Hey readers! Here’s our hot take: I think we might need to call it quits on ‘girl trends.’ I covered the TikTok trend a little while ago, but now the focus on “traditional femininity” is getting concerning. That’s not mentioning the very White Feminism™ response to Barbie’s Oscar nominations. Issues with Betty Friedan aside, I fear this is the year we get back to basics with The Feminine Mystique. The next reading? Sister Outsider. Let’s get ourselves together, people.
🎵 Top Sounds 🎵
Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok
This sound from a John Mulaney joke is great to use when you’re nervous or concealing some embarrassing information.
A Feeling I Can’t Erase 🙆🏾♀️
This sound is great to use in the background of a video or slide post. There’s no particular trend format attached so it’s up to you to get creative.
That Is A Reductionist Stereotype! 😅
Use this when an assumption about you may be reductionist but it is frighteningly accurate.
Alone Time 🧘🏼♂️
This sound is perfect for people who relish their alone time. Use on solo-travel and self-care content.
The fact this sound is trending because of a realtor’s TikTok post is wild. There’s even a CapCut template (see trend highlight) you can use with it now! A+ account strategy.
🔉 Our Sound Highlight 🔉
Mood: 😩
Try as you might, there’s a type of person you will never be. Use this sound to let us know who that is.
🌟Trend Highlight 🌟
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As mentioned in our trending sounds list, this Chico-based realty group know what they’re doing on TikTok. Their metrics are wild. Use this post to express what you’re tempted to do.
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This might not be a fully-fledged trend but I’ve seen quite a few “we don’t talk enough about the friends who does [insert key service]” videos. Maybe I’m trying to make fetch happen here but it would be pretty fetch if this took off. I love the wholesome vibes.
💫 Post Highlight 💫
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This post from Greenpeace UK is a classic ad but the use of Succession clips is so delightful. It’s relevant and aware, plus the shade at Shell is glorious. Honestly, this is just good work from Greenpeace UK’s ads and social media department.
Special mention: Los Angeles Public Library interrupting “questions to ask your man” content with actually important information.
☕ The Zeitgeist ☕
Hot topics and discourse from across the internet
A Chicago rat hole brought many joy as visitors to the rat-shaped hole in the ground left coins and
littertokens by the hole. Someone even got married at the rat hole, because nothing says romance like rat hole.A video of a frozen Tesla went viral and brought attention to issues with Tesla vehicles in cold climates.
The Oscar nominations are out and Barbie discourse aside, it’s an exciting year, with Lily Gladstone being the first Native person from the US nominated for Best Actress.
Journalism is dying and we should all be concerned. To be clear, this is the fault of organizations and VCs. This month we’ve seen the LA Times cut 20% of staff (including their entire Washington bureau), Pitchfork shutter, Sports Illustrated shutter, TIME layoff 15% of staff, and further layoffs from NBC News and Business Insider.
Here are some key insights on how this intersects with TikTok from Taylor Laurenz:
🥡 The Takeaway 🥡
What marketers are taking away from trends
For views, head to YouTube Shorts.
YouTube shorts is often overlooked by marketers as they focus on TikTok, but there’s a strong case for running campaigns on Shorts and TikTok. With both platforms specializing in short-form video, it’s easy enough to cross-post. That makes YouTube Shorts a natural place to go to introduce your sponsored content to a new audience. What makes YouTube Shorts valuable right now is the potential for reach. An obscure trend, skibidi toilets, even netted over a billion views in the past weeks.
“Google’s Q2 2023 results revealed that YouTube currently pulls in Shorts views from more than two billion logged-in monthly users, up from 1.5 billion last year. TikTok on the other hand currently has roughly 1.1 billion monthly active users.” — Tom Newman, Route Note
As a marketing agency, we’ve put out our fair share of content onto YouTube Shorts. We’ve even seen YouTube Shorts views run laps around TikTok views. That isn’t to say TikTok is less valuable, but rather that a campaign can benefit from working across platforms. If you have the content, why not try to crosspost?