By Nerea Boada, on 8 February 2024
Every year, TikTok releases its What's Next report, which outlines upcoming trends based on TikTok's vast data from its global user base. The report highlights popular content categories, emerging behaviors, and creative trends that are gaining momentum on the platform.
In TikTok's 2024 What's Next report, the overarching theme is "Creative Bravery." This year, the platform challenges creators, marketers, and advertisers to step out of their comfort zones and embrace innovation and authenticity. This overall direction then unfolds into three "trend forces", as they call them: Curiosity Peaked, Storytelling Unhinged and Bridging the Trust Gap.
This resource is invaluable for staying ahead of the curve in leveraging TikTok for marketing, entertainment, or educational purposes, and to understand the dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of digital culture as reflected through one of the world's most influential social media platforms.
2024's Overall Direction: Embracing Creative Bravery
Creative Bravery is about harnessing the power of TikTok to explore uncharted territories in content creation, engage users with genuine narratives, and build trust through transparency.
The concept is built on the premise that today’s digital consumers value and respond to brands that dare to be different. They are drawn to campaigns that break the mold, challenge norms, and deliver messages in novel and engaging ways.
TikTok, with its unique format and highly engaged community, provides the perfect platform for this kind of innovative storytelling and brand interaction.
This overall direction for 2024 unfolds into three “trend forces” that TikTok has discovered will be the guidelines for content creation and brand presence throughout the year, based on their extensive research.
Curiosity Peaked
The Curiosity Peaked trend force emphasizes the platform's role in fostering a landscape of endless discovery. Users turn to TikTok not just for answers but for exploration, where every curiosity can reach its peak through new interests, unexpected discoveries, and real-life actions. This trend is powered by the combination of passive discovery and active engagement that TikTok facilitates, allowing users to dive into rabbit holes of hyper-relevant and delightful content that they might not have known they were interested in.
The data suggests that users are 1.8 times more likely to discover new topics on TikTok compared to traditional social media, highlighting the platform's unique ability to introduce them to new interests “serendipitously”. Furthermore, 44% of users visited TikTok with a specific result and motive in mind, only to discover something they did not know or expect. This discovery leads to a deeper engagement, as shown by enduring hashtags like #newfinds and #tiktoktaughtme, which underline the actionable power of the platform to break through decision paralysis by offering a dynamic and immersive discovery experience.
Storytelling Unhinged
Storytelling Unhinged focuses on how TikTok is reshaping narrative structures and the engagement of audiences. On TikTok, storytelling transcends traditional formats, encouraging a dynamic interaction where users are not just consumers but co-creators of content. This trend refers to how the platform's community-driven approach allows for the creation of fresh, unexpected story arcs that engage users more deeply by leveraging their creativity and feedback.
TikTok’s data notes that narrative intrigue can keep viewers engaged 1.4 times longer than traditional storytelling methods. This approach fosters a collaborative environment where brands and creators can craft engaging stories that resonate more authentically with viewers. By stepping into a creator's space with respect for their style and community, brands can foster genuine connections and lead with creativity that feels both innovative and relevant.
Bridging the Trust Gap
Finally, Bridging the Trust Gap explores how authenticity and transparency are becoming paramount in building trust between brands and their audiences on TikTok. This trend is about being genuine and open, allowing consumers to see the real stories behind brands. TikTok enables brands to engage with their audience in an open dialogue, fostering a community that values honesty and vulnerability.
The platform encourages brands to embrace their authenticity, showing real processes and responses to consumer feedback, which enhances trust and loyalty. A notable statistic from the report is that consistent interaction on TikTok can increase viewers' trust in a brand by 41%, underscoring the importance of maintaining an authentic presence that aligns with user values and community norms.
