Hey readers! Here’s our hot take: Get your green jacket out. Also, your chevron print, possibly? The kids love the mid-2010s right now. Put out a filter reminiscent of 2014 or 2016 (the two most evocative years online, it seems) and it’s almost certain it’ll be a hit. As someone who graduated from high school in 2014, it’s funny to think we’re already at the stage where the 2010s are back. So much for the twenty-year trend cycle.
🎵 Top Sounds 🎵
Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok
I Use My Hair To Express Myself! 😒
If I wanted feedback, I’d have asked. That’s the message of this trending sound.I’m Not Wearing A Costume 😀
A sound for when you want a little more opportunity to explain.Lore Dump 😳
A sound from Brooklyn 99 that’s perfect for lore dumps, whether they be among friends or in media.Use this sound over a video of whatever you find cool.
Use this Gaga classic for photo carousels.
I Need To Spend More Time With You
Another Keke Palmer soundbite turned trend. Obsessed with creators using it to talk about hanging out with their moms.
🔉Sound Highlight 🔉
Mood: 😫
A Chapell Roan song trending on TikTok? Groundbreaking. Use this sound to lament over now distant friends and bittersweet changes.
🌟Trend Highlight 🌟
Use emojis for a clever and cute reveal.
💫 Post Highlight 💫
This ad is a delight to watch. It works so well for the National Trust’s identity and mission.
Bonus S/O’s:
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This Cal Train ad is simple, silly, and fun. Even Dodgers fans can surely enjoy some shots fired at car dependence.
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This series from In Style is so good, a perfect pairing of creator partnerships and well-executed short-form series.
👀 Platform News 👀
Platform updates, new features, and what’s new on social
Elon Musk is pushing text-to-video hard on X, betting on X’s generative AI video tool vAI. So we’re either getting the background action of Mountainhead or even more videos of Grok arguing with MAGA.
Instagram is working on an ‘interests’ prototype for users.
Instagram’s new map is awfully reminiscent of another app, but users might not be loving the feature right now, with fears over privacy.
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☕ The Zeitgeist ☕
Hot topics and discourse from across the internet
Claire’s is closing thousands of stores after filing for bankruptcy (again).
Trader Joe’s tote bags have become a status symbol in Europe, and I can attest to having seen them in Manchester. If you see me trying to hawk my old Cost Plus World Market bag on UK Vinted, no, you didn’t.
The labubu on Karl Marx’s grave… we didn’t spend enough time talking about its symbolic resonance.
Say goodbye to dial-up (yes, really).
🥡 The Takeaway 🥡
What marketers are taking away from trends
It’s okay to take a beat.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last four years in social campaigns, it’s that you don’t always have to match the pace of change. Platforms are constantly changing, adding and removing features, going back and forth about how they feel about different content verticals, and it can feel overwhelming.
Exciting? Sure, but also overwhelming. My point is, there can be this instinct (often reinforced by a diet of LinkedIn thought leadership) to drop everything you’re doing and immediately switch up your strategy.
You don’t need to. What’s more, it might be healthier to take a second to assess what an update or policy change means for you. Not every change will be received positively; some will be a flash in the pan, and some trends might even result in backlash.
So take a breath. A good strategy is mindful and informed by trends and platform changes, but it should last through those changes, flexible enough to pivot, but grounded enough to carry through change.