Late in 2023, TikTok published its Next 2024 Trend Report, offering annual predictions for the trends and cultural moments likely to shape the year ahead. Now that 2024 is well underway, TikTok has released a follow-up, the What’s Next 2024: In Action report, examining how those predictions have played out.
The report highlights how trends have grown and evolved through the success stories of brands and creators. The TikTok community continues to spotlight a transformative mindset it calls Creative Bravery. Brands showed that by blending curiosity, imagination, vulnerability, and courage, they could use Creative Bravery on TikTok to build stronger connections with their communities. Through a mix of approaches, brands demonstrated how Creative Bravery can show up on TikTok — successfully breaking through by shifting Creative Bravery from an occasional gesture into a regular part of their day-to-day work and strategy.
Image: TikTok
As outlined in What’s Next 2024, TikTok’s trends are grounded in long-observed patterns of popular behavior. Because the trends TikTok tracks keep growing and evolving, it continues to find new ways to show how they come to life on TikTok and within community culture. These trend signals can last for years, and this year TikTok is introducing three bonus trends as well. Marketers can use these new directions to strengthen their content strategies.
The full ‘What’s Next 2024: In Action’ report can be viewed here.
This report highlights how TikTok’s macro trends — Curiosity Peaked, Storytelling Unhinged, and Bridging the Trust Gap — evolved over the course of the year, along with the bonus trends that emerged across the platform.
From Hi to Audi-Lo
Sound is one of the core pillars that lets TikTok function as a universal language, connecting creators and brands with global audiences. TikTok users have found new creative ways to experiment with music and sound — from creators who put their own spin on familiar songs, to bold creators who use music to share their own stories and highlight movements. Brands are also finding fresh inspiration to tap into trending sounds by blending high-quality audio with lo-fi styles and weaving them into unexpected comedic twists.
In the United States, Hulu showed off the power of sound this past March by partnering with recap creator @mrgrandeofficial to highlight #NewOnHulu content through rap recaps.
TikTok on the Block
Interactions that show real, authentic life between brands, creators, and their audiences connect with people and inspire them in real time. From street interviews to community events, retail pop-up shops, and genuine, unscripted challenges, nothing feels “too much” for a TikTok audience. By openly sharing face-to-face moments with the wider TikTok community, brands can spark buzz and excitement among users about what’s coming next, and where and who will show up alongside the brand.
Joe & The Juice boosted sales by sending its brand mascots “Tuna” and “Cado” to London to promote its fan-favorite Tunacado sandwich, letting them interact face-to-face with customers across the city.
Brandship
Even without running large-scale campaigns, brands are retaining customers by regularly sharing content that reflects their brand values. TikTok is a platform where brands across every industry can build, connect with, and highlight the values that matter most to their audience. By consistently engaging with their customers, brands can showcase what sets them apart, whether that’s reusable packaging or promoting diverse beauty standards.
Kiehl’s demonstrated its commitment to reducing waste in a way that reflects its brand (and audience) values, encouraging customers to refill their skincare in empty bottles and reuse packaging.