TikTok Trends 2025: The new rules of engagement for brands

2. What's trending on TikTok right now? Content formats going viral

Staying on top of trending sounds, TikTok dances and content formats will ensure your campaigns benefit from the buzz. 

Let's look at the top content formats and styles in 2025:

Faceless Content, immersing the viewer

Faceless content, as the name suggests, is social media content that doesn’t show the poster’s face. Unlike typical influencer content, faceless videos centre the visuals, experience, and viewer's perspective over personality. 

This trend is gaining traction because it's immersive and engaging. It's also often relaxing, featuring serene landscapes and aspirational settings. This is especially powerful for lifestyle, travel, and event content.

Faceless TikTokers can also use text overlays, audio, and captions to add context to the video. 

In the video below, travel blogger and micro-influencer Jessie (@pocketwanderings, 32.8K followers, TikTok) shares her favourite activities in Florence, Italy. The one-minute video shows bridges, cathedrals, and statues, while the influencer explains the positives of each location in the audio. She also uses subtitles and a text overlay to introduce the topic, allowing the video to be watched while muted. 

This style of content is very powerful for businesses that sell experiences. For example, a hotel can create content that captures the arrival, service, and atmosphere. 

User-generated content (UGC): Organic content dominating conversations

UGC is promotional content created by social media users who aren't influencers—typically, that means their follower count is under 5,000.

There are two key types of UGC:

• Unpaid UGC: Users share content because they genuinely value a product, attended an event, or are reviewing a viral product. The brand doesn't contribute to this content in any way. In the example below, creator Sophie (@sophieedemua, 3.4K followers, TikTok) reviews Charlotte Tilbury's products. 

• Paid UGC: Many UGC creators only make promotional content, sharing affiliate links to Amazon Marketplace or other platforms. Brands may also sponsor UGC creators to promote their products. 

For marketers, inspiring or paying for UGC creates a wealth of social proof. It also increases volume, making their branded content more likely to feature in search results. 

Narrative content in a mini-series format

Everyone loves a story. And new formats for telling engaging stories are appearing.

Some creators share their own stories. Others retell stories from platforms like Reddit. While TikTok videos can now be 10 minutes long, many creators prefer to separate longer stories into multiple posts, which creates episodic mini-series. These short series allow creators to generate more views and followers.

An example? Hairdressers will post a client's pre-haircut interview and then share the results at a later date. Influencers, particularly in comedy and storytelling niches, will tell stories over three or four videos. They often act out multiple characters, using AR filters and props to signify each one. 

Below, influencer and comedian Serena Terry (@mammybanter, 2.5M followers, TikTok) acts out a scene of a mother attending a wedding with her children. The video is part of a seven-episode series, which has around 2.5 million views in total. The creator uses a text overlay to signify which series the content is part of. 

Split-screen commentary: Reviews and analysis

Social media remains the place for social commentary. Influencers share their thoughts on other creators' videos, news stories, and TV/film. Influencers superimpose their faces onto other creators' videos, or they use a full split screen to react to another event. 

This style of content fits many niches. For example, eco-conscious fashion influencers may analyse the claims in a fast-fashion advert.  

Or, an influencer may review content from another creator in their niche. For example, beatboxer Chezame (@chezame_official, 9.5M followers, TikTok) uses the split screen format to join fellow performer and beatboxer Ratino's challenge. 

Marketers can use this tactic by asking influencers to review a brand event or react to their advert. 

Co-creation formats for boosting engagement

Collaborations between brands and influencers or between multiple creators are a great way to boost reach and engagement.

When creators within the same niche collaborate, they tap into each other's audiences. This is especially effective in comedy, lifestyle, fitness, or fashion, where formats like "duets," co-hosted skits, and challenge responses thrive.

When brands collaborate with influencers, they can co-create sponsored challenges, product lines, or simply content.

For example, beauty brands might invite creators to co-design packaging or launch limited-edition collections. This approach gives influencers ownership and encourages their audience to engage more deeply.

Trending TikTok sounds, music, and songs: Increasing reach

Using trending sounds helps boost a video. So let's dive into some trending sounds.

While lip syncs aren't as popular as they once were, songs like Doechii's Anxiety and Lola Young's Messy have taken social media by storm. 

Here are the top trending songs on TikTok in July 2025:

1. Let Down by Radiohead
2. Opp Bxtch by Certified Trapper
3. Where'd All the Time Go? by Dr. Dog
4. DAISIES by Justin Bieber
5. Stranger in You by Ebril

Currently, there is a trending audio "nothing beats a Jet2 holiday" where creators share awful moments with the positive audio playing in the background. This is a great example of a trend that's easy for brands to jump on. 

In the video below, micro-influencer Druncle Carl (@drunclecarl, 80K followers, TikTok) struggles to exercise with the audio playing in the background. 

How long do TikTok trends last?

TikTok trends vary in length. While some live and die over a few days, others stick around on feeds for months. 

Trends stem from societal trends, new editing software, relevant news, pop culture stories, and trending sounds. For example, the trending song "Nice to Meet You" by Pinkpantheress created a new meme format of two people shaking hands and lip syncing to the words. 

After their buildup, trends eventually get saturated. Everyone has heard the song or seen the format multiple times, which can lead to a loss of engagement. New trends take the place of the old trends, and while some live on in some form, many are simply forgotten. 

3. Niche communities and subcultures gaining visibility 

Niche communities are growing on TikTok. These communities have their own unique trends and allow users to share content about subjects they love. 

Here are the most popular TikTok subcultures:

• BookTok for all things literature, including reviews, analysis, and lists of favourites. 
• FinTok focuses on the financial niche. Creators share advice and experiences. It's a popular niche, with 46% of Gen Zers seeking financial advice on social media. 
• Ecotok includes tips, dos and don'ts, and clever hacks for staying sustainable.

There are also micro-trends that quickly come and go. These are particularly popular with Gen Z and Gen Alpha users. For example, the current digital decluttering trend focuses on organising digital storage. 

These niches allow brands to run targeted campaigns. Marketers can also reach their target audience creatively in a different niche. For example, a fashion brand could advertise through a BookToker to reach a Gen Z audience. 

Best trending hashtags in 2025 (food, local, and beauty)

Let's explore the hashtags currently trending on TikTok. 

Local hashtags engage communities

Firstly, location-based content is popular. Users add hashtags like #ParisVibes and #LondonTikTok to share content locally. Marketers can use these hashtags to create hype in a local area. For instance, when running pop-up events. 

For example, influencer Damlistilla (@damlistilla, 1.1K followers, TikTok) created an organic piece of content at a Rhode pop-up. The content went viral despite the influencer's low follower count. The content used the hashtags "#london", "#londontiktok", "#londonhotspots", and #chelsealondon."

Top food hashtags

Here are some 2025 trending TikTok hashtags in the food niche:

• #matcha
• #mango
• #coffeetiktok
• #sweettreats

Top beauty hashtags

Here are some of the beauty hashtags trending on TikTok in 2025:

• #summernails
• #acrylicnails
• #mua
• #nailtok
• #gelnails

4. Data-driven influencer strategies 

Social media platforms and influencer marketing platforms have become more advanced. New AI capabilities allow influencer marketers to base their judgments on deep analytics rather than guesswork or vanity metrics.

For example, calculations for earned media value (EMV) now make accurate estimates of how much the buzz from an influencer's content would have cost through traditional marketing methods. This gives marketers a good idea of how much to pay the influencer, and it allows for easier comparison between influencer marketing and other forms of marketing. 

Now that influencer marketing has been around for over a decade in its current advanced forms, it has become a more formal marketing channel.

Brands are even co-creating products with influencers. If a brand can use data to find an influencer who deeply understands their target audience, this influencer would likely have reviewed and been sent many products by similar brands. This gives them a unique understanding of the industry and what's available. This expertise is invaluable and can help brands create new, unique products that appeal to their target audience and engage the influencers' audience.

For example, Revolve collaborated with Amy Song, a mega influencer who shares lifestyle content, often travelling in beautiful locations with her family, to create a clothing collection. The Song of Style collection focused on timeless fashion that incorporated Song's architectural and cinematic style. 

5. What marketers should do to stay on top of trends

TikTok moves so quickly. Marketers need to take steps to keep up and continually optimise their approaches. Sticking with the same old tactics just won’t cut it.

So here's our step-by-step guide for keeping your influencer marketing current, relevant, and engaging.

Audit your current partnerships

Your current influencer marketing might be performing well. But here's the catch. If you're not constantly upgrading, eventually you're going to start to fall behind. So, take stock of your current collaborators. Analyse who's performing and why. 

This means diving into complex metrics, including:

• Engagements (likes, comments, shares), focusing on comments and shares for messaging content
• Average watch duration
• Reach (video views)
• Engagement rate 
• Audience demographics

Analyse who you're reaching with what messages. You'll also benefit from social listening tools here. For example, these tools can analyse how higher competitors are performing and benchmark your brand. Understand the messages each creator is sharing. Whether trending content performs better. 

How can I find trending topics on TikTok?

Once you’ve identified a trend, whether it’s a viral sound, a popular challenge, or an emerging content format, it's time to act.

Here are the top ways marketers can turn TikTok trends into results:

• Collaborate with creators already using the trend: Partner with influencers who are organically participating in the trend. Their content will appear authentic, and you’ll ride the wave while it’s still peaking.
• Adapt the trend to your brand voice: Not every trend fits every brand. If you're a skincare brand, a trending "day in the life" format can become a mini-series about self-care routines featuring your products.
• Act fast but stay relevant: TikTok trends have a short shelf life. Use tools like Kolsquare to monitor trend momentum and time your campaigns effectively.

You can find this data using an influencer marketing platform like Kolsquare. Kolsquare helps you find trending topics by searching for keywords and hashtags. From there, you can find out which influencers fit your requirements.

Start riding the trend wave 

TikTok continues to shape culture. In 2025, the most effective brands aren’t just reacting to trends; they’re anticipating them and making the most of them. 

The takeaway? TikTok moves fast—but your marketing doesn’t have to fall behind. Use platforms like Kolsquare to stay on top of emerging trends, find creators who align with your goals, and build campaigns that evolve with the platform.