You know a single trending sound can explode a post — and that the viral window can shut overnight. For UK social teams, independent creators, small businesses and agencies, manually hunting trends and trying to respond in real time is exhausting and inconsistent. Scaling timely, on-brand comment replies and DM funnels without sounding robotic, while also staying compliant with TikTok’s rules and UK guidance, feels like juggling on a tightrope.
This automation-first playbook gives you a concise 2023 TikTok trends roundup plus ready-to-run playbooks that turn each trend into repeatable content ideas, comment and DM templates, and scalable workflows. Inside you’ll find UK-focused compliance checklists, human-in-the-loop escalation rules, measurement frameworks and sample dashboards, plus editable templates and tool recommendations you can implement today — so you save time, scale engagement authentically and prove the ROI of trend-driven campaigns fast.
Why TikTok Trends Matter for Brands and Creators
TikTok's recommendation algorithm rewards trend-driven content with disproportionate visibility, so a well-timed jump on a trend can multiply reach in hours rather than weeks. Timing matters because trends follow exponential growth and short lifecycles: songs, formats or challenges can peak and fade within days. Practical tip: monitor rising audio and hashtag velocity on the For You page and act within 24–72 hours of a trend's acceleration.
The direct benefits are immediate and measurable:
Rapid engagement lift: trend posts often attract higher likes, comments and shares per view than standard content.
Follower growth: appearing on more For You pages converts casual viewers into followers at scale.
Discoverability: trends surface content beyond existing audiences, accelerating discovery compared with organic, slow-burn brand-building.
Balance short-term wins with long-term strategy. Trend-driven content delivers spikes that feed audience growth and awareness, while brand-building formats (pillars, series, long-form storytelling) create lasting loyalty. Practical tip: use a 70/30 rule — 70% evergreen or brand-led content, 30% trend experiments — or flip it temporarily during product launches.
Outcomes differ between creators and businesses. Creators often chase virality and personal brand moments: a single trend video can define tone and attract partnerships. Businesses prioritise outcomes tied to revenue and reputation: trends can generate direct sales, leads or top-of-funnel awareness but must be mapped to KPIs and compliance checks. Example: a creator goes viral with a comedic duet; a small UK retailer leverages the same audio to demo a product and tracks uplift via landing links.
UK-specific behaviours to consider:
Local music and comedy references drive relatability; swapping global audio for a trending UK chart sample can increase resonance.
Cultural moments (bank holidays, football fixtures, TV finales) create predictable trend windows—plan rapid-response creative pools.
Platform patterns: UK audiences peak in evening and weekend slots; test publishing times and front-load moderation.
How Blabla helps: while you create and post, Blabla automates replies, moderates comments and routes DMs so rising engagement from trend content scales without losing voice or compliance. Use AI reply templates to respond during trend surges and convert conversations into sales or leads.
Roundup: Biggest TikTok Trends (UK and Global Highlights)
With that context, here’s a map of the specific trend categories that dominated TikTok in 2023 and what they mean for UK social teams.
Five trend categories had the biggest impact globally and in the UK:
Dances — short choreographies reusable across genres; example: creator-led routines that brands simplified into product-centric moves.
Audio remixes — nostalgic or unexpected clips repurposed; example: pop hooks reworked as comedic stingers for product reveals.
POV and voiceover formats — storytelling-first clips where creators narrate scenarios; example: "POV: you open the box" videos that amplified unboxing engagement.
Micro-challenges — 5–15 second tasks with clear participation cues; example: speedy skill tests that encouraged duet chains.
Transformation edits — before/after cuts with jump cuts or wipes; example: makeup, room makeovers and quick recipe reveals that drive saves.
Which specific 2023 trends drove the highest engagement and why — short case examples:
Rapid audio remixing: Creators who layered a vintage sample under a relatable script saw high watch-through rates because novelty keeps viewers listening; a fashion microbrand used a playful remix for a size-inclusive try-on that led to significant comment volume.
POV formats: Authentic, first-person narratives boosted retention; a UK fitness coach filmed a series of "trainer voiceover" clips that sparked repeat views and DMs asking for plans.
Transformation edits: Quick, satisfying reveals increased saves and shares; an independent homeware seller posted a 15-second before/after that prompted enquiries and direct messages.
Which trends historically favoured businesses vs creators — quick guidance on suitability:
Better for creators: dances and highly personal POVs that rely on personality and identity; creators can capitalise on follower loyalty and experimentation.
Better for businesses: transformation edits, micro-challenges and audio remixes shaped around products or services because they're reproducible and conversion-friendly.
Hybrid wins: brands using creators to perform dances or POVs retain authenticity while leveraging product placement; choose collaborators with matched tone and audience.
How UK trends differed from global trends in 2023 and action points for UK social teams:
Local audio and dialects: UK creators leaned on British slang and regional accents — action: adapt captions and tone for local audiences rather than directly importing US phrasing.
Regional memes and events: football, festivals and national moments drove spikes — action: prepare lightweight moderation and reply templates for event-driven surges.
Music licensing and rights: UK charts influenced discoverability — action: test locally trending tracks in drafts to spot fits before scaling.
Practical tip: when a trend spikes, use Blabla to automate safe, on-brand replies to incoming comments and DMs, moderate harmful content, and route interested customers into conversation flows so your team scales engagement without losing voice.
Quick trend-fit checklist for fast decisions: 1) assess brand tone and legal risk, 2) test a single draft with organic audience, 3) prepare three AI-driven reply templates (greeting, product info, complaint handling), 4) set moderation rules to filter hate or spam. In the UK, ensure any use of regional music follows licensing guidance and keep price or promotion claims compliant. Blabla speeds this by deploying reply templates and automating DM routing so teams react within minutes.
How to Find Trending Sounds, Hashtags and Challenges on TikTok (Step-by-step)
With the trend categories identified, here’s how to find the sounds, hashtags and challenges that actually matter to your UK audience.
1. Read the For You feed like a researcher — watch for signal patterns rather than single hits. Look for: short audio snippets that reappear across creators, similar edit styles (cuts/timing), and recurring captions or stickers. Practical tip: spend 10–15 minutes on your brand's For You account each morning and screenshot three repeat elements (sound name, creator handle, common caption). Those repeats indicate organic momentum worth testing.
2. Use Discover/Trending pages and interpret signals. The Discover tab shows rising hashtags and sounds — but interpretation matters. Prioritise items with:
High recent post counts plus accelerating views (many posts created within 24–72 hours).
Diverse creator participation (not just one viral creator copying self-reposts).
Variants of the same sound (remixes) — remixes often extend a trend's lifespan.
Practical example: if a dance hashtag has 500 new posts today from different UK creators, it's showing network spread; if it's 90% the same creator, it's less reliable.
3. Leverage the Creative Center and native analytics to validate momentum. In Creative Center, check sound popularity, peak adoption dates and demographic breakdowns. Match that against your account's native analytics: ask whether similar past sounds delivered engagement lifts and whether your audience overlaps with the sound's listeners.
Actionable metric checklist:
Day-over-day view growth for the sound
Average watch time and completion rate on top clips using that audio
Audience location and age brackets
4. Source UK-specific signals. Toggle region filters in Creative Center or Discover, follow UK micro-influencers, and monitor local charts (music and meme charts) and community groups (industry Slack/WhatsApp, creator lists). Keep a short watchlist of 8–12 UK creators across niches — when multiple names use the same sound, it's a local spike.
5. Create a repeatable checklist and alert system. Daily quick-check (10 minutes): For You scan, Discover top 5, Creative Center top 3 sounds. Weekly deep-dive (30 minutes): review analytics, update the UK watchlist, and mark trends as Test / Monitor / Ignore.
Set team alerts via shared docs or chat when a sound's daily posts exceed your threshold (e.g., 200 UK posts/day).
Use Blabla to automate rapid engagement workflows: route incoming trend-related DMs to sales or product teams, and deploy AI smart replies to common comments so you capture momentum without slowing response times.
Quick test protocol: run a 24–48 hour experiment with one creative variant, compare view-through and comment rate against control, then scale when you hit your thresholds.
Following these steps gives social teams a repeatable way to spot, validate and act on trends fast while keeping brand voice and compliance intact.
Playbooks: Using 2023 Trends to Boost Engagement (Automation-first Templates)
Now that you can find trends fast, let’s turn them into repeatable playbooks that combine creative moves with automation to scale responses without sounding robotic.
Below are three ready-to-use, automation-first playbooks with step-by-step actions, copy templates you can paste and personalise, and clear notes on which tasks to automate and which to keep human.
Playbook A — Rapid-react creative (jump on a trend within 24–48 hours)
Spot: Confirm trend momentum and pick a simple hook that matches your brand tone.
Create: Produce a 10–20s clip that references the trend but adds your USP; keep captions short.
Publish & amplify: Post organically and pin 1–2 top comments that guide conversation.
Automate: Use automation for instant first-line comment replies and to tag high-intent DMs for human follow-up.
Caption templates (paste & personalise):
Playful: "We tried the [trend audio] — here’s how it went 😅 What should we try next?"
Professional: "Quick take: [trend audio] with a [brand/service] twist. Thoughts?"
Hashtag suggestions: #ForYou #TrendingNow + 2 UK-specific tags (e.g., #LondonCreatives)
Playbook B — UGC amplification (turn creator content into social proof)
Curate: Collect creator posts that fit a current trend and ask permission to repost or stitch.
Frame: Add a brand reaction clip or caption that frames the creator’s POV.
Engage: Route creator comments and fan DMs to a dedicated inbox for partnership follow-up.
Automate: Auto-reply to thank creators, and auto-route partnership interest to your partnerships team.
Caption templates:
Friendly: "Love this from @creator — spot on! Want to be featured? Drop us a DM 💬"
Call-to-action: "Seen someone nail this trend? Tag us and we’ll share our favourites every week."
Playbook C — Conversion-focused trend remix (drive clicks/sales)
Hook: Use trend audio and lead with a product benefit in the first 3 seconds.
Value: Show a quick demo or before/after and include a clear CTA in caption and pinned comment.
Convert: Auto-route DM replies with promo codes or pre-filled product inquiry forms to sales reps.
Automate: Trigger automated follow-up sequences for users who request codes or ask product questions.
CTA templates:
Direct: "Want this? DM us the word GIVE and we’ll send a 10% code."
Soft: "Comment ‘INFO’ and we’ll DM you a quick how-to guide."
How to automate repetitive tasks while keeping brand voice:
Scheduling: Use your existing scheduling tool for timing; avoid over-automation to keep context-sensitive posts human.
First-line replies: Automate greetings and basic answers (opening hours, shipping, promo codes) with personalised tokens so replies feel human.
DM routing: Auto-tag conversations by intent (partnership, sales, complaint) and route to the right team for human resolution.
Where Blabla slots in: Blabla handles the heavy lifting on comments and DMs — delivering AI-powered smart replies, routing messages to teams, and enforcing moderation rules. In practice that means hours saved on manual responses, higher response rates from instant replies, and protection from spam or abusive content via automated moderation. Blabla also scales your copy templates across inboxes and adds compliance checks so branded replies stay on-tone and within policy, while flagged threads are escalated to humans.
Safe Automation: Automating Comments and DMs without Losing Voice or Breaking Rules
Now that we’ve covered automation-first playbooks, let’s look at how to put them into production safely so automation scales engagement without exposing your brand to legal, platform or reputation risk.
First, build legal and policy guardrails tailored to the UK. Practical checks include:
GDPR compliance: treat comments and DMs as personal data. Define a lawful basis (usually legitimate interest or contract), retain messages only as long as needed, and ensure quick responses to subject access requests. If you use a vendor like Blabla, record a data processing agreement and confirm where conversations are stored.
Advertising rules (CAP/ASA): automated replies that promote products must not mislead. Ensure any promotional DM or replying creator content follows disclosure rules — automated messages that appear as marketing should be clearly identifiable as such.
Platform terms of service: avoid bulk unsolicited messaging and behaviours flagged as spam. Configure throttles and human oversight to stay within platform limits and reduce the risk of account action.
Design automation with escalation and human-in-the-loop checks. Concrete patterns that work:
Keyword-based escalation: route messages containing words like refund, complaint, legal, sick, injured, or harassment to a human agent immediately.
Confidence thresholds: use AI confidence scores—auto-reply only when confidence >= 0.75; otherwise queue for human review.
Throttling and rate limits: set per-user caps (for example, max 3 auto-DMs to the same user per 30 days) and global caps (for example, 150 automated replies per hour) to avoid appearing spammy.
Time-window rules: avoid sending conversion nudges outside acceptable hours; pause auto-DMs overnight or during weekends if that fits brand tone.
Templates keep replies on-brand while scaling. Use short, modular messages that combine a tone module + intent module + CTA module. Examples:
Friendly acknowledgement (comment): “Thanks so much — we’re delighted you enjoyed this! ❤️ If you’d like product details, we’ve popped them in a DM.”
FAQ answer (DM): “Hi! The item you asked about ships in 2–3 working days. For size guidance, here’s a quick chart: [short summary]. Need help with a recommendation?”
Conversion nudge (comment→DM): “Great question — I’ll DM you a 10% code for first orders. Check your inbox!” (Only send the DM after verifying purchase intent and regulatory compliance.)
Practical tips: include an opt-out phrase in promotional DMs, log all automated interactions for audits, and rotate phrasing to avoid repeated identical replies that look bot-like.
How Blabla helps: its AI-powered comment and DM automation provides sentiment detection and moderation to filter spam and hate, compliance workflows to flag ads or sensitive topics, and detailed audit logs to satisfy GDPR and ASA recordkeeping. Blabla can route low-confidence or high-risk messages to a human-in-the-loop, apply throttling rules automatically, and store templates so responses stay consistent with brand voice. The result is fewer manual hours, higher response rates and safer scaling of conversations without sacrificing authenticity or compliance.
Comment & DM Response Best Practices and Ready-to-use Templates
Now that we've covered safe automation, let's focus on comment and DM response best practices that keep trends working for your brand without introducing risk.
Prioritisation framework
Immediate (reply within 15–60 minutes): customer issues mentioning order numbers, credible abuse or legal claims, high-value partnership messages, and posts where misinformation about your brand is spreading.
Rapid escalation (within a few hours): media queries, complex complaints needing investigation, influencer partnership asks that require legal/PR input.
Monitor only: high-volume celebratory comments, general praise, emoji threads; acknowledge with pinned comments or automated thank-yous but don't escalate.
Ignore or remove: clear spam, malicious links, repeated low-value promotional comments.
Ready-to-use templates
Celebratory engagement: "Thanks so much — we love seeing this! Your support means a lot to the team 💙"
Negative feedback (public): "Sorry to hear this — can you DM us your order number or a screenshot so we can investigate right away?"
Negative feedback (DM): "Thanks for flagging this. We're investigating and will update you within 48 hours. If you'd prefer a call, say so and we'll arrange one."
Partnership inquiry: "Thanks for reaching out — we love your work. Please DM a brief pitch and examples; our partnerships team will respond within 48 hours."
Tone-matching techniques
Create a 3-line voice guide: preferred greeting, formality level, emoji policy.
Use dynamic variables in automations to mirror user tone: short replies for casual users, polite full sentences for formal messages.
Train junior staff on two escalation phrases to keep consistency.
Moderation, spam prevention and conversion triggers
Auto-filter links, repeated hashtags and known spam keywords; quarantine for human review.
Convert to private conversation when order details, payment, legal risk, or personal data are involved.
Use an escalation tag (e.g., Reviewing:HighRisk) so human agents handle sensitive threads.
Practical tip: batch-create the templates above in your Blabla account and tag them by priority; the platform's AI replies can auto-fill variables and surface escalations for human review. Review quarantined content and update keyword lists after trend shifts.
Measuring ROI and Tools to Monitor & Automate Trend Engagement (UK-focused)
Now that we understand how to respond to comments and DMs with ready-to-use templates, it's time to measure the business impact of trend campaigns and automate monitoring so teams can report quickly and accurately.
Key metrics and attribution
Track a mix of short- and long-term KPIs:
Engagement rate (likes+comments+shares divided by views or impressions) — shows trend resonance.
View-through rate and average watch time — measures creative retention on trend content.
Click-through rate (CTR) from profile links or video CTAs — useful for traffic-focused trends.
Conversion rate and cost-per-action (CPA) — ties trends to sales or sign-ups.
Response rate and time-to-reply for comments/DMs — measures community management effectiveness.
For attribution, combine TikTok Pixel/server events with multi-touch models and view-through windows. Run incrementality lift tests on a subset of campaigns to validate causal impact rather than relying on last-click alone.
Dashboards & reporting cadence
Present two views to stakeholders:
Weekly tactical dashboard: engagement trendlines, top-performing creative, response SLA, spikes in negative sentiment.
Quarterly strategic report: reach growth, conversion uplift, cohort-based LTV impact and learnings for future trend playbooks.
Use annotated timelines to link spikes to specific trend activations and include short recommendations (scale, iterate, or retire).
Tools and UK data sources
Monitor trends with TikTok Creative Center and native TikTok Analytics for behaviour and creative benchmarks. Complement with third-party listening tools and UK datasets such as Ofcom reports or national survey panels to understand audience shifts. For attribution and events use pixel/server-side tracking and analytics platforms that respect UK privacy rules.
Where Blabla fits
Blabla automates comment and DM replies, flags escalations, and produces compliance-ready interaction reports — saving hours of manual work, increasing response rates, and protecting the brand from spam or hate. In your stack, Blabla feeds response metrics (SLA, sentiment, conversion nudges) into dashboards so teams can show the true ROI of trend-driven engagement without overloading moderators.
Example: report weekly RTI (response time improvement) alongside a conversion lift percentage; note that a 10–20% rise in view-through rate combined with a stable CTR often signals a creative win worth scaling. Include recommended next steps and A/B tests for creatives and governance.
Playbooks: Using 2023 Trends to Boost Engagement (Automation-first Templates)
Building on the previous section about finding trending sounds, hashtags and challenges, this playbook turns those discoveries into repeatable, automation-first templates you can deploy quickly. Below are concise templates, a clear implementation flow, and the metrics to watch—without reiterating platform integration details already covered earlier.
What these playbooks do
Each playbook maps a current 2023 trend to a lightweight content template you can automate and scale. The goal is to reduce creative friction so more ideas make it to audience-facing content while keeping experiments measurable.
Core 2023 trends to leverage
Sound-driven micro-stories — short clips built around a viral audio cue
Hashtag challenges — repeatable formats that invite user participation
Transition and effect trends — visual edits that catch attention in the first 1–2 seconds
Behind-the-scenes and authenticity — quick, human moments that build trust
Template examples (automation-first)
Sound-driven micro-story
Hook (0–1s): open on the key visual tied to the sound.
Middle (1–10s): three quick beats that follow the sound’s structure.
Close (10–15s): branded frame or CTA.
Automation notes: pull trending audio tag, pair with a content bank of 10 short clips, auto-assemble and queue for review.
Hashtag challenge prompt
Instructional opener: show the move or prompt in 3 seconds.
Example clip: brand or creator performs the prompt.
Call to action: clear text overlay inviting participation and hashtag use.
Automation notes: generate template assets, auto-fill hashtag and tracking UTM, and schedule multi-day cadence.
Transition/effect montage
Series of 3–5 matched cuts using the trending edit.
One-line caption that contextualizes the trend for the brand.
Automation notes: use presets for the transition, batch-render variations, and test thumbnails automatically.
Implementation flow (3 steps)
Ingest trend — Capture the trending sound/hashtag/effect and tag it with intent (awareness, participation, conversion).
Map to template — Assign the trend to one of the templates above and auto-populate assets and copy placeholders.
Automate + measure — Queue the assembled assets for review, publish on a set cadence, and feed results back into the trend registry.
Metrics and experiment ideas
Primary KPIs: view rate, engagement rate (likes/comments/shares), completion rate for short clips.
Secondary KPIs: hashtag uses, UTM-driven traffic, and follower growth for creators.
Experiment ideas: A/B test hooks (first 1–2s), thumbnail treatments, and CTA wording across the same trend template.
Quick checklist before scaling
Does the template align with the trend’s core element (sound, effect, hashtag)?
Are asset presets (colors, logo lockups, fonts) applied consistently?
Is there a review step before batch publishing?
Are tracking parameters and a measurement window defined?
Note: Integration and platform-specific setup (where Blabla or other tools slot into the flow) were covered earlier—refer to the implementation notes above for those details. Use the templates here to convert trends into measurable experiments quickly.
























































































































































































































