TikTok has published its annual trend prediction report for marketers, which aims to help those looking to maximize their TikTok presence tap into key shifts in user behavior.
TikTok’s “TikTok Next” overview provides insights into three key trends that TikTok believes will drive more usage this year.
As per TikTok:
“This year, we'll see trends rooted in our Irreplaceable Instinct, representing a shift toward the curiosity, conviction, and care that connect us.”
Pretty vague, but the report digs into these three trends, which TikTok believes will play a big role in user engagement in 2026.
Those three trend categories are:
- Reali-TEA – Brands will win by showing real experiences over “curated perfection”
- Curiosity Detours – Brands that align with more niche trends will have greater opportunity of aligning with consumer interests
- Emotional ROI – Brands need to provide more clarity around the value of their products
Each trend has its own breakdown in the report, which you can either download (with email sign-up) or view on the dedicated TikTok Trends mini-site.
As you can see, TikTok provides a general overview of the trend, including related hashtags, which also enables you to view what tags it thinks will resonate more this year.
That’s helpful context, which will give you more ideas about where TikTok believes each trend is headed, and how you can plan for 2026.
Each topic overview also includes examples of brands that have tapped into related trends (with case study links).
As well as notes on how you can put it into action.
These are some interesting notes, which are predictions, not prescriptive outlines of what will definitely come to be. But based on TikTok trend data and analysis, this could give you a better roadmap for how to go about planning your TikTok strategy in 2026.
Worth a look either way.
