TikTok experienced significant change and growth last year, but what does 2024 have in store? Let's dive into the hottest TikTok trends, including what the platform believes the next twelve months will look like.
We'll cover:
- Creative bravery
- Curated curiosity
- Entertainment without borders
- Unhinged storytelling
- Community-fueled storytelling
- #Delulu
- Brands will build trust
- TikTok as both a search engine and old-school space
- Entertainment will still rule
- TikTok advertising will keep growing
- More experimental features
- Many, many memes
What does TikTok say the new trends will be in 2024?
There are tons of topics we could reel off for TikTok trends in 2024, but why not hear from the folks who work there? Let's take a look at what TikTok themselves think will be the new trends, based on their What's Next 2024 Trend Report.
Creative bravery
TikTok's macro trend for 2024 is creative bravery. They believe that 'growth sits in the unknown and uncomfortable,' whether you're a freelancer or a tried-and-true brand.
To succeed on the platform, TikTok encourages users to not only show creative bravery, but bake it into their behavior, strategy, and content. To borrow a line from The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Don't dream it, be it.
The concept of creative bravery becomes clearer as we run through the rest of TikTok's trends for 2024. So, let's keep going!
Curated curiosity
Interest has peaked. There's too much stuff, too many answers, and it's harder to parse through content to find what you really want. TikTok hopes creators will solve this issue by delivering hyper-focused, useful videos to scratch every itch — even the ones you didn't know you had.
As a result, brands and content creators are digging into niche-interest topics and creating content to align with that. 44% of TikTok users visit the platform with a specific outcome in mind, only to discover something they'd not initially thought of.
On top of that, users are 1.8 times more likely to say that they're introduced to new, interesting topics via TikTok compared to traditional social media platforms.
But how do we categorize this sort of behavior? Super-scrolling, multi-purpose scrolling, dynamic scrolling? Whatever it is, TikTok thinks it'll be a trend to watch in 2024: searching for one thing and finding another.
Entertainment without borders
There's no fixed global or local anymore — you can explore the world at your fingertips, or virtually hang out in your local ZIP code. We'll discuss some changes to TikTok's For You page later, but the platform isn't hiding how customizable it is. In a nutshell, what you put in is what you get out.
Despite the algorithm making decisions on users' behalf, 74% feel that TikTok connects them with different backgrounds and cultures around the world. Moreover, 67% feel they've learned a lot about different cultures and people from TikTok. Curated? Yes, if you want it. Limited? Absolutely not.
Unhinged storytelling
TikTok isn't traditional media. It's bite-sized, buzzy, and larger than life at the same time — all in the palm of your hand. One of the latest TikTok trends predicted for 2024 is loose-canon, unpredictable storytelling methods. If you're producing TikTok ads, an intriguing narrative structure will keep people hooked for 1.4 times longer than a traditional ad.
Community-fueled storytelling
TikTok's popularity is rooted around its community — after all, that's how content goes viral. In 2024, the platform predicts an uptick in community-led, organic storytelling, taking well-trodden narratives into unexpected places and encouraging more audience participation.
#Delulu
The world can get pretty bleak sometimes. That's why, in 2023, TikTok users leaned into #delulu: a tongue-in-cheek, fantasy mindset where content is based upon things that wouldn't really happen. And yes, 'delulu' is short for 'delusional' — we didn't come up with that!
For example, a brand could make a video that shows what'd happen if you had a lifetime supply of their product. On the other end of the spectrum, a solo creator could publish content in which they play the part of a CEO and…buy an island or something. It's light-hearted, it's comforting, and it builds a shared experience.
So, come to think of it, one of 2024's biggest TikTok trends could be the continued rise of #delulu. 72% of users think it's easier for strangers to bond around shared experiences on the platform — embrace the wackiness and give people the escapism they crave.
Brands will build trust
It turns out that brands are making real headway when it comes to trust on TikTok. In fact, after seeing an ad on TikTok, 4 of 10 users trust the brand more, 3 in 10 are more likely to be loyal to the brand, and a third are more likely to say the brand is a good fit for who they are as a person.
When you dig a little deeper, the cause of this trust seems wholesome enough. Once seeing a TikTok ad with the comments turned on, viewers are 1.5 times more likely to trust the brand than if the comments had been hidden.
Put simply, if you're transparent with your viewers, they'll put more stock in your content. It might seem like a no-brainer, but in an age of toxic comment sections and trolls, it can be easy to forget. We're crossing everything and hoping this will become one of TikTok's larger trends for 2024.
What are the new TikTok trends in 2024?
Now that we've covered the specific areas TikTok themselves have outlined as current and upcoming trends, let's check out some other areas to watch this year.
TikTok as both a search engine and old-school space
Last year, we predicted that TikTok's search function would change — it has! For the first time ever, EU users can turn off their personalized search. If they do this, they'll receive a global For You page featuring the most popular videos across the world, rather than hyper-specific content tailored to interests, location, and more.
This ties into the back-to-basics approach of newer apps like BeReal and Lemon8, perhaps suggesting a tidy middle-ground for TikTok going forward. We can see a future where TikTok remains specialized to the closest inch for those who want it, given that 40% of Gen Z-ers consult TikTok or Insta before Google nowadays.
However, if people want to kick back, open their app, and lose themselves in some random videos for half an hour, who could deny them that? TikTok will keep building its reputation and capabilities as a search engine, sure. But if we had a crystal ball, we reckon we'd see the platform giving that classic, old-school vibe a bit more airspace in 2024.
Entertainment will still rule
Following that previous point, not everything's about routes to sale, customer retention, and other metrics you probably think about every day. Sometimes, people just want to laugh — more than 78% of TikTokers log on because they want to watch 'funny or entertaining content.'
It's worth keeping in mind, whether you're working solo or as part of a wider brand team. In fact, if you fall into the latter camp, TikTok viewers show more brand love and purchase intent toward high-entertainment brands.
TikTok advertising will keep growing
TikTok's estimated ad revenue for 2023 was $18 million — that's not chump change. We cited TikTok advertising as a trend last year, but the sheer growth in the space warrants its repeat inclusion. If you can strike a balance between entertainment and commerce, then TikTok advertising could work wonders for you in 2024.
More experimental features
Think of all the new social media platforms popping up every year, every month, every week if you're looking in the right places. The extra features that established platforms keep adding, the tweaking, the comparisons to competitors. It's all-on, all the time — once something like TikTok finds its feet, it needs to keep up with the Joneses and then some.
Last year, we got everything from TikTok Shop and a sleep reminder to thumbnails and taggable IMDb pages. In 2024, you can expect more experimental, far-out features on the platform — even if they don't end up sticking around, TikTok loves trying new things!
Many, many memes
Ever looked at TikTok and wondered what the heck everyone's talking about? Us too. The sheer speed of online discourse keeps increasing, and with a short-form platform like TikTok, you've got to be on the ball with memes and cultural references.
Just take the Barbie/Oppenheimer phenomenon from last year. That was an organic meme, truly, born from the absurdity of two polar-opposite blockbusters releasing on the same day. By the time most brands started using it, the joke was over.
If you're going to keep up with TikTok trends and memes, it's worth taking the extra time to find out what people are really interested in. Give memes your personal flavor, but be quick. Otherwise, your content may get lost in the shuffle.
So, those are the latest, hottest TikTok trends for 2024, both content-based and platform-specific. We'll have to wait until the end of the year to see which predictions come true, but whatever happens, we're sure TikTok will keep surprising us.
Interested in more trend-spotting? Check out our deep-dives into the latest trends across music, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube in 2024.
Want to level up your TikTok game? Whether you're an advertiser looking for music for TikTok campaigns or a creator getting to know the platform, we’ve got you covered. Become a TikTok master with Epidemic Sound.
Related posts:
- How to turn a video into a boomerang
- How to do a voiceover on TikTok
- TikTok analytics: Your guide
