6 social video trends for brands to know about

The turbulence surrounding TikTok over the past few months—from its brief shutdown in January to the new April U.S. TikTok ban deadline looming over the platform—hasn’t stopped the social media trend cycle from humming along as usual. Below, we’ve rounded up six of the biggest social video trends that have emerged over the past month across TikTok, Instagram and other short-form video platforms. Check out our TikTok Trends Tracker, exclusive to All Access subscribers, to read more about these trends and more of the video formats, audio clips and songs currently grabbing the internet’s attention. The Tracker also offers insights into each trend’s reach on TikTok and beyond, powered by marketing agency Influential. Also read: Creator and influencer trends to know about TikTok Trends Tracker Breaking down viral social trends and how brands can engage Click here ‘Oh, are you waiting for that to hit me?’ No matter how compelling or well-crafted a social media video is, all of that work goes to waste if the video lacks an attention-grabbing hook to keep viewers watching past the first few seconds. The latest strategy for doing so is a trend where one person throws a cardboard box at a second person (who is typically focused on their laptop)—but just before the box hits them, the video jump cuts to a separate clip of that intended target asking viewers some variation of, “Oh, are you waiting for that to hit me?” They typically follow that rhetorical question by telling the viewer they’re waiting for them to do something, too, such as applying to the Disney College internship program or trying a new product. Showing the box actually colliding with the person after their call to action isn’t strictly required, but several brands have included the moment of impact in their videos for a little physical comedy. @herocosmetics 🚨NO INTERNS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO🚨 Shop Mighty Patch™ Body patch 😉 #heroemployee #mightypatch #pimplepatch #new #productlaunch #pimple #acne #office ♬ original sound - Hero Cosmetics ‘My Shayla!’ You never know what random piece of media will spawn the next viral meme. In this case, it’s a seven-year-old video of actor and singer Tyrese Gibson wailing “Oh my god, my Shayla!” while talking about a custody battle over his daughter. Social media users have divorced the soundbite from that original context and are instead using it to express their deep affection for people, pets or important items in their lives. “My Shayla” on its own has also become a term of endearment among Gen Zers, similar to when the pet name “Pookie” went viral last year, and brands can include that phrase in the captions or comments sections of social posts to appeal to young consumers. @poptarts I’m not crying I swear @Pop-Tarts Bowl #poptarts #poptartsbowl #ptbowl #rip #cinnamonroll ♬ ohhhmyygoddmy shayla - 🩷 ‘This and _____’ Gen Zers often use the phrase “this and yap” in the captions or comments sections of social posts to describe their ideal way of spending time with a friend or loved one, as in “[doing] this and yap[ping].” Now, social media users are taking the trend beyond just “yapping” and leveraging the “this and _____” format to share other dream scenarios such as leisurely exploring an antique store (“this and no one rushing me”) or relaxing on a beach and not needing to worry about work emails (“this and no outlook notifications”). Most of the videos following this trend use the song “Jubel” by Klingande as the background track. @therealgushers this is my safe space ♬ SAVE ME from rammor summer chill mix on youtube - Rammor ‘Letting TikTok choose the sound/audio’ When you’re preparing to upload a photo or video to TikTok, the app kindly suggests a trending song or soundbite to accompany your post. But, TikTok being TikTok, the audio clips that the app recommends tend to be rather unhinged. TikTok users are leaning into that absurdity with this trend, which requires at least three people: one person recording a second person as they take a photo of a third person and wait to see which trending sound the app chooses as a good fit for the photo. The most viral videos following the trend involve the photographer snapping a series of photos of their friends and/or coworkers and cracking up alongside them as they find out which audio clips TikTok picked. Two agencies have each racked up over a million views on their videos following the trend—Cornett, a full-service ad agency in Kentucky, and Malaysia-based digital marketing agency Pandan Social. @teamcornett TikTok didn’t hold back on us #tiktok #sound #audio #ai #office #coworkers ♬ original sound - Cornett The ‘OIIA Cat’ The internet apparently can’t get enough of polygonal renderings of real-life cats. Roughly a year and a half after “Maxwell the Cat” trended on TikTok, a new feline is sweeping across social media—the “OIIA cat,” modeled after a real cat named Ethel. The trend initially took off when social media users started showing videos of the “OIIA cat” (an onomatopoeia of the sounds she makes as her 3D model spins in a circle) to their cats as a form of feline “brain rot,” but now largely involves users creating remixes of popular songs that use Ethel’s chirpy “OIIA” vocals. Other users simply feature the spinning “OIIA cat” model, or several of them, in their videos. @hyundai INSTER’s All-in one charging got Oiia Oiia in a loop. ⚡🔋 Let’s spinning! 🌪️ Are you in? #Hyundai #CarTok #Meme #Spinning #Cats #oiiaoiia #CarTrends #EV #INSTER ♬ original sound - Hyundai Worldwide ‘Anxiety’ dance When rapper Doechii dropped her latest song, “Anxiety,” earlier this month, it began sweeping across social media almost immediately—and its online virality was boosted even further when a dance trend connected to the song started taking off soon after. The trend borrows its beginner-friendly choreography from an episode of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” with one person dancing with a pair of headphones on and another joining them in a series of shimmies a few beats later. Some creators have played around with the lyrics “somebody’s watching me, it’s my anxiety” and included a mirror in their videos that shows their reflection moving independently of them or filling the role of both dancers themselves. @colbertlateshow Lumon is watching, and it’s giving us anxiety. #Colbert #TramellTillman #Severance #Doechii ♬ original sound - Franklin Saint TikTok Trends Tracker Breaking down viral social trends and how brands can engage Click here

6 social video trends for brands to know about

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