TikTok: Unveiling future trends and community engagement
TikTok recently released its 2024 trend report, marking the fourth annual forecast. This report offers valuable insights for marketers on the evolving interests of the TikTok community, emphasizing “Creative Bravery” as the upcoming year’s theme.
Exploring TikTok’s trend signals: The report categorizes trend signals into three main themes:
- Curiosity Peaked: People come to TikTok looking for far more than a single ‘right answer.’ Every curiosity and interest leads to relevant perspectives, uncharted discovery, and IRL action thanks to the perfect blend of discovery and an active mindset. In fact, TikTok users are 1.8x more likely to agree that TikTok introduces them to new topics they didn’t even know they liked;
- Storytelling Unhinged: Ends of stories are starting first. Multiple story arcs can happen at once. Communities are making up fictional celebrities and narratives. Against the backdrop of what’s often felt like an overwhelming reality, TikTok users have embraced a shared community of what’s been dubbed #delulu or delusional comfort. It’s the most intriguing narrative structures that guide viewers past the first few seconds and deeper into the story – ads intended to make users curious keep them watching 1.4x longer；
- Bridging the Trust Gap: There continues to be a growing trust gap between consumers and brands igniting audiences to seek engagement beyond a one-time sale. For brands, it’s key to consider each campaign and organic piece of content as an opportunity to share, listen, and learn, building brand trust and values together to generate deeper loyalty on and off-platform. After seeing an ad on TikTok, viewers trust the brand 41% more, are 31% more likely to be loyal to the brand, and are 33% more likely to say the brand is a good fit for who they are as a person (vs. before seeing ads on TikTok). This is driving action IRL, as well as on the platform.
Etsy: Forecasting the early 2024 trends
Etsy’s 2024 Color of the Year: Etsy anticipates that berry colors will dominate 2024’s color trends. Berry marries rich red and blue tones, adds depth to 2023’s popular pinks, and is flexible enough to carry through the seasons. It also taps into a trend we’re seeing around food and fruit motifs, and works really well for small accents.
Shifts in product popularity on Etsy: Etsy has noticed a significant increase in searches for large framed art, mini prints, and romantic apparel. The platform also observes a rise in demand for bucket bags, while baguette bags see a decline.
Temu: Making strides in the US market
Temu was the most-downloaded iPhone app in the US in 2023: Pinduoduo’s international e-commerce platform, Temu, is Apple’s most downloaded free app in the U.S. for 2023. Research from Apptopia reveals that US consumers spend almost twice as much time on Temu as on Amazon, with young users particularly engaged：
- The average Temu user spent 18 minutes per day on the company’s app in Q2, nearly double the 10 minutes they spent on Amazon and 11 minutes on AliExpress and eBay.
- The discrepancy between Temu and its competitors is even more pronounced among younger consumers who spend an average of 19 minutes a day on the platform, far outpacing Amazon, which was its closest competitor at 11 minutes.
Other news in e-commerce
Etsy announces to cut 11% of workforce: Etsy plans to reduce its headcount by 225 people, including its current chief marketing officer. Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Scott and Chief Human Resources Officer Kimaria Seymour will both leave the company on Dec. 31. CEO Josh Silverman said while the Etsy marketplace is more than double the size it was in 2019, gross merchandise sales have remained flat since 2021. Employee expenses had grown, despite pausing hiring and other cost-cutting measures. “This is ultimately not a sustainable trajectory and we must change it,” Silverman said.
Amazon is dropping Venmo: Amazon is dropping Venmo as a payment option next month, the PayPal owned mobile payment service announced on its website. The official announcement comes as Amazon notified users via email that Venmo will no longer be accepted on Amazon.com starting January 10, 2024. Amazon will still, however, accept Venmo debit and credit cards.
