The TikTok Trends Digest: Turning Passions into Professions

What did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut? An artist? An assistant (to the) regional manager at a moderately sized wholesale paper company? Being on TikTok means you never stop dreaming, and our audience is redefining career possibilities like never before. Bursting with energy and innovation, TikTok creators are part of vibrant sub-communities, each driven by their own unique passions and interests. And they're not just sharing career tips – they're transforming culture and reshaping how we think about work.

Read on to learn how your brand can leverage TikTok trends to tap into communities and connect with new audiences.

How communities are mixing business with leisure

Part of the 'Turning Passions into Professions' Trend Signal, many Trend Moments on the platform are linked to the world of work, with creators taking to TikTok to tell their stories and flex their individual POVs.

For brands, this trend is opening up new possibilities to tap into these more business-minded communities to leverage expert voices for campaigns, find another sphere of life through which to connect with audiences and gather insights into how users approach their passions. We've seen brands showcase their employees in their TikTok content, participate in Don't Gatekeep Diaries, which sees industry professionals share the secrets of their success, and relate to audiences by sharing relatable memes about work life.

Here are two ways brands have leveraged communities to grow their businesses:

1. Break a leg, besties

Who better to find a home on one of the world's most popular entertainment platforms than actors? Aspiring thespians use TikTok to try on different personas and unlock a direct line to casting directors, brands and producers.

Swedish brand IQ wanted to tap into this creative community to launch a culturally defining campaign. Shaking up the traditional self-tape casting process and utilising TikTok's Duet feature, the brand invited people across Sweden to audition for a role in its 10-part TikTok-first drama. The campaign generated over 450 entertaining videos from the audience, to the audience. It also achieved a 447% increase in followers for the brand, a 13.9% increase in ad recall and a 13.6% increase in awareness.

2. But first, let me take a selfie

From street photography to the secret behind getting that perfect shot, TikTok is where photographers and videographers can show their magic behind craft. That's why Nikon Europe decided to put TikTok creators in the driver’s seat for their Mystery Box campaign, blurring the boundaries between marketing and art to transform their image and increase awareness and consideration.

The brand sent a number of creators "Mystery Boxes" and asked them to create a photo or video shoot with the Mystery Box. The result? Authentic, innovative and artistic shoots that really positioned Nikon in a fresh light. And drove incredibly strong results: the brand saw a 16.8% lift in brand awareness, a 19% increase in users seeing Nikon as a modern video brand and a 4.55% increase in users considering buying a Nikon camera.

Brand take: See how Chelsea FC leveraged TikTok trends

Chelsea FC's campaign to launch its Blue Creator Fund, which aims to empower the next generation of creators, tapped into TikTok's exciting talent pool and developed a dynamic, creator-led campaign featuring visuals that seamlessly integrate with the For You Page and incorporate quick transitions, angles and effects.

See below for a breakdown of the key elements of how the brand made this TikTok trend its own.

Why it works: The brand's TikTok campaign features arresting sounds and visuals, and humorous transitions to connect with its target audience of creatives.

Make TikTok trends your own

Here's how you can put your brand's spin on this TikTok trend:

Game-changing creative resources are just a click away

Working with creators is a shortcut to connecting with ready-made audiences with creative styles that have been tried and tested. You can leverage the TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) to find the right creators for your brand and generate creative that really resonates.

For more on how you can use trends to service full-funnel marketing objectives, sign up for our newsletter.

Our next Trends Digest is all about 'Shopping Season Glimmers' – read it here!