10 TikTok Trends to Know in 2023
Since exploding into the limelight, TikTok continues to showcase impressive action, boasting over 700 million active users. Since its launch in 2017, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms.
Whether you're an influencer or a brand, there is no better platform than TikTok if you want to go viral. Moreover, there are over a million video views daily. Plus, its audience is predicted to reach 834 million in 2023.
While its prominence won’t dwindle in the foreseeable future, keeping up and ensuring your content reaches a vast audience requires you to take advantage of the trends. As we kick off in 2023, here are some trends to keep an eye on that can supercharge your TikTok’s endeavors.
1. Actionable Entertainment
What makes TikTok any different from other social media platforms? It's engaging, actionable, and fun nature!
When people scroll their TikTok feed, they expect to see engaging videos and entertainment is among the highlights that’ll help your TikTok quests hit new highs in 2023. TikTok users are in it for the thrills, but it doesn’t mean creators should slack on delivering value. Engaging users with fun content that is also actionable is critical. It is all about sparking joy, helping users get certain answers, and uplifting them such as through inspiring messages.
Here's an example of an entertaining content that goes viral on TikTok:
Well-being hacks, for example, can deliver that broad smile and inspire users to be better and do greater things, turning the entertainment into an actionable resource. This is more so as key voices and communities continue to pop up, requiring creators to focus on particular niches to highlight them and, in return, gain an edge.
2. Vulnerability is Okay
Honesty has been trending for some time and won’t slow down in 2023.
People crave more relatable and real content, which demands a level of vulnerability. You’ve seen how much traction the no-filters content generates. If you are scared to show your real self and flaws, your content may not be as relatable. Let's take a look at celebrities who also keep up with the trend, showing their real life:
Lighthearted fun is the focal point of TikTok, but it doesn’t obstruct creators from showcasing their vulnerabilities and developing more intimate connections. Vulnerability creates more trust, which wins more followers and will continue to be a top trend in 2023.
3. Originality
Copy and paste have been the foundation of TikTok activities.
The dance challenges and lip-sync have been at the core of the platform’s entertainment and while this won’t fade, an originality level is needed.
Standing out from the crowd will no longer be about who did the copy-paste the best. An originality level will be critical as creators strive to stand out from all the noise, gain an edge, and retain an active, loyal following.
Incorporating more original content in your strategy is a surefire way to remain relevant and curve a path to becoming a leader in your target niche. What is more, it's important to offer something unique and new, not just create trendy videos for the sake of more views.
No matter what you create, the idea is to keep your videos original. What is more, it can help you set up a new trend other users can support.
4. Influencer Marketing
TikTok’S ever-growing user base translates to an extensive pool, but how can brands reach out and attract more followers?
Navigating the extensive TikTok’s pool successfully is challenging since most of the users are into entertainment more than shopping. As brands look to extend their reach, working with influencers is a smart strategy that gives results.
Influencers already have a huge following. Moreover, their followers are more likely to share what they post, further extending their reach. As a marketer, partnering with influencers won’t be an afterthought but a key part of the TikTok campaign’s part.
For influencers, this translates to more opportunities to make money on TikTok. It is a win-win for the brands and influencers. Users, too, win since they’ll be exposed to more business and their products/services.
No matter how many followers on TikTok you have, whether millions or just several hundreds, opinion leaders have influence on their communities and it's trendy!
5. User-Generated Content
Recording and sharing the unboxing experience; remember how the craze went on and became a norm?
User-generated content wins more users due to its authenticity. It is a trend that will likely dominate TikTok’s endeavors in 2023. UGC may not be as striking and top-quality as professionally curated materials.
Big brands know the importance of UGC, so they reach out to their fans with the request to repost their videos. Higher trust with less effort. Pretty good, huh?
Plus, the authenticity makes it more appealing to users as it is more relatable. Taking it as-is, with no modifications or trying to improve some aspects, can win the brands a considerable following since users trust such content more.
6. Behind-the-Scenes Content
Humanizing a brand was arguably the main intention of the behind-the-scenes TikTok ideas.
Today, it continues to be a big thing on all social media platforms. This is among the must-watch trends on TikTok in 2023 and beyond.
It offers a chance to deliver original, more relatable content that can supercharge your credibility-building endeavors. It provides a sneak peek into a brand’s daily activities, which makes it easier for users to trust you and intimately connect and stay engaged with the products/services.
Starbucks often uses this strategy to show its followers people behind the company and it results in higher engagement and trust.
7. Stitch and Duets
Stitch and duets have delivered great experiences and won’t slow down.
TikTok stitch videos allow you to use another person’s content for up to about 5 seconds in your video and “stitch” it with your content. It is a great way to promote each other while keeping the content fresh and more fun.
Duets let you play a split-screen with your content next to another user’s video. This is also a great way to promote while delivering some healthy competition.
In 2023, expect more stitches and duets, especially with the increasing number of influences working together to cross-promote and brand looking for more avenues to extend their reach. And here's an example of this trend in action:
8. Paid Ads
Paid advertisements on TikTok have been on the rise, and the trend will only gain pace in 2023.
It is expected that the advertisement cost will rise as more brands and creators turn to the strategy striving to reach out to a more targeted user base. TikTok’s targeting algorithm is arguably among the top across all social media platforms, which makes it effective in targeting the desired audience through ads.
Check out how paid ads on TikTok look like:
Before you get started with TikTok ads, though, remember; modern consumers hardly consume salesy content. Therefore, you need to craft ads that don’t look anything like an ad.
It has to come out organically to ensure more users interact with the ad and deliver desired results. Set a budget, get creative, and try to be a bit restrictive since you don’t want to spam users and lose them.TikTok paid ads will be a huge trend in 2023. You can easily extend your reach and capture and maintain a huge following with the right approach.
9. Hashtags are Still Popular
TikTok’s search features are always advancing, which won’t slow down in 2023. Among the aspects that increase your searchability is hashtags. Relevant and appropriately used hashtags make it easier for your posts to rank and be easily found. Hashtags are also great at creating communities, which is another trend that’ll only grow in 2023.
Whether you're a brand, an influencer, or a common TikTok user, it's still a good idea to help other people discover relevant content by adding matching hashtags when uploading your video.
10. Communities
As more users continue to flood the social media platform, TikTok is gradually evolving into more than mindless fun.
More and more users are thirsting for those engaging conversations and communities, which the platform is encouraging. You want some light fun, answers, and inspirations, all of which can be delivered through actionable content (number one on the list).
The TikTok community is growing day by day, and there are many accounts that boast a great audience of loyal fans. Let's just the numbers speak for themselves:
However, there's no need to be famous on TikTok to hope on the bandwagon and create a loyal community; the secret is to attract your target audience who has genuine interest in your content and interact with followers for higher engagement.
In a Word
As 2023 sets in and creators develop their social media calendars, accounting for the trends to expect is critical. It is obvious that certain music tracks and soundtracks will go viral, and certain industries will be the big winners. What remains to be seen is how you fit in, or even better, stand out, get noticed, and squeeze the most out of TikTok.