From dancing challenges to cooking recipes, TikTok trends breathe new life into the platform, bringing millions of users together to participate in various events and content creation challenges. Nano trends last a few days to a couple of weeks, while micro trends can last several months. Macro trends are culture-shifting trends that stay for several years.
TikTok trends can also be localized, so a challenge may only be trending in a specific country like Canada or a city like Toronto. For businesses, identifying and recreating viral TikTok trends offers a way to increase brand visibility and customer engagement. Here are some tips for discovering relevant viral TikTok trends and leveraging them for your audience:
Explore Viral Trends and Videos on TikTok
TikTok trends are high-engaging content that most people are looking for at a particular time. There are three primary ways to find these types of content, with two methods built into the social media platform. You can browse the Explore page on TikTok or the Trends tab on TikTok’s Creative Center. The third option involves using third-party tools. You can also explore other social media platforms and websites that discuss the most viral TikTok trend of the day, week, or month.
TikTok’s Explore page is an in-built tool that allows you to keep tabs on the latest viral content. Simply click on the Explore tab to find inspirational videos with increased traction. You can check the different categories, which include beauty, fashion, food and drink, dance, music, and sports. Each category provides a list of videos that are trending in that subject. Look for themes and styles that keep popping up as these are the trendy ideas you need to incorporate in your queue.
Use Creative Center and Third-Party Tools
Once you’ve identified trends from the Explore page, check the Trend discovery feature under TikTok’s Creative Center. This feature allows you to identify and keep up with the latest trends. You can select your target audience country to sort viral content according to location. Follow hashtag trails to tap into larger trends that leading content creators are pursuing. Use existing filters to sort creators by likes and follower count and track how their videos perform to get an idea of what topics are trending.
Another simpler way to go about identifying TikTok trends is through third-party tools and websites. For instance, you can check your competitors’ TikTok profiles to see what they’re doing. Tools like Keyhole provide various engagement metrics to help you discover what other people are creating and filter out ideas and trends that went viral. You can also enter the hashtags and keywords you identified from the Explore and Trend discovery feature. These tools let you identify and compare engagement metrics.
Leveraging Viral Trends for Increased Engagement
Identifying viral TikTok trends is only the first step in integrating TikTok videos into your marketing strategy. Once trends are identified, they need to be replicated and personalized to fit the brand and message. Leveraging viral TikTok trends requires timing, a video production budget, and occasional social media promotion. Watch out for emerging subcultures to spot trends before they blow up and take advantage of timely content. Check the dates of each content to analyze the type of trend (nano, micro, macro).
Spend time watching For You Feed to spot nano trends and topics that are starting to pick traction. As you watch trending videos, take note of the hashtags used, video style, conversations, and overall storyline. Explore Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms to find out what others are creating surrounding the same trending topics and conversations. The idea is to assess what’s already working and model your content to fit what people are gravitating toward. Here are more tips for leveraging viral TikTok trends:
Create High-Quality Videos
Viral TikTok videos tend to be high-quality productions and well-conceptualized and executed ideas. People want high-quality pixels, clear footage, and clean audio that doesn’t require much strain to understand. Set aside a video production budget and work with professional videographers to produce high-quality video formats for TikTok and other social media.
Customize for Originality
While it may be tempting to replicate what’s being done by everyone else, original TikTok videos tend to perform better. After your customize the content to fit your brand and goals rather than producing the same video your competitors have posted. Keep an open mind and experiment with different approaches. Make sure the idea and conversation match your style and other TikTok videos.
Promote Your Content
Unless you already have a big following, posting a TikTok video won’t automatically lead to increased visibility. You must promote the content and get it in the face of as many people as possible. Use influencers, blogs, other social media, and paid ad options to promote your content. The more people view your content, the more TikTok will recommend it in your audience’s feed. Remember to optimize your videos with hashtags, keywords, titles, links, captions, and descriptions.
Key Takeaways About Viral TikTok Trends
TikTok trends are a reflection of what people are drawn to at a particular time and can be used to increase brand visibility and engagement. Participating in such trends by posting content around similar topics, concepts, and conversations increases the reach of your videos and brand. However, trends can be fleeting, so the goal is to remain aligned with your brand’s goals and vision. Businesses can use nano, micro, and macro trends to consistently remain relevant and visible to their audiences while promoting their brand.