TikTok Content Trends to Watch in 2025: What’s Next for Creators? [Expert Insights]

Few apps cycle through trends as quickly as TikTok. I spend endless hours scrolling through the app, and it feels like every other day, a new trending sound, topic, song, or challenge is going viral.

It can be hard to keep up, and I say this as a content creator and marketer whose job is to stay in tune with the latest happenings on social media.

Fortunately, I and a few other creators are savvy enough to see what TikTok trends are coming to the forefront in 2025.

So, if you‘re curious about what trends to look out for and what it could take to go viral on the app this year, you’ve come to the right blog. Here are some TikTok predictions for 2025 based on our survey data, content creators, and social media marketing experts.

What is a content trend on TikTok?

TikTok content trends are popular types of videos or themes that spread like wildfire across the platform as new creators stitch, duet, or adapt the content to their own story. It may have started with TikTok dances, but now trends can take any form, using music, sounds, challenges, memes and other types of inspiration.

You’ll learn more about some of the trends below, where I talk about the Susi Pesto and Pepe Prawn trends. One of the most famous, as I just mentioned, is TikTok’s dance challenges, where people film themselves dancing to a specific audio clip — sometimes it’s great. And sometimes? It’s downright hilarious.

Understanding the TikTok Content Trends Cycle

TikTok content trends often seem to emerge randomly — and surprising things gain popularity. The more specific a TikTok trend, the shorter its staying power.

For example, if people are using a specific sound and format for their videos, it’s less likely to stick around for months on end than if it’s a simple text overlay. The Fancy Like Dance featured a song by Walker Hayes called “Fancy Like” and a specific dance:

While it had a lot of staying power, eventually, it fizzled out as new trends arose.

On the other hand, the POV (point of view) trend isn’t likely to go anywhere. It’s simple, with a text overlay of “POV: [whatever the viewpoint is]” sitting on top of images or a video, like this:

How TikTok Content Trends Emerge

As I’ve mentioned, there are lots of ways that TikTok Trends get started — and generally, the simpler it is, the faster it spreads. Here are three of the most common ways I’ve seen them emerge:

• Organically: A single creator might post an idea, sound, or format that resonates with others.
• Trending Sounds: Once someone uses a sound in a particular way — often just a clip of a song with text overlays or dramatic skits, people join in.
• Real-World Relevance: Depending on what’s going on in the world, specific cultural references may turn into big-time trends.

When Trends Gain Traction and Peak

Once people start seeing more than a handful of creators picking up on a trend, the trends go viral extremely quickly, and we start to see widespread adoption from all kinds of different creators.

The more you see and engage with a particular trend, the more videos like it you’ll see. And as certain types of videos get more popular, they collectively start to get shown more.

Next, you may start to see trends evolve with new twists and changes. Fancy Like hit its peak when it became a commercial featuring TikTokers:

When Trends Fizzle Out and Resurge

Once things hit the big time— or when they’re simply everywhere, people stop watching every single one, and the next trend starts to rise.

However, just because a trend is on the downswing, it doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. One of my favorite TikTok content trends is the Grace Kelly song — while it petered out a few years ago, the tune is hauntingly beautiful and catchy.

It was a simple trend. People sing all different types of harmonies to the same set of lyrics, layering them on top of each other: “I could be brown. I could be blue. I could be violet sky. I could be hurtful. I could be purple. I could be anything you like.”

Then, as the Grace Kelly trend slowed down, Ryan Reynolds and Will Farrell breathed new life into it before the trend sunsetted itself:

Fun fact: I still seek out this audio, watch this video, and smile.

How Your Brand Can Capitalize on TikTok Content Trends

In the section below on predictions, I’m sharing some of the trends the experts I spoke with are expecting to see in 2025 and beyond. But before you dive right in, there are a few things you should know and do so you can make the most of TikTok content trends.

Follow creators in your space.

Pay attention to trendsetters in your niche, as they often spot and create trends early. But remember, it’s not just about your space. It’s also about trends from other corners of TikTok that show up on your target audience’s FYP (For You Page — the content TikTok’s algorithm feeds you).

Have fun with it!

TikTok is fun — and to succeed with it, you can’t take it too seriously.

By that, I mean err on the side of playful (keeping in mind #6 below) and try lots of things. You never know what combination might be magic for you. Sometimes, it’s about timing. Sometimes, it’s about trends, and sometimes, it’s just about luck.

Be consistent.

Yes, timing is everything on TikTok, but you don’t have to go big or go home. Simply showing up and engaging consistently works. Things you don’t expect to go viral might take off, and things that you think are boring might just be the ticket to the big time.

Adapt quickly.

I’ve already talked about the unpredictability of TikTok, but haven’t yet touched on how quickly you’ll need to act to capitalize on content trends.

As Durga Kudumula, Head of Growth Marketing at Designity, says:

“TikTok trends move fast, and staying relevant requires speed, creativity, and strong relationships with creators. Brands need to monitor trends, adapt quickly, and collaborate with creators to ensure their participation feels genuine. It’s not just about copying what’s popular but aligning trends with your brand story in a way that resonates.”

Sure, I’ve seen some trends stick around for a while, like the Susi Pesto trend or the Pepe Prawn trend, surprising people with their shelf life.

Other times, trends only last a few weeks. So, if you want to jump on the bandwagon, you can’t afford to wait for weeks and weeks of hemming and hawing.

Set ground rules.

If you work with or for a brand, I recommend setting clear ground rules about what you can run with, as well as boundaries and guidelines for what you can — and can’t — post. The last thing you want is to get into hot water with leadership because you acted without approval. You also don’t want to be so far behind the trend that your content gets lost in the ether.

Engage, engage, engage.

The best part of growing your audience on TikTok is engaging in the comment section. Sure, there’s some negative stuff, but that’s really where the magic happens. Yet, so often, I see brands dropping post after post and not responding to their people. If you need help with this, HubSpot’s social media management software might come in handy — try it here.

TikTok Content Trend Predictions for 2025

1. Back Up Plan

Before we go any further, let’s address the elephant in the room. The legal challenges TikTok continues to face in the US mean that if the app becomes illegal, creators will need a backup plan.

While there is some discussion around whether it can be used on devices where it’s already downloaded, it’s reasonable to assume that it will become less and less prevalent. Several creators I follow, including Under the Desk News, are making backup plans and creating accounts on YouTube, Instagram, and Substack.

Truth be told, even if everything works out for TikTok, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan, whether that means backup TikTok accounts or accounts on other platforms. In fact, it’s something I always recommend to clients. You never know when something is going to happen.

However, even if TikTok does go the way of the dodo bird (