You’ve seen the dance trends and you’ve heard the earworms like “Mahiye Jinna Sohna.” You might even be among the millions creating your own riff on the popular Jamal Kudu trend on YouTube Shorts.
What you’ve experienced is the irresistible draw of the Shorts trend. This happens when a popular action or movement is combined with attention-grabbing media like a catchy music track or audio, and becomes a content template that creators replicate across genres and formats like vlogs, lip-syncs, and comedic sketches.
These memorable Shorts trends rapidly amass views and participation on YouTube, and they do so while transcending cultural and geographical boundaries.
That’s how the #TeriBaatonMeinUljhaJiya trend took off on YouTube, attracting over 3 million creations globally. Featuring a remake of the 2000’s hit song “Teri Baaton Mein Uljha Jiya,” the dance and subsequently POV (point of view) trend inspired millions to post their own renditions on YouTube Shorts.
The appeal of the Shorts trend, however, isn’t only for viewers and creators. If you’re a marketer looking to stay hyper-relevant to young and diverse audiences, you can participate in Shorts trends to grow your brand’s reach and achieve business goals.
As of May 2024, the #TeriBaatonMeinUljhaJiya trend has inspired the creation of over 3 million Shorts.
Why Shorts trends matter for brands
By showcasing your brand or product in Shorts trends, you’re tapping into its huge potential to reach customers in three ways.
1. Become a part of pop culture
When you participate in a Shorts trend, you’re reaching a massive community that’s eager to watch and create new takes on the trend. Not only will your content be more relevant to pop culture, it may also tap into the momentum that the Shorts trend is generating. For instance, the Khalasi trend, inspired by Coke Studio, sparked over 1.5 million creations.
2. Connect with diverse audiences
The sheer diversity of Shorts trends means there’s something for everyone, including your brand. By participating in these trends and traversing language and cultural barriers, you’re appealing to different audience segments with content that they’re already excited about.
Indeed, Shorts trends span a range of languages, from the Marathi hit song “Gulabi Sadi'' to the Punjabi music that soundtracks the Ve Haniyaan trend. Shorts trends also represent diverse subcultures — memes spawned the Yimmy Yimmy trend, vlogs sparked the Wes Anderson phenomenon, and lip-sync Shorts inspired the Kya Loge Tum trend.
3. Engage deeply with Gen Z
Far from being short-lived fads, Shorts trends are constantly being reinvented with fresh concepts, media, and memes. So brands can tap into these trends to help them stay in sync with the latest interests of Shorts audiences, particularly Gen Z. On average, 61% of Gen Z agreed that they like it when brands participate in memes.1
Get a piece of the action
New Shorts creation tools make it a breeze for your brand to jump onto Shorts trends. For example, you can create remixes from videos on YouTube and add trending sounds for Shorts.
Here’s how you, too, can participate in Shorts trends to grow your brand’s reach.
Identify current trends
Start by checking out The Short List on YouTube Music, which features new and trending tracks on YouTube Shorts in India. The YouTube India Spotlight channel is another great resource to discover what’s new on YouTube in India and worldwide.
Lean in with the right partners
To showcase your brand message in more natural, appealing ways, tap on the expertise and influence of YouTube creators. As trailblazers in this field, creators have honed the art of creating content that has the personal creative touch which viewers love. In fact, on average, 71% of Gen Z agree that they use YouTube because it helps them find people who are fans of a person or topic they are interested in.2
YouTube’s branded content platform, Brand Connect, can help you find creators who are best suited to your brand, so you can collaborate with them on engaging Shorts content featuring the trends most relevant to your brand or product.
Amplify best-performing assets using AI-powered ads
To improve ROI on your Shorts trends content, consider embedding it as part of a wider, Google AI-powered ad campaign to boost your reach and conversions.
One simple way is to include your Shorts video in a Video reach campaign to optimise your ad mix and increase awareness. You can also use it to support your Video action campaigns, since adding vertical-format creatives delivers 10% to 20% more conversions per dollar on YouTube Shorts compared to using horizontal landscape assets alone.3
And with the YouTube Select Run of Shorts lineup, you can place your ads alongside the most popular and relevant videos in the YouTube Shorts feed, so your brand can stay top-of-mind as viewers scroll through the latest videos.
Trending success: How brands are experimenting with Shorts trends to boost engagement
Brands in India that have used Shorts trends to engage their customers are reaping stellar results.
Beauty brand Nykaa, for example, participated in a timely comedic trend based on the “expectations versus reality” meme to raise awareness about its summer sale. That resonated strongly with viewers and garnered close to 500,000 views.
And when premium men’s innerwear brand Damensch sought to market its new line of boxer shorts, it hopped on the Wes Anderson trend. Its #MadeForAdults video ad referenced the renowned director’s trademark symmetrical framing and distinctive colour palettes, and also tapped into the trend’s lighthearted zeitgeist to urge customers to embrace adulthood and quality boxers.
As viewers embrace bite-sized content, brands and marketers that ride on the latest trends can reap outsized ad results. By playing to the latest trends on YouTube Shorts, you’ll join a large, vibrant community and win their attention and engagement.
Contributors: Ashwin Keswani, Digital Marketing Apprentice; Akshay Seth, Marketing Manager (Creator Marketing); Mansha Tandon, Head of YouTube Marketing and Google Brand & Reputation (India)
