TikTok is a dynamic platform with fast-changing trends, providing great opportunities to create viral content. If you are a new creator, here are some ways to discover and capitalize on TikTok trends effectively:
What are TikTok trends?
TikTok trends are trends, ideas, or content that are popular on the TikTok platform for a certain period of time. These trends often attract a large number of users to participate in creating and sharing videos, thereby spreading strongly in the community.
Trend TikTok include:
- Hot sounds: Songs and melodies are used a lot in videos.
- Challenges (#Challenge): Activities or actions that users are encouraged to do. For example, the trend “Get Ready With Me” (get ready with me).
- Special effects: Filters, and video editing effects that are loved by many people.
- Dance trends: Unique or easy-to-do dances.
- Short stories or POV (Point of View): Content that tells a story or creates a situation that attracts viewers.
Why do we need to catch TikTok trends?
Here are the reasons why any content creator should not ignore the power of “catching trends”.
Increase Reach and Engagement
TikTok prioritizes trending content on the “For You” tab, where millions of users pay attention every day. Participating in a popular trend makes it easier for your video to appear on FYP, thereby increasing the number of viewers and interactions.
According to data from TikTok, trending videos are likely to increase the interaction rate 3 times compared to normal videos.
Build brand awareness
For businesses or creators looking to grow their channels, following trends makes it easy for brands to attract new audiences and create a strong impression. Trends are also “current”, making your content relevant to the current context. A new creator can join the trend by combining their product with a popular challenge to increase recognition without the need for large advertising costs.
Fostering creativity and community connection
TikTok trends not only help users “keep up with the times” but also stimulate creativity. Creators can take advantage of trends to tell their own stories or express their style, thereby building deep connections with the audience.
POV (Point of View) trend is one of the most diverse TikTok trends. Just an interesting POV and adding a trending sound can give you a chance to be recommended on FYP. Creators create storytelling content such as “A Day in the Life” or “If I Were a Movie Character”. These videos both take advantage of the storytelling trend and show the creative personality of the content creator.
Accelerate channel growth and earning potential
Joining the trend helps new creators quickly build a following, thereby opening up opportunities to collaborate with brands or make money through the TikTok Creator Fund.
Another example is the Tiktok Makeup Transformation Trend – Not only famous in the world but also very popular with the Vietnamese Tiktoker community. This trend not only helps content creators have the opportunity to become a trend by taking advantage of the appeal and love of viewers, but can also be combined with attaching affiliate links to advertise used products.
The fastest and most effective way to discover Tiktok trends
Follow top creators
In the “Trends” section of the TikTok Creative Center, you can discover videos from top creators and influencers. Not only will it help you stay on top of TikTok trends, but it will also allow you to find potential influencers for your brand.
Explore the Trending Videos tab
In the Videos tab in the TikTok Creative Center, you can watch videos that are “hot” regardless of whether they are from famous creators or Tiktokers with a large number of followers. This is also the appeal of the latest Tikotk algorithm – allowing all users to be able to go viral, even if you start from zero. The Videos tab is the “gold mine” to find viral videos, including duets or stitches.
Research on popular Hashtag
The “Hashtags” tab under “Trends” allows you to find hashtags related to your topic/niche. This tool not only helps you discover trends but also helps you optimize your content by targeting the right keywords.
Explore trending music
In the TikTok Creative Center’s Music tab, you can find trending sounds and songs. Here, you’ll see two tabs: Popular and Breakout:
- Popular: Find the most frequently used songs in your chosen time frame, and you can filter out songs that are approved for commercial use.
- Breakout: Includes user-generated songs and audio clips that are trending – one of the most effective ways to trend on TikTok.
Using TikTok Commercial Music Library
In addition to the “Trends” section, the TikTok Commercial Music Library is also a collection of licensed songs (meaning you have full rights to use them for monetization purposes without worrying about copyright issues). You can easily find music that fits your TikTok content or TikTok ads.
Researching Tiktok success stories
Discover which TikTok trends have worked in the past by using the Creative Strategies page. This is where you can find TikTok Marketing case studies, creative tips, and quick TikTok guides.
Research on trends
TikTok’s Trends Overview will help content creators better understand TikTok audience behavior and predict development trends in their industry.
- Step 1: On the TikTok Creative Center homepage ⮕ Trends ⮕ Trends Overview ⮕ Explore (scroll down).
- Step 2: Filter: You can choose general trends or filter by industry, time, etc. In addition, you can also choose trends by hashtag, song, creator, or TikTok video.
Find “hot” keywords with Keyword Insights
Being a platform that focuses on user experience – meaning the longer users stay, the more successful TikTok is – also means that TikTok also provides support for content creators to “capture” viewer insights. Use the Keyword Insights tool to discover popular (or fast-growing) keywords to apply to video production, hit the “right spot” and connect with users.
Explore the For You page (FYP)
Where is the best place to discover TikTok trends? Your own TikTok FYP is not to be missed! Your TikTok For You (FYP) page provides content related to other accounts and videos that you have interacted with. Try to be active on your own TikTok account and get into the mind of your target audience. Once you start seeing relevant content on your TikTok FYP, you can get a feel for what types of TikTok trends are most popular with your audience.
Use the Explore page
Since TikTok content relies heavily on trends, it’s no surprise that TikTok has a dedicated page dedicated to discovering TikTok trends. This is where you can find hot trends in real time, based on popularity and engagement. You can explore videos here for more viral content ideas.
Some things you can do to find more:
- Type “trend” into the search bar to find trending videos and related ideas.
- Look at trending hashtags: Hashtags like #trend or #foryoupage often contain content that is going viral.
[Update] 6 ways to discover TikTok trends (besides TikTok Creative Center)
While the TikTok app and TikTok Creative Center will be your primary sources for discovering TikTok trends, you need to have a holistic view of what’s hot in your industry. Keep an open mind and consider other ways to discover TikTok trends with the ideas below.
YouTube Shorts
Sounds a bit “weird”, right? But it’s true, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels (which will be presented below) are both great sources of content. When it comes to trends, they will not only appear on one platform but will be all over. Therefore, following what’s happening on Shorts will also partly tell you what the current popular trends are.
Instagram Reels
Similar to YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels is also a “reference” for finding short videos that are trending similar to TikTok. You will see many similar concepts on both Instagram Reels and TikTok. In fact, reposting viral videos from TikTok to Reels is quite common!
Predict Tiktok trends with the calendar
⅔ of TikTok trends come from real-time events (such as festivals, holidays, and special days like Christmas, New Year, Halloween, etc.). Therefore, following the calendar can predict what might be trending on TikTok to prepare content that is relevant to your audience.
Google Video Search
You can explore more TikTok trends using Google’s video search feature. Google ranks videos based on metrics like popularity and relevance to the search query – making this a great option for finding TikTok trend ideas from top sources like YouTube, TikTok, and niche sites.
Get involved in communities
- Check out TikTok Trend Report: This is a report that summarizes the prominent trends by year from TikTok For Business. For example, in 2024, there are trends such as “nostalgia trends”, dance challenges (#Dance Challenge) like the APT comedy (Rosé & Bruno Mars), or narrative content in POV (Point of View) style.
- Connect with the TikTok community: Joining TikTok groups or following other TikTok channels that also do similar topics is also a way to share and quickly update trends.
Some notes to make viral Tiktok content
- Music and effects: TikTok favors videos that use “hot” music and effects. You can easily find popular music in the audio library or through trending videos.
- Don’t ignore posting time: Posting videos during peak hours (8-10 am, 2 pm, 8-10 pm) will help increase your chances of reaching your audience.
- Deploy long content that is engaging and attractive from the first seconds and is attractive: The first 8 seconds of the video are the deciding factor in whether viewers will continue watching or not
- Invest in images and captions: An eye-catching thumbnail and attractive caption will attract more views.
From increasing interactions, and building brands, to exploiting money-making opportunities, the TikTok trend is the “golden key” to help creators develop quickly in a highly competitive environment. Don’t forget to follow Ecomobi to get the fastest updates on Marketing!
