2022 was the year of being real on TikTok. 

Real discussions, real progress, and even the spiking rise of “real” advertising. You have read us mention User Generated Content (UGC) quite often, and with reason: users trust users when it comes to purchases.

But now that the first 2023 week has gone by, what trends will rule TikTok for the next twelve months?

TikTok told us, and we’re going to tell you 😉

TikTok’s new importance

Do you remember Musical.ly, and how TikTok used to be compared to it? 

While dancing trends and Vine-like content is still thriving on our beloved clock app, TikTok has become much more than that over the past two years.

Here’s an example of how TikTok rivals with bigger, more established video-based platforms nowadays:

Users spend an average of 95 minutes (1.58 hours) on TikTok per day, and not only for entertainment.

Google has found out in recent studies that TikTok is one of its biggest competitors when it comes to Gen Z. Can you believe that about 40% of Gen Z-ers use TikTok or Instagram to look up lunch spots?

While the study only mentions Gen Z, Millennials and older generations have also started jumping on the bandwagon.

What this means is that TikTok is becoming a search engine which users turn to to be told what to do.

So keep this in mind while we look at the projected 2023 trends for the app.

2023 TikTok trends

By trends we don’t mean sounds or popular challenges, but general mindsets and concepts that will shape the overall interest of all TikTok communities.

 

1. “Actionable entertainment” (a.k.a. ads that don’t feel like ads)

The last thing users want to happen when you’re scrolling down on an entertainment app is to be bombarded with ads. 

Users aren’t on TikTok primarily to shop, and it’s a good thing to keep this in mind. As a business, you don’t want to burst the bubble the user had built: they will end up not liking you because you troubled their peace!

But watching a fun branded video that matches their interests and the other content on their feed? They won’t mind the CTA if the content is

• Engaging
• Well-constructed
• Helpful

If 2022 was the year of being real, 2023 is the year of taking action. Users want to change their lives for the better, and your business is here to support them. How can you help them become the version of themselves they want to be?

Tell your audience in a fun, TikTok-style way, and you will crush it.

Here are some examples of how you can create actionable entertainment:

• Jump on sound trends and challenges, but adapt them to your brand and the issues it fixes,
• Engage in “real” conversations, discuss “real” topics in your industry, with users as the focus,
• Let your brand be approachable, share some behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, share founder messages and personal stories,
• Sprinkle popular culture references in your messages to show users that you are part of the community too.

 

2. “Making space for joy” a.k.a. creating a positive feeling across the line

During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, two infamous things became very popular: working in your pajamas, and suffering from a burnout (or several).

But this is not the vibe anymore. (Except for the pajama bit, we vote to bring that one back.)

2023 follows 2022 as the year of cleaning up life of all things that don’t spark joy. It’s time to help users go all Marie Kondo on their everyday routine, and help them replace the bad with the extremely good (that’s you).

Focus on the good and the fun, inspire and uplift your audience. Share positive reviews you’ve gotten or stories of incredible coincidences (we all have one).

In any case, it’s important to make sure happiness is at the forefront of your content strategy.

 

3. “Community-built ideals” a.k.a. helping your audience find their people and their voice

While 2021 seemed to create a setting based on separation and individuality, 2022 has brought a stronger sense of community. Users are happy to bond together over their interests and experiences (which they are not afraid to show) and thus create much more niche TikTok communities.

Again, users want to be the best version of themselves, and they want to find who to look up to during their journey.

Focus your efforts on showing that you can:

• Bring helpful content to the community,
• Be or build a safe space,
• Encourage growth.

Related reading: Our sister brand Kitschy published a blog post on responsible marketing explaining how a brand can strengthen its relationship with its audience and create a community through ethical marketing.

A side note on advertising

Despite this evolution into a more positive and educational communal space, TikTok is still the place to focus your digital marketing on.

With the introduction of the TikTok Shopping Ad features, UGC is ever more present on the app, popping up everywhere on the feed in a more organic way than ads ever did on the app before.

In conclusion, inspiration and positivity come to the surface, communities grow, and UGC stays

Keep these three trends in mind to plan your content strategy for 2023, and you will be among the successful businesses on the app.

And if you’re in need of UGC, we have over three years of experience to offer you! Let us know and we’ll work together on building you a cracking UGC strategy.