Or you want a quick look: Trend #1: Vogue Challenge
Leveraging trends on TikTok is a crucial step to making the most of the platform's organic reach and getting your brand in front of thousands of people. But finding the most recent trends can be challenging - especially if you want to create TikTok videos for your business or brand.
Hence, we did all the legwork and put together this guide where we cover:
- A list of the most popular TikTok trends of 2021 that every business and brand needs to leverage
- Tutorials and templates to create these viral trends for your brand or business
- A bonus section in which we show you how you can find the next biggest trends on TikTok before it gets too saturated.
Let’s get straight to it!
Trend #1: Vogue Challenge
In this viral TikTok trend, creators are editing their favourite photos to look like they’re on the cover of a Vogue Magazine.
Use this template to create your Vogue challenge video
Original sound: Jackboys - Travis Scott
Tags: #voguechallenge #vogue #voguemagazine #voguecoverchallenge #voguetrend
As a business, you can use this trend to:
- showcase your best selling products
- share your latest campaign photos
- share photos of people using your product
Trend #2: Picture trend
This is a simple video trend in which you put pictures and ‘someone falls in love with you’. If you’re a creator, use well-shot, hi-res images of yourself or your work.
Use this template to create a picture trend video
Original sound: Picture trend sound
Tags: #atrendwhereyouputpictures #someonefallsinlovewyou #trendwheresomeonefallsinlovewithyou
For businesses, you can use the picture trend video to showcase your products and aesthetics.
Trend #3: Album Cover
This has to be one of the funniest trends on TikTok where the challenge is that anything can be an album cover. Watch the video below to see how creators have done justice to this TikTok challenge.
Use this template to create your album cover challenge video
Original sound: Hiiipower x DIAND
Tags: #albumcover #albumcoverchallenge #albumcovers #coveralbumchallenge #albumcovertrend
As a business, this is a great way to showcase your best-selling/hero products or BTS from a campaign shoot.
Trend #4: Turning your DMs into quotes
In this trending TikTok challenge, creators are sharing their most funny, weird or even nasty DMs in the form of inspirational quotes. Let’s look at some examples:
Use this template
Original sound: A thousand miles - Vanessa Carlton
Tags: #inspirationalquotes
As a business, you can share short testimonials or use this as an opportunity to be funny while showcasing your products.
Trend #5: What I mean when I say I’m from
This TikTok trend is one where creators show pictures from where they live. Creators from around the globe have used the trend to show their country or town’s most special places, local food, experiences, etc.
Use this template
Original sound: What I mean when I say I’m from
Tags: #whereilive #whereilivechallenge
As a business, you can use this trend to show where your business is from or where your products are sourced from. For example, if you’re a cosmetics business that sources your ingredients from different parts of the world - use this trend to show your audience where you get them from. So, the first part of the video would be a photo or video of the product with the text caption ‘What I mean when I say I’m from…’ and the name of the place - let’s say the Amazonian forests of Peru. This will be followed by hi-res images of the place the raw material is from.
If you’re a coffee shop, show your audience the coffee fields you source from, on the other hand, a boutique can show their best-selling outfit and where the craft originated from.
Trend #6: Hopeful for today
This funny TikTok trend allows creators to share their truth wherein they show what they planned to do and then tell you what really happened.
Use this template
Original sound: Hope by Twista
Tags: #hopefulfortoday #hopefultrend #imhopefulfortoday #hopetwista
If you’re a business, you can use this reel to market your product or service. For example, if you’re an icecream salon, the first part of your TikTok can be of a video that shows a cone of ice cream and the caption reads ‘I really shouldn’t have more than one of these’. This is when the screen freezes, turns black and white and there are multiple texts popping up like - ‘this wasn’t the last one she ate, in fact she ate 2 more ice cream cones and a sundae, she couldn’t look happier.
Trend #7: Cherry Bonbon
In this viral TikTok trend you describe two people with their personalities, quirks and habits - showing visual proof through photos and videos. Let’s look at some examples to understand this trend better.
Use this template
Original sound: Cherry Bonbon - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
Tags: #CherryBonBon #cherrybonbonchallenge #cherrybon
As a business, this is a super fun way to show your customers how your products are meant for them. For example, if you own a cafe business that sells coffee and also has a book rental section, you can create the Cherry Bonbon trend to appeal to your ideal customer. So - the first stick figure would be labelled ‘person who loves coffee & books’ and the second stick figure can be labelled with your business name or replaced by your logo.
In the first 3 pictures, you can show photos of people reading books and drinking coffee in a generic environment. The next 3 pictures are what will spin this trend in your favour, so use your most aesthetic shots of people enjoying a coffee and reading at a cosy spot in your cafe.
Trend #8: Google Earth trend
The Google Earth video is what’s trending right now on TikTok. In this video, creators use Google Earth to show people an interesting spot that they have been to. It works very well visually where you keep zooming in to the location and then it opens up to show cinematic photos and videos of the place.
Use this template
Original sound: Talking to the moon - Bruno Mars
Tags: #googleearthtrend #googleearthchallenge #googleearth
If you’re a business, this is the best TikTok trend to showcase your business’s store. Use high-resolution and cinematic photos of your store for this trend that can literally direct potential customers to your store.
Trend #9: Meet the group / No Roots
This is a great TikTok trend to introduce your online community to your closest friends, by describing them and their personalities in a super cool way.
Use this template
Original sound: Alice Merton - No roots
Tags: #noroots #norootschallenge #ignoroots #gotnoroots #ivegotnoroots
If you’re a business, you can use this trend to introduce your team, employees or even your products. You’ve already seen examples of how you can use it to describe people, so now let’s look at how you could use this trend to showcase your products.
Just like you would for people, keep handy small videos of your best selling products. You will add these to your TikTok video and when you freeze the frame on your product, you can list what it is used for, it’s main ingredients or even what problem it solves. For example - a cosmetic brand could use this trend to showcase their summer kit. So the first part of the video would say - ‘Let’s see what is in our summer kit’ and everytime they introduced a product, the video would freeze and they could list what the product does or its main ingredients.
Trend #10: Main character trend
In this TikTok trend, creators show you how they may not be the main character (of a movie or tv show) but they are one of the supporting characters that are equally loveable. You get to show your personality through examples of the popular character you are associating yourself with. It is a great way to get your audience to know you better. Let’s look at some more examples from creators to see how they did this trend.
Use this template
Original sound: Why’d you only call me when you’re high
Tags: #notthemaincharacter #maincharacter #maincharacterenergy #imnotthemaincharacter
As a business, you can use this trend to highlight your products. For example, if you sell mobile accessories, you can use this trend to show your latest bestsellers. For this, the first part of your TikTok would be a video of a phone, for example the Iphone with a text caption that says ‘I am not the main character but…’ and this would be followed by images of the accessories you’re selling for the Iphone like bluetooth earphones, phone cases, stickers etc, and you can also add a CTA at the end that says ‘In stock now’ or ‘Starting at $10’.
Trend #11: I’ll never forget you
This popular TikTok trend is great for calling out people who have made a big impact on your life. Let’s look at some examples to see what other creators made of this trend.
Use this template
Original sound: Never forget you - Noisettes
Tags: #illneverforgetyou #iwillneverforgetyou #illneverforgetyouchallenge #ineverforgetyouchallenge #ineverforget
As a business, you could make this trend about your first customer, your biggest sale or a memorable event. For example, in the first part of the video you can simply take a video of yourself lip-syncing the words - ‘I’ll never forget you’ and adding a text caption saying ‘To the customer who emptied our inventory’. This can be followed by a video of a person with a lot in their shopping bags or a screen video of you scrolling through a long order.
Trend #12: Wisdom Kaye’s OOTD
TikTok creator Wisdom Kaye started this trend in which he shows off different looks and styles in a single video. There is no reason why your business cannot jump on these trending challenges to showcase its best-selling products.
Use this template
Original sound: Wisdom Kaye’s original sound
Tags: #ootd #ootdchallenge #touchitchallenge #touchitremix
This TikTok trend would work great for any business selling wearable products as they could essentially recreate this trend by displaying their best-selling products or new releases in a super fun way. If you’re a service-based business, you can showcase the benefits/usps of your brand in a super cool video. Simply add texts on the beats that highlight how your business can help your audience.
Trend #13: In this house - Marcus Vinicius
This TikTok trend has 8 to 10 images followed by a 5-second video clip - all of which are cut to the beat of Marcus Vinicius’s song In this house. Let’s look at some examples of how creators are using this trend:
Use this template
Original sound: In this house - Marcus Vinicius
Tags: #inthishouse #inthishousechallenge #hoesinthishouse #hoesinthishousechallenge
This is the perfect trend for a business to showcase its products. You can show 8-10 high-res images of your product with a video of your store or you can also use this trend to show your audience the BTS of your latest campaign shoot.
Trend #14: I hate people who work at the bank
In this TikTok trend, creators use the phrase ‘I hate people who work at the bank’ as an ironic statement. For example, if I were to say, I hate eating chocolate (as caption) in the 1st part of this TikTok video then in the 2nd part, you can see me buying tonnes of chocolates at the supermarket. This is a great way for creators to reveal their quirks to their audience.
Check out how other creators on TikTok have used this trend:
Use this template
Original sound: I hate people who work at the bank
Tags: #ihatepeoplewhoworkatthebank #IWorkAtTheBank
If you’re a business and want to announce a sale, you could use this TikTok trend to do so. You can simply make your caption - ‘I hate crowded sales and discount days’ using a visual of a crowded shopping store. In the next part of your video you can show someone sitting on the couch and ordering your products at 80% off. Don’t forget to follow this with a call-to-action for your sale by using some great visuals.
Trend #15: I was busy thinking about
Here’s a simple TikTok trend that takes only 2 video clips to make. You can use this TikTok trend to bring your user’s attention to a thought that’s been circling your mind. In the first part of this TikTok trend video, you show yourself saying ‘I was busy thinking about…’ and you follow it with a picture or video of the question that’s been on your mind - for example ‘how are dams built?’.
Let’s watch this video to see how other creators did this TikTok trend:
Use this template
Original sound: I was busy thinking bout - Charli XCX
Tags: #BusyThinkingAbout #iwasbusythinkingbout #iwasbusythinkingabout #iwasbusythinkingboutboys
If you’re a business, you can use this TikTok trend to answer some of your audience’s questions or even highlight your product’s best feature. For example, if you’re a travel operator, you can use this to show the destinations you operate in. So the first video would show someone thinking and the caption can read ‘I was busy thinking about...’. This would be followed by a video of the place or activity you want to show with an intriguing caption - like a video of bungee jumping in Dubai and the caption can read ‘how people go bungee jumping in Dubai in less than $100’. Redirect them to your caption for a full explanation.
Trend #16: Don’t be surprised if one day if I just
In this super fun TikTok trend, you can share with your audience the kind of life you want to live or what you plan to do someday. You have to use high-res images and videos to show your vision after the initial photo or video with the caption ‘don’t be surprised one day if I just…’.
Let’s look at how other creators jumped on this trend:
Use this template
Original sound: Go down on you by The Memories
Tags: #DontBeSurprised #dontbesurprisedifonedayijust
For a business, you can use this trend to showcase your products or hint at your future business plans. For example, if you sell vegan products, the first part of your video can be of a person smiling or eating something with the text caption ‘Don’t be surprised one day if I just…’ - followed by images of the vegan products you offer like soy milk, vegan patties, tofu, etc.
Trend #17: Dark academia aesthetic
The Dark Academia TikTok trend is about showcasing the different things you want to be at the same time, and they all belong to the dark academia aesthetic and theme. Let’s look at this example -
Use this template
Original sound: Dark Academia
Tags: #whenyouwannabethis #wannabethis #darkacademia #darkacademiaaesthetic
As a business, you can use this TikTok trend to show the variety of your seasonal collections or your portfolio in a single video. For example, if you’re a photographer - this is a great way to showcase your multi-faceted profile. The first part of this TikTok video can show your work as a product photographer, the next part of the video can show your work as a fashion photographer and the last part of the video can show your work as a documentary photographer.
Trend #18: GTA San Andreas Loading Screen
Whether you’re a gaming buff or not - you’ll love this super cool trend that turns your image into a GTA San Andreas Loading Screen poster. All you need is a video of you pointing at the text and 2-4 images that you’d like to be turned into GTA Posters.
Use this template
Original sound: GTA San Andreas Theme Song
Tags: #gtasanandreas #gta #gtachallenge
For a business, this trend is an artsy way to showcase your best-selling products - especially if you sell wearable products like clothes, accessories, headphones, etc.
Trend #19: 3D photo trend
The 3D photo trend is going absolutely viral on TikTok right now and is a great way to capture your audience’s attention. In this popular TikTok trend people are turning their images into super cool 3D montages. Let’s look at some examples below:
Use this template
Original sound: Phonky Town by PlayaPhonk
Tags: #3DPhoto #3dphotoeffect #3DPhotos #3dtrend #3dphototrend #capcut3dtrend
For businesses, this is a great way to make your product catalog immersive and engaging. Believe it or not, you can make your own 3D photo montage video in less than 15-minutes.
Trend #20: Adult swim TikTok trend
This simple TikTok trend is gaining a lot of momentum on the platform. For the Adult Swim TikTok trend, you need to create your own version of a ‘bump’ (kind of like short art films) which were popular breaks during Adult Swim programming on the Cartoon Network - to let you know that the TV segment was not suitable for children. Let’s look at how creators have used this concept to make their own TikTok trends:
Original sound: Vano 3000
Tags: #AdultSwim #adultswimchallenge #adultswimbump #adultswimtrend
If you’re a business, you can use the Adult Swim trend to showcase your products or services. For example, you can show your audience how your product is used before revealing the Adult Swim logo, or you can also create the Adult Swim logo using your products. Watch this tutorial to make your own Adult Swim TikTok video.
Trend #21: Shapeshift filter look-alike trend
The shapeshifter filter has been trending on TikTok and tells you which celebrity you look closest to. This is however a trick trend, what the audience doesn’t know is that you can choose the celebrity you want to and the app shapeshifts your face to match it. Watch this video to see the results other creator’s got:
No original sound for this trend, use any music you’d like to!
Tags: #shapeshift #shapeshifter #shapeshifterfilter #shapeshiftchallenge
For a business, this is a super cool trend to make a TikTok video on. For example, get your team to do the trend and form a superhero team like the Avengers or Justice League that best describes what they do for the business.
Here’s a video to show you where you can find the shapeshifter filter on TikTok and how to create this trend:
Trend #22: Runaway Aurora trend
One of the most popular TikTok trends, the Runaway Aurora filter allows you to capture cinematic silhouettes on this melodic track by Norwegian singer Aurora. Let’s look at some examples to see how creators have made this trend on TikTok:
Original sound: Runaway by Aurora
Tags: #RunawayAurora #aurorarunaway #runwayaurora #runawayaurorachallenge #runawayaurora????filter
If you’re a fashion business, the Runaway Aurora trend will work best for you. Use your latest collection or new launches to make this trend. This is also a great trend idea for a travel agency to show silhouettes on photographs from their best destinations. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to do this TikTok trend:
Trend #23: I’m bad Michael Jackson trend
In this viral TikTok trend, creators show off their dancing skills on Micheal Jackson’s famous song - Bad. The challenge involves you doing Micheal Jackson’s classic toe stand. You will film yourself doing the toe stand and freeze the frame when you do the final pose. If you’re a business, you can use this fun trend to announce a sale or giveaway during the final freeze frame. Let’ look at some examples -
Original sound: Micheal Jackson - Bad
Tags: #imbad #imbadchallenge #michaeljacksonchallenge #badmichaeljackson
Trend #24: Silhouette challenge
The Silhouette challenge on TikTok starts with a Paul Anka sound and slowly transitions into ‘Streets’ by Doja Cat where even the lighting shifts to a moody red filter. Creators have used this trend to flex their bodies and show off their silhouettes. Let’s look at some examples-
Original sound: Streets X Put Your Head On My Shoulder
*Tags: #silhouette #silhouettechallenge #putyourheadonmyshoulder
This is a great trend to jump on if you’re a fitness business like a gym to showcase a before and after or even announce a membership package. Here’s a quick tutorial to show you how to create the silhouette challenge for TikTok:
Trend #25: Damn, what is that bro?
Is there something you’d pay anything for? Here’s a trend to tell your audience about it. Let’s look at some examples to understand this trend:
Original sound: Why did this sound blow up - Steppedllama
Tags: #damnwhatisthatbruh #whatisthatbruh
For a business, this is a great way of showing your users how your products can change their lives. You can either use your logo or add a caption that tells the audience your USP in the first part of your video and following the audio as is in the second part of the video.
Trend #26: Tell me without telling me
The ‘tell me without telling me’ TikTok trend is exactly how it sounds. This is a popular trend to showcase your ethnicity, race, culture, lifestyle and habits. Let’s look at some examples -
Original sound: Tell me without telling me
Tags: #TellMeWithoutTellingMe #WithoutTellingMe #tellmechallenge #tellmewithouttellingmechallenge
This is a great trend for businesses to talk about their aesthetic, values, and products of course by showing their audience the practices they do for it.
For example, if you’re a sustainable business, you can create this TikTok trend by captioning it as “Tell me you’re a sustainable brand without telling me you’re a sustainable brand” - and your visuals could show your audience your plastic-free processes and packaging.
BONUS: How to find TikTok Trends?
If you want to grow faster on TikTok, you have to make the most of TikTok trends. So in this section, we’re going to show you how you can find what’s popular right now on TikTok - hashtags, sounds or challenges.
Here are 3 ways you can find the latest trends on TikTok:
Screen through the discover page
The discover page is the best place to start finding trending sounds, hashtags and challenges. You can see the latest trends and hashtags under the trends section or you can also go to the sounds section and see what songs are currently being used by creators on the platform.
One thing to keep in mind though is that once a trend or hashtag hits the discover page you have a maximum of 3-5 days to create content on it because it is already saturated.
The top-most banner mostly shows you sponsored trends and hashtags. As a creator, it is a good idea to make TikTok videos on sponsored trends too as they will be boosted by both TikTok and the brand.
Spotting up-and-coming trends
The TikTok algorithm does not curate trends and so what you see on your For You page is usually a mix of trending videos and video content that you have earlier engaged with. The For You page thus is the best space to spot new trends. However, you need to keep in mind that TikTok trends now don’t last for more than 5-7 days and you want to be able to jump on a new trend early on.
Here’s a 3 step guide to spot trending content early:
1- Create a second TikTok account where you don’t engage with anything or follow anyone. Simply use this account to scroll through the For You page. You’ll see videos from a much wider user base than you do on your primary account - making it easier for you to spot a new trend.
2- Keep a check on a new song, challenge or action that you have not seen before. When you identify a sound or action like that, click on the sound bar at the bottom of the TikTok video. You can now see the original date of when the soundtrack was first used and videos that have already been created ranked by popularity.
If the original date of the video is more than 2 weeks, it is old content. If the sound has been used in over 100,000+ videos, it’s probably saturated content. You want to find a relatively new sound (less than 7-10 days old) that has not been used in more than 2000-3000 videos. 
3- When you find a sound or challenge like that - save the audio file first so you don’t have to search for it later and wait for another day or two to see how much it has grown. If the video has grown anywhere between 30-50% more overnight or is seeing a gradual growth over 2 days, it has the potential of blowing up. Now is the right time to jump on this trend.
Follow trending creators
One of the simplest ways to find new trends is to follow creators who are the first to jump on the latest trends. As soon as they post a trend, you will have less than 2-3 days to create your own version of it before it becomes saturated content. You will have to identify and follow these creators as well as constantly check their feed to ensure you haven’t missed their latest post.
We have also extensively researched over 300 brands and more than 650 videos to come up with a TikTok brand marketing report that will give you a deeper understanding of how top brands use TikTok and how you can best use it for yourself or your business.
Wrapping up -
You now have a swipe file with templates and tutorials that will allow you to jump on the latest TikTok trends. Not only that but you also know how to find the latest TikTok trends. All you have to do is start creating.
If you’ve found value in this article and are looking to learn more about how top brands like Apple, Chevrolet and Samsung are using TikTok, you should definitely check out our TikTok brand marketing report next.
If you have any questions or want to continue the conversation, hop over to the InVideo community and learn from 25K other marketers and video creators just like you!
