TikTok 102: Staying on Trend
In part two of our Everything to Know about TikTok series, we'll dive into trends and cover which trends dominate the platform, how your brand can participate in a way that aligns with your identity, and how to stay ahead of the curve. We'll also prepare you on what to do if you happen to go viral!
Understanding and Identifying Trends
Trends are the core of TikTok. Trends can include viral challenges, popular audio, and specific content formats like a type of photo slideshow or short videos. The type of content that trends on TikTok is usually very short-lived; within a week, a new trend will likely emerge. But for a brief, fun moment, they can bring all sides of the app together.
If you’re trying to build your audience, it’s super important to involve yourself in whatever is trending (if it’s right for your brand, of course!), as trending videos can help you reach new audiences fast.
A bunch of viral sounds have specific trends that accompany them, such as this sound. The majority of videos using this sound are centered on meeting a niche celebrity rather than a well-known one. For example, this woman met Elvis!
To find what is currently trending, you can do a few things.
Scroll through your For You page: Look for any repetitive sounds/themes and take note of how many likes and comments varying types of formats are receiving. Also take note if you really gravitate to it.
Search “Viral Sounds”: This will show you the top-charting audios on the app. This works with “Viral Dances” and “Viral Videos” as well; when you search, sort by “Top” to see what is getting the most engagement.
Look at Hashtags and Captions: When looking for trends to follow, always check the caption of a video to see if anything stands out like a hashtag or certain caption format that is drawing in all this attention.
Use Trend Discovery: Powered by TikTok Creative Center, this is extremely helpful if you can’t find any inspiration for a trendy video. Here you can see exactly what hashtags, sounds, creators, and specific videos are most popular right now.
Types of Trends
The majority of TikTok content leans on the entertainment side, and this can be an issue for organizations who want to keep their content more formal or professional. But it’s not impossible! Here are some examples of how you can make trends work for you:
Dance Trends: Dance trends are a TikTok staple, and there’s always a new dance to learn. Make a dance work for your account by having team members perform the latest dance moves and insert on-screen text to highlight your organization's recent achievements, impact stories, or upcoming events. It would look something like this:
Stitches: Use the Stitch feature on TikTok to create content that adds value to existing popular videos. You can stitch a trending video and incorporate a message related to your nonprofit's mission. For example, add a creative twist by providing a voiceover that aligns the content with your organization's goals or recent activities.
Long-Form Story Time: Long-form content has been on the rise on TikTok, so if you have a lot to say, now is your time to post about it. Viewership of long-form content is up 40% since its continuous rollout of the 10-, 30-, and now 60-minute long video option. Whether it's behind-the-scenes looks, in-depth discussions about your projects, or personal stories from those you’ve helped, long-form content has become super popular; its purpose is reminiscent of a podcast and allows you to engage your audience with richer, more comprehensive narratives.
Fill in The Blank Humor: This trend focuses on humor and entertainment, which might be a bit challenging to align with your brand in a formal way. However, you can make it work by incorporating funny inside jokes among team members, highlighting your team's favorite unconventional motivational songs played in the office, or creating guessing games where team members complete sentences related to your field. This trend is an excellent way to showcase your team’s personality and make your content both relatable and entertaining. Use this example for inspiration:
Participating in Trends
It’s easy to get swept up in all the possibilities you have for creating a TikTok, but the bottom line here is that you must consider what your audience wants to see from you when curating your content. It’s not wise to hop on a trend without doing some research into the trend itself, as well as your audience.
Here’s some food for thought if you’re considering making this move:
Pros:
Consistently staying up to date with trends in a way that works for you shows your audience that you’re paying attention to what they want to see from you.
Participating in trends can make your content more discoverable through TikTok’s algorithm, potentially attracting new supporters and donors.
Engaging content can foster a sense of community and connection with your audience, making them more likely to support your cause.
Relatability can humanize your brand, making it easier for people to connect with your mission on a personal level.
Cons:
Not all viral trends will align with your nonprofit’s mission or values, and forcing a fit can come across as inauthentic.
Creating content for viral trends can be time-consuming and may require additional resources, which can be a challenge for small nonprofits with limited budgets.
The impact of viral trends is often short-lived, and the spike in visibility and engagement may not translate into long-term support.
Missteps, such as not doing enough research into a trend before you participate, can harm your nonprofit’s reputation and credibility, potentially alienating existing supporters. For example, it might be that a trend was created by a person who supports the opposite of what your brand stands for.
Because trends are always coming and going, you might find yourself in a situation where you see an outdated trend that would fit your brand perfectly. In this situation, it wouldn’t hurt to post a video for an outdated trend, but it isn’t as promised that it will get the same amount of attention as it would have when it was trending.
But don’t feel too disappointed if you miss a trend! Although trends die down pretty quickly, they can also make a comeback just as fast. We’ve seen trends from two years ago come back with a slightly different format but the same idea.
Participating in trends is a great way to stay relevant, but besides that it’s a good idea to post at least once a day or at least three to four times a week to stay consistent. As you continue to post, keep checking up on your view and like count to see what type of trends and content your audience seems to like more, and gear your strategy more towards that going forward.
Prepare to go Viral
Sometimes a video will go viral out of nowhere. There is no science about this that we know of, but, if it happens to you, it’s a good idea to be prepared for all the attention!
I can speak from experience about this: in 2019 I shared an account with a friend for posting random content, one day I posted a video, took a nap and woke up to 11 million views and 1.7 million likes. I used popular audio at the time, which helped, but there were so many other people using it as well, so what made mine special? I'm still not entirely sure, but I think my video idea was more unique than the others, so the algorithm favored it. It was pretty silly so for your viewing entertainment here it is:
So how can you prepare when your video gets more attention than you were expecting? First, make sure your account is well-branded with a link to your website, if people are interested in learning more about you. And get ready to spend more time on TikTok, as you’ll need to do more engaging with your audience through comment replies, video replies, or interaction on your other channels. Always be prepared to go more in-depth about your content if questions arise, so your audience sees that you’re active and engaged!
Up Next TikTok: 103 !
Now you’re caught up on trends and ready to go viral! Before the fame gets to your head, check back soon for our next installment, TikTok 103: High-Risk High Reward. We’ll summarize the risks and the benefits of joining TikTok to help you make informed decisions.