In the fast-evolving realm of social media, deciphering trends is not just a strategic choice; it's a necessity for those seeking both marketing success and comprehensive consumer insights.

TikTok, with its dynamic content landscape, stands as a beacon of innovation and creativity. As content creators and marketers, understanding TikTok trends isn't merely about riding the wave of popularity; it's about delving into the intricacies of consumer behavior and gaining insights that transcend mere engagement metrics.

In this blog, we embark on a data-driven exploration of TikTok trends, with a keen focus on the Holiday Events of 2023, leveraging the insights provided by Exolyt. Just as we've unraveled Eurovision trends in the past, this time, Exolyt's findings will guide us through the festive beats of TikTok.

1. Marketing Precision: TikTok trends are the pulse of contemporary culture. To navigate this platform successfully, marketers must align their strategies with trending content. Exolyt, as a powerful analytics tool, reveals the nuances that make content not just popular but strategically impactful.
2. Consumer Behavior Unveiled: TikTok isn't merely a platform for consumption; it's a living, breathing reflection of user behavior. By comprehending trends, we gain a nuanced understanding of what captivates audiences, informing marketers not just about what's popular today but about the evolving preferences that will shape tomorrow.
3. Insights for Product Development: Beyond marketing, TikTok trends offer a unique window into cultural shifts and emerging preferences. By understanding what resonates with users, brands can glean insights that inform product development. It's not just about selling a product; it's about aligning products with the zeitgeist of the moment.

Read other benefits of TikTok Social Monitoring and Listening here.

In this blog, Exolyt goes beyond surface-level engagement metrics to unravel the stories hidden within data, providing a roadmap for marketing endeavors and a holistic understanding of popular trends.

It dissects the holiday hashtags, spotlighting the ones that transcend mere popularity to become strategic assets for a brand's content or sales amplification.

For a comprehensive understanding, we shall draw references to recent LinkedIn posts that exemplify Exolyt's commitment to unraveling TikTok trends. Starting with Halloween, followed by Black Friday and Thanksgiving.

Halloween

The Halloween-specific trends on TikTok have been segmented and analyzed in three parts.

The first part answers the questions:

• What is the best time to use Halloween-related hashtags?
• Does the holiday affect hashtags equally?
• Should you use generic hashtags or event-specific ones?

Let's dissect the insights from this graph:

• Most exponential growth for these hashtags happens three days before and five days after the related event. Timing your content in this window is critical. Missing one week can mean missing the entire trend.
• Not all hashtags are affected similarly by upcoming events. During the same time when #halloween received 70% of its yearly views, #happyhalloween received only 10%.
• Specific beats generic - The #scary is often used in a broader range of contexts and Halloween only affects less than 5% of its yearly views.

The second part answers the questions:

• How much does a wrong hashtag cost in views?
• Does Halloween affect #halloween?
• Should you use volume hashtags or fast-growing ones?

Let's dissect the insights from this graph:

• Not all hashtags are equal. Wrong hashtags can cost billions of views. #halloween and #scary get 100B more views than #happyhalloween and #spoooky.
• The #halloween is 30 times more affected by approaching Halloween events than other thematically related hashtags.
• Fast-growing hashtags can rapidly surpass larger hashtags. As Halloween approaches, #halloween quickly gains additional views, surpassing #scary by 50B views after it takes #scary six months to catch up.

The third part answers the questions:

• Are hashtags with voluminous total views always better?
• How did Netflix's 'Wednesday' affect the whole Halloween hashtag scene?
• Does a hashtag view baseline matter?

Let's dissect the insights from this graph:

• Bigger hashtags are not always better. Views per video for #happyhalloween are three times higher than for # #halloween.
• Viral events matter - Netflix Wednesday's viral dance significantly increased the amount of published content and dropped views per video for all related hashtags. Yet some hashtags suffered double as much as others.
• Different hashtags have different baselines - Content with #scary is expected to receive an average of 40K views throughout the year. This is twice as much as the other three hashtags.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we took a quick sneak peek into the popular recipes trending in TikTok and tried to break it down into fun insights for our audience.

Here's the video:

Black Friday

The Black Friday rage on TikTok has also been segmented and analyzed in three parts.

The first part answers the questions:

• What's the best time to use Black Friday-related hashtags this year?
• Is #blackfridaysale still relevant?
• Is #tiktokshop worth considering this Black Friday season?

Let's dissect the insights from this graph:

• Last year, most users posted their #BlackFriday videos during the event week. This year, users have been planning and posting as much as 2weeks in advance.
• This year #BlackFridaySales hashtag is growing 2X faster and one week sooner than last year. 
• #TikTokShopBlackFriday is seeing the largest percentage growth in the number of posted videos at a whopping 60%

The second part answers the questions:

• What's bigger, #blackfriday or #cybermonday?
• If this annual event has shown any growth in its popularity?

Let's dissect the insights from this graph:

• The #BlackFriday hashtag on TikTok is approximately ten times bigger than the #CyberMonday hashtag.
• Last year, during only two weeks, views for #BlackFriday doubled from 4 Billion to a whopping 8 Billion.

The third part answers the questions:

• Growth in #blackfridaysales this year
• Surprising boom of #tiktokshop that took center stage
• #BlackFriday hashtags this time of the year: In review

Let's dissect the insights from this graph:

• This year #BlackFridaySales hashtag has grown faster and 3X bigger than last year. 
• Although #TikTokShopBlackFriday wasn't around last Black Friday its popularity has skyrocketed this year. In the last couple of weeks, it has gained 60% of its total yearly views.
• Hashtags correlated with the Black Friday event on average gain 50% of their yearly views during the event’s week.

Conclusion

In this blog, we leverage Exolyt's sophisticated analytics and wealth of TikTok's historical data to illuminate the nuances of TikTok trends during the Holiday Events 2023.

With this exercise, we aim to present the power of harnessing TikTok insights. Venturing into the nuanced landscape of TikTok trends, helps us understand that this exploration is not just about marketing; it's about deciphering the language of culture, and user behavior, and anticipating the future.

Stay tuned for more such deep dive into the strategic intersection of TikTok, consumer insights, and the ever-evolving landscape of social trends, all guided by Exolyt's precision in TikTok Analytics and Social Intelligence.