If you’re considering adding TikTok to your marketing mix but don't need know where to start, how to identify a TikTok trend or how to make your content go viral, then read on. We’ll be sharing the importance of trending audio, choosing the right creators and how to use video features within the app to maximise your engagement.  

Lili Small is a Junior Planner at BIG little London, with a love for sustainable fashion, vegan cooking and creating her own artwork – be it drawing or upcycling old jeans into a new dress. As a TikTok native and one of our BIG Shot leads, Lili gives us peek into a window of her world, sharing some of the secrets behind growing your brand on TikTok, how to identify trends and ride the viral wave.

How can a TikTok trend be identified?

Trends can form in a variety of ways from certain uses of the app’s features. This could be anything from sounds, audio, video effects and hashtags to the type of content being filmed, like recipes, stiches or dance videos. The TikTok algorithm is designed to reward videos that use their features, so they're more likely to receive more views, likes, comments and other important engagement metrics.

One way to identify TikTok trends is by using the search bar browser. When you click into the search box, there is a ‘You may like’ section full of recommended trends suited your interests. But, the most popular way of finding a trend is through the “For You page” (fyp). The fyp, the unique and personalised ‘home page’ or 'newsfeed' a user sees when they first login, is full of a stream of videos TikTok thinks the user will find interesting, based on previous activity. That said, these videos do have to be ‘viral’ to some extent, to reach the fyp. For example, on my fyp, all the videos have around ten thousand likes or above. So how do you get your content onto the “For You Page” of your target audience?  

How to get your content on TikTok’s For You Page

One way to get videos on the ‘For You Page’ is to work with influencers or content creators. Verified creators, or creators with a higher number of followers, are usually more influential, therefore, their videos are more likely to be recreated, prompt a reaction from viewers and drive higher levels of engagement. The more users recreating or engaging with this content style, is what makes a trend. For example, North West, Kim Kardashian’s daughter makes unfiltered content on TikTok. She's famous for filming hair tutorials, which have become viral with thousands of people recreating or making their own TikTok’s in response, bringing their creations and opinions to life too. These videos have the tendency to become viral because it was started by a renowned, relevant celebrity. Also, North uses viral sounds and songs like ‘Collide’ by Justine Skye, which helps to make the video a trend.

But it’s not always celebrity creators that can start a TikTok trend...

TikTok trends can be created by anyone, it is harder to become viral but is evidentially achievable. An example of this is a brilliant ‘Latte Love Story’ between a barista Sophie, otherwise known as @yungoatmilk, and a customer visiting the Edinburgh café she works in. The Latte Love Story viral videos were made when Sophie filmed herself making her crush a coffee with flirty foam art that said ‘ur cute’. The entire encounter was filmed for her TikTok and has since gained 60.4 million views and 7.2 million likes.

This is a great example that anyone can start a trend or go viral. You don’t need to be Kim Kardashian or a 'nepo baby' - you just need to understand the niche’s of your audience. Sophie's TikTok approaching her crush kickstarted the ‘work crush’ trend. The trend showed TikTok creators approaching their work crushes or confessing their feelings and took the app by storm. One year after first going viral, Sophie now has over 265k followers and 10 million likes.

What is the best time to post a TikTok?

While most brands can’t afford the privilege of working with a verified creator or a celebrity, there are other ways to boost your videos, land on the for your page and potentially start a trend. The time of day you post is essential to the algorithm. If you post when most of your target audience are active online then naturally, your video will reach more people. If you want your channel to grow then posting more, at optimum times, is a sure-fire way to get started. The more frequently you post, the more likely you are to gain views, likes, comments and follows.

At BIG little LDN, we’ve found that popular times online are similar to what we’ve seen with other social channels like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Weekday evenings between 6pm – 9pm, especially Thursday and Friday, are the most popular days for TikTok usage. On the weekend, we see our TikTok audience is most active on Saturday between 7pm - 8pm and Sunday between 7am – 8am or 4pm.

How to pick a trending audio on TikTok?

As the first ‘sound on’ social media channel, audio is very important on TikTok. Choosing the right audio is crucial if you want your content to succeed. According to research conducted by Kantar and commissioned by TikTok, 88% of users say sound is essential to the experience. Audio has the power to change the path of a video on TikTok. The same two videos, but one with a trending audio and one without can have dramatic differences in performance. So, how do you know what audio to use?

Popular songs that can boost performance are often found in the ‘Commercial sounds’ section, or repeated sounds you may see on your ‘For You Page’.  

At BIG little LDN, we’ve seen how using the right audio can hugely increase video views, likes and overall engagement. Our most successful TikTok, 'The New Happy Hour', featured the audio ‘Kill Bill’ a song by SZA. The song spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Global 200 chart and was used all over TikTok. Using this song was one of the reasons this TikTok did so well. By using a sound that isn't trending or popular, you add to the reasons your video might flop. If it’s not popular, its less likely to gain the same level of engagement.  

How important are hashtags on TikTok?

Another feature that can push your content further is hashtags. Hashtags categorise your content and promote your videos based on topics users are actively searching for. Like other platforms, the optimum number of hashtags to use on TikTok is 3-5. We embed relevant hashtags into our content captions at BIG little London, for example our Valentine’s TikTok included the hashtag ‘Galentines’ as we knew this would be trending based on previous years.  

Trends tend to have a shelf life; they don’t last long. Therefore, if you want to join a specific trend it's better to hop onto it sooner rather than later, so your video is still relevant to what's popular.

Next steps for your brand

It can be difficult to take on a new channel and do it well when resources are tight and mastering TikTok can feel like a learning a foreign language. Even with dedication, for the non-natives, it can take time to learn how to create content that’s going to get the most eyeballs for your brand. That’s why we have BIG Shot. A collective of young people born after 1997 who instinctively know how to maximise visibility on the platform, so you don’t have to. What you can achieve in months, they can in hours.  

Plus, by working with BIG Shot you get to support the next generation of budding marketeers looking to expand their work experience and career development.  

Fancy a chat? Get in touch with Emma, Holly, Sophie and Alice – talk@biglittlelondon.com.