In this week's newsletter, We breakdown both Instagram's and TikTok's predictions for major trends happening on their platforms in 2024 and our creator of the week, is a marketing and branding expert that's helped brands like Muddy Bites and Eight Beer thrive.

2024 Trend Talk: Decoding the Year Ahead

With all of the platforms focusing on rewinds, let's take a moment to look at what Instagram thinks are going to be some of the major trends in 2024.

 Instagram has compiled the data with the help of analytics firm WGSN to create "Trend Talk," a survey that attempts to determine which topics Gen Z will discuss the most in 2024. The survey gathers data from five countries: Brazil, India, South Korea, the UK, and the US.

 The survey touched on seven distinct categories, which allowed Instagram to paint a broad picture of which topics are expected to matter in 2024. Fashion was one topic that stretched across all of the countries.

 I love when platforms share their insights into the growth and trends they see on their platforms. While it gives creators, brands, and marketers transparency and a better understanding of what happens on the platform, I personally would take everything with a grain of salt. While it's helpful to know what trends may become trendy, content creation shouldn't focus on trends because following them will only get you so far. Organic and authentic content that's meaningful and resonates with your audience will always perform better. So don't focus on trends; focus on creating great content.

Get Ready to Glow Up: TikTok's 2024 Trends Report

The TikTok community will ignite a transformative mindset in 2024 through what TikTok calls "Creative Bravery". Fueled by a combination of curiosity, imagination, and vulnerability, brands demonstrating Creative Bravery will have the opportunity to build deeper community connections with their audience.

Brands that steer away from traditional marketing strategies and embrace these beliefs and infuse them into their daily behavior and content strategy will see regular success through pique global curiosities, flip traditional story arcs, and deepen trust with their consumers.

Based on the report, TikTok focused on the most actionable and enduring trends and created a sweet spot that they call "Trend Signals". Trend Signals are three defined content pattern categories that show emerging behaviors and interests brands can use to supplement their long-term content strategy. The three categories are:

1. Curiosity Peaked: Create content on TikTok that aligns with your audience's curiosity and interests to spark action.

2. Storytelling Unhinged: Mobilize your community on TikTok by creating content that they can reinterpret and build upon, giving them a say in shaping your brand's identity and narrative.

3. Bridging the Trust Gap: Build brand trust and loyalty on and off TikTok by leveraging creators and using each piece of content as an opportunity to share, listen, and learn with your community.

Brands like MAKUKA, Clinique, and Viking Rise have been some of the first brands to embrace the new categories into their full-funnel campaign and have seen great success. Clinique, which embraced the first category, saw a remarkable 441% increase in conversion rate (CVR) and a massive 51% increase in click-through rate (CTR). Viking Rising embraced the second category through the "spin the wheel" branded effect for users to experience what it felt like to unlock certain characters in the game and garnered them a reach of 400 million TikTok users. Makuka, which embraced the Trust Gap by partnering with mothers and babies in their community to participate in their product launch, saw a 500% increase in sales and a 20% increase in brand awareness through TikTok.

This report to me is amazing! TikTok has had an amazing 2023, even through all of the congressional hearings TikTok has been apart of and the potential bans in certain states, but I think that TikTok has reached such a scale that at this point, it's better to embrace it as a marker, brand owner, and creator. To be honest, TikTok isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so it's better to be on the boat than left at the dock.

📸 Creator of the Week 📸

Meet Ashwinn Krishnaswamy!

Ashwinn is a content creator and marketing and branding expert. Ashwinn's content is mainly found on TikTok and is centered around business, brands, and strategy breakdowns. His breakdowns are easy to understand and chock-full of actionable tips for both brands and creators to follow to have potential success with the product.

 Along with being a content creator, Ashwinn also runs Forge Design, an agency that works with growing e-commerce businesses to craft their brand, design, and user experience. He's helped brands like Muddy Bites and Eight Beer and even started his own brand called Oklahoma Smokes, a nicotine and tobacco-free smoking alternative to help people quit smoking. I don't quite remember when I stumbled upon his content, but whenever I need inspiration, I treat his content as my mood board. 

Keep up the great work, Ashwinn, and I hope to one day work with you on upgrading Scroll and Share's branding.

Check out Ashwinn's content here.