In February a study on TikTok trends was released on the platform, giving marketers insights on what they can tap into in order to engage a wider audience.
These trends aren’t so fleeting as Louis Theroux’s rapping, either. We’re talking about what the average user is repeatedly looking for and engaging with for long-lasting TikTok trends.
And that’s all before pointing out that the report goes region by region, with insights into trends in particular countries. This allows marketers to target their audiences better. If you have a global eCommerce business, and you see your marketing isn’t getting any traction in, say, Turkey, TikTok can give you ideas of engaging content.
And it’s not as if this is exclusive to TikTok. The trends outlined below can be applied to just about any platform, especially considering a lot of them are adopting the short-form video content format, like Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc.
So, what is TikTok saying? Let’s take a look.
North America
- Self-care
With the combination of knowledge on the epidemic that is mental health and changing attitudes on body image, there is an emerging trend around self-care. Beauty creators in particular, are pioneering this take on looking after yourself, with the message being to look after your mind first and if that means looking good, then fine, but do it for you.
- Financial services
Maybe it should be obvious, or maybe it says something about western society that users are turning to TikTok for financial advice. The short-form format lends itself to the topic, which offers users as many quick tips as they want, without trying to understand the longwinded lingo of the industry.
TikTok, for its part, wants it pointed out that the platform allows for the average person to become more informed on financial issues due to the “democratization of content” on the platform allowing for more free-flowing information.
- Gaming
Gaming is and will continue to be a central part of internet culture. Driven by creators interested in gaming, different aspects of gaming are coming together. When you think about gaming content initially you might imagine a Twitch streamer playing Minecraft, but gaming involves gaming setups, cosplay, traditional games like chess and poker, reviews, and inside jokes and parodies fueled by a heavy dose of nostalgia.
Europe
- Hometown hidden gems
TikTok is a great place for someone suffering from wanderlust. Not only can you indulge your wanderlust by marveling at wonders and cultures around the world, but you will more likely than not, if you are in Europe, be presented with “hidden gems” on your own doorstep. Due to travel restrictions and money woes, people are looking for more staycation ideas or simple days out that aren’t crowded with international tourists.
- Auto enthusiasts
And, heavily leaning into cultural stereotypes, Europeans, Germany and Italy in particular, are looking at a lot of auto-focused content. Content around luxury cars to everyday city cars, learning how to fix them, fix them up, and the different styles you can invest in are all big hitters on the site.
Asia
- Limitless entertainment
If you’ve ever seen a single clip of Japanese television, you know that the entertainment culture is pretty whacky. Well, everyone is getting a taste of that now, with culture getting shared in snippets around the world. Korea is especially benefitting from this. The K-Pop phenomenon doesn’t stop at bands, but movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. TikTok and other platforms facilitate the spark of interest from viewers around the world with an initial clip.
- Learning and teaching new tech
And while we’re on the subject of Korea, users in Korea, in particular, are fascinated with technology. That is no great surprise, but it means that there is a massive tech community that is educated on technology by TikTok. It is a country that appreciates its technology but that drives the price up, therefore creators share insights on the best value for money, tips for buying new devices and detailed reviews on all the latest gadgets.
Australia and New Zealand
- Fitness
Australia and New Zealand both have a very healthy relationship with fitness and the outdoors, and never is that more obvious than when scrolling through TikTok where ideas for new exercise routines, new places to workout, and the latest sports trends have given way to their own subcultures in sport.
There is far more detail to be found in the report itself, which gives deep dives into each of the continents as well as specific countries. We have only covered the surface of three continents for the sake of brevity. If you’re interested in other regions and trends, you can find links to the individual reports on this page.
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