Link Trends: Week of May 3rd, 2021 (Premium)
Weekly TikTok Trend Identification and Analysis for Businesses
Foreword
Often times relationships are complicated, and as with most common aspects of life, TikTok users are not afraid to make fun of them. This week on the platform we have seen users engage in these intricacies of liking others while staying humorous about their shortcomings. Take a seat and keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times as we explore through the trends that are taking over TikTok this week.
The Trends
#1 About to ___ my way into a relationship
60.1k videos on the sound
Getting into a relationship is often tricky. It takes time, devotion, and true love… Except maybe on TikTok. Over the past week users have created this trend as a way of joking about the small fibs they will tell a person they like in order to gain elements of a relationship. Using the “Addicted to Finessing” audio, users will dance over to put on their shoes as the text on screen reads “About to (verb) my way into some (object)”
Examples:
Applicability:
A brand could easily use the customer as the object of this TikTok where there is some sort of service or awesome element of the company that they have which ___s their way into a relationship
Conversely a brand could make their product the object of this trend where the customer is the one giving something in return for the brand’s product.
#2 Have you ever been in love before?
68.2k videos on the sound
It turns out the honeymoon phase is called a phase for a reason and once somebody loves another for a while, they tend to learn about the drawbacks. This trend on TikTok has developed as a way to joke about those hidden shortcomings of certain types of individuals. (The trend is commonly put to use in salacious contexts yet it still provides applicability in PG contexts). When making a video for this trend users will use this audio and display text reading “have you ever (verb(ed))(object) before?” and “would you like me to tell you how it feels” before making a funny generalization about the aforementioned object of the joke.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands have the opportunity to gain social capital with a younger audience here by being self deprecating. By using the brand as the object of the joke, brand accounts can be casually self deprecating about the ongoings of their company.
#3 We would never dance for a man
551.8k videos on the sound
In the modern world of feminism and female empowerment, women are taking a stand against selling themselves short for men. That is, of course, with a few exceptions and this trend has been a funny way for women to joke about things they find attractive about men or a specific man. Using this sound users will show themselves standing still until the beat drops when they will cut to an image or show text of a quality/person they find attractive. From there it will simply cut back to them except instead of standing still they are dancing.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands can best utilize this trend by having brand representatives act as the people dancing and use key beneficial elements and selling points of the brand as things that would make them dance
#4 A new… dance???
42.0k videos on the sound
Simply put, I don’t know what exactly to call this. A dance? A move? Art? Whatever this move may be, it aligns most with dance trends in the sense that it is a funny movement alongside an energetic song. On the beat drop of the sound users will transition into leaning on their knees and twerking (a move even the most trained choreographer will struggle to attain lol). If anything this trend aims to make fun of common TikTok dancing trends as it is a joking form of “dancing.” Overall though it can be treated on the platform as a dance trend.
Examples:
Applicability:
Just as any other dance trend this one can be utilized by brands very subtly in many different ways. Brands might have employees doing the dance in uniform or even integrate their product into creator videos of the dance.
#5 Don’t be surprised if one day I just...
3.9k videos on the sound
This trend seems to act as a format more than anything due to there not being many common shared themes or ideas amidst the videos. Essentially the trend leaves users the opportunity to show off a thing that they either want to be, or sarcastically might be. During the sound after the beat drop, users will cut to imagery of that future thing or quality that they may attain.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands can use this with their product as the future reference in this scenario where on the beat it will comply cut to images or references to the product or service they are selling.
Trends from last week that keep climbing
#6 - I don’t care how much it costs
72.0k videos on sound
Every once in a while there is just that one thing which you want so much that the cost doesn’t matter. This trend takes this simple concept and makes fun of spending money recklessly as users act as if they are willing to slip a seller their card under the table just to get access to a usually dumb item.
Examples:
Applicability:
This trend is extremely simple for brands to create for as they can have a random person or brand representative acting as if it is imperative to purchase their product. Brands will want to highlight what they are selling here.
#7 - Who’s that girl
1.4m videos on the sound
In this week’s round of dance trends, the sound “Who’s That Girl Challenge” has led to another new dance where users emphasize an aesthetic element on the pace change in the song. As with most dance trends, this popular dance format does not contain much substance of information that users are interacting with and this is rather focused on the look and movements of the dance.
Examples:
Applicability:
Due to the fact that this is a dance trend that lacks informational substance to play off of, companies looking to utilize it will simply create videos with brand representative doing the exact trend such that brand awareness on the platform is the ultimate goal.
BONUS: An Interesting Brand Case Study
Due to shifting audiences and the deterioration of attention spans, viewership in sports has dropped sharply in the last few years. That is why platforms such as the NFL are turning to new methods to grow and capture larger audiences. Recently the NFL has made a large push on TikTok, but more importantly they have been innovating with trend integration. In this recent video, the NFL account utilized the “Have you ever been in love before?” trend identified above to apply their content. By doing this the NFL is not only creating content that will generate numbers on TikTok, rather, they are connecting with the entire sub-culture of TikTok and Gen Z. Viewers appreciate large conglomerates setting aside their serious nature for a fun time on TikTok and the NFL is leading the pack.
Summary
Generation Z still maintains its strong grasp of influencing culture on TikTok, and as kids and teenagers this age start to go through the process of experiencing relationships for the first time, it makes sense that this theme would be prevalent on the platform. This week we saw exactly that, many trends centered around love among many other things. These past seven days have been a fun one, but as with all culture right now, the landscape will be wildly different even just next week. Stick along for the ride and we’ll make sure to guide you through the tumultuous world that is culture on TikTok, and how to navigate it even further with your brand.