and Spot Pet Insurance, as well as the TikTok account for the “Sonic the Hedgehog” film franchise, have leaned into the physical comedy at the heart of the “subtle foreshadowing” trend. Others took a different approach, such as Chipotle, which flashed between clips of a full burrito bowl and an empty one. @teletubbies Dipsy never saw it coming 😔 ♬ original sound - Teletubbies HQ ‘Accidental’ camera flip When scrolling through the For You page, where the TikTok algorithm serves up videos based on your interests and behavior on the platform, it’s fairly common to not know the person behind the camera, unless it’s a video from a creator or influencer you follow. This trend capitalizes on the anonymity of TikTok camerapeople, with each video offering a “hot take” via on-screen text before the camera “accidentally” flips around to reveal the person to whom that opinion belongs—someone who would benefit from the viewpoint being proposed. For example, one video that states “we need to start feeding our dogs twice an hour or they will starve” is revealed to be “filmed” by a dog, while another, posted by Charli D’Amelio, begins with the opinion “guys i’m really proud of charli she killing it on broadway and we should all go watch and support.” Taylor Lautner’s take on the trend, where he nods to his role in the “Twilight” movie series and says Bella should have chosen his character, Jacob, over her other love interest, Edward, garnered a massive 156 million views and 27.3 million likes. When the camera flips and their identity is revealed, users typically add on-screen text expressing either panic or amusement, such as “oh no” or “lol whoops.” Brands can similarly put their employees, mascots or products behind the camera and have them share a decidedly biased opinion about the brand or a specific product before revealing their identity, as e.l.f. Beauty, MAC Cosmetics, A24, Prime Video and Zillow all did. And if you’re a social media manager struggling to convince a team member to star in the video, it might help to tell them they won’t need to say a word—almost all the videos following the trend use forlorn (and royalty-free) instrumental music as a background track. @zillow oops lol ♬ Sad violin - Katsuyuki Takahashi ‘Who is this diva?’ The term “diva” has historically been associated with selfishness and vanity, but TikTok users have collectively redefined the term as a compliment for someone they consider beautiful, confident or otherwise admirable. However, rather than using the word “diva” in isolation, users comment the rhetorical question “Who is this diva?” (often accompanied by a purple heart emoji) or add that question as on-screen text to a video of someone exuding confidence or stylishness. Some users have instead begun employing the phrase sarcastically or as a backhanded compliment. Brands don’t necessarily need to make an entire video dedicated to this trend to participate. They could instead comment “Who is this diva?” on a trending video or leverage the phrase for a caption of a social post, as PepsiCo’s Starry and “Teletubbies” did. But creating a video tied to this trend is fairly straightforward—choose an employee, product, mascot or other subject to be the “diva” in question and type “Who is this diva?” on the screen, purple heart optional (but recommended). Netflix, for example, added “who is this diva?” to a clip from the series “Heartbreak High.” @netflix That's THE diva tbh ❤️ #HeartbreakHigh #austok #netty ♬ original sound - Netflix Read about all of the 2024 Marketers of the Year ‘The council is deciding your fate’ TikTok users are notorious for assembling huge collections of everything from Stanley tumblers to plush toys (including Jellycat plushes) or figurines such as Calico Critters or Target’s viral seasonal birds. With this trend, TikTokers are showing off those collections by arranging products in a circle and having that “council” of products “decide [the viewer’s] fate.” Given TikTok’s dark sense of humor, those fates are often grim (think lobotomies, executions, etc.)—but brands can definitely offer viewers more optimistic fates. To jump on this trend, brands can swap Target birds or Calico Critters for a circle of their own products, as Asos, Google Pixel and skincare brand Byoma did. It’s also essential to use this audio clip modeled after the squeaky jibberish of characters in the “Animal Crossing” video game series to represent the “voices” of the council debating the viewer’s fate. @byoma like and save to claim 🙏🤞 ♬ original sound - Voicemod 🎙 ‘I lied, put your clothes back on’ While the implications of this trend are a bit risque (the phrase “I lied, put your clothes back on” insinuates the person making the video falsely promised to have sex with the person they’re addressing), the trend itself largely revolves around users discussing a topic they’re passionate about—such as the “Harry Potter” fandom—or a strong opinion they hold. TikTok users articulate their thoughts in a wall of on-screen text, always beginning with “I lied, put your clothes back on,” which is then set atop a video of them sitting down in front of the camera as if they’re preparing to enter into a long conversation. Brands that aren’t apprehensive about the suggestive nature of the trend can task someone on their team with filming a video of themselves slowly sitting down and adding several lines of text about a strong belief associated with the brand, such as one of the brand’s values or causes it supports, or an explanation of how to properly use a new or existing product. Air Baltic, for example, wrote, “put your seatbelt back on and tell us why you’re flying with other airlines,” while ITK Skincare (founded by YouTubers Brooklyn and Bailey Knight) leveraged the trend to compare the ingredients in its products to those of rival skincare brands. @airbaltic you can skip the answer just buy the ticket on our sale NOW #airbaltic #fyp ♬ original sound - itk skincare

5 new TikTok trends that brands can follow

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