TikTok has released its 2026 trend forecast, TikTok Next 2026, and the message to organizations on their platform is clear: attention must be earned. Passive consumption is declining, search is more intentional, and audiences expect a clear return on the time they spend engaging with content.
With more than 2 billion users and a continued growth trajectory, TikTok is now a dominant marketing tool. This social media platform is an effective tool for building awareness, managing perception, and engaging younger stakeholders. This reflects the ever-changing wants and needs of younger audiences and how marketing, PR, and social strategies must adapt in response.
Throughout 2026, success on TikTok will depend less on how much content is produced and more on how well companies and nonprofits understand their stakeholders, what resonates with them, and the engagement triggers that can result in emotional responses and thousands or more shares.
What TikTok Now Emphasizes: Discovery Rather Than Scrolling
TikTok describes 2026 as a year defined by what it calls “Irreplaceable Instinct,” a blend of curiosity, intention, and care or interest that shapes how people interact online. Users are no longer just passing the time. They are searching, validating decisions, and following their interests and the interests of those they admire, like, or trust.
Sofia Hernandez, Global Head of Business Marketing for TikTok, says that organizations can no longer rely on passive exposure. They are expected to participate in current discussions, quickly demonstrate value, and communicate with credibility and authority.
TikTok identifies this shift and states three trends that will influence performance on the channel for the foreseeable future.
#1 – Authenticity Over Perfection
In the year ahead, audiences are prioritizing credibility and relatable experiences over curated or overly produced content. This reflects a broader expectation: audiences want brands to acknowledge reality, not serve up polished, purely promotional videos. Therefore, content that recognizes uncertainty, real-life pressures, or progress in motion is outperforming clips focused on dramatized situations or surreal outcomes.
For education organizations, including schools, nonprofits, and ed tech companies, this is particularly relevant.
Transparency builds confidence among stakeholders in education. Case in point: in K-12 education, many parents, students, teachers, and school community members are looking for clarity, not unrealistic expectations or ideals. Schools that use TikTok to explain decisions, acknowledge constraints, and share how they are addressing academic changes, student well-being, or safety concerns can simultaneously reinforce credibility while emphasizing their missions.
This signals a need to rethink pre-planned content calendars. Posts scheduled too far in advance can miss cultural context and timely relevance. The platform’s tools, like TikTok One Insight Spotlight and TikTok Market Scope, track audience sentiment in real time, allowing organizations and learning institutions to keep up with emerging trends and behaviors.
#2 – Adapt to Constantly Evolving Search Behaviors
TikTok’s forecast reinforces a major behavioral shift: search activity is no longer linear. Users come to TikTok with a single question and leave with multiple insights. Audiences scan comments, follow unexpected threads, and rely on creators to contextualize information in ways traditional search does not.
This creates opportunities for education, nonprofit, and animal health organizations to appear in multiple scenarios. TikTok points to examples where unexpected audience engagement led to meaningful growth because they took into consideration how communities organically discuss them.
For example, in the animal health industry, pet owners may search TikTok for behavioral tips or advice on nutrition, grooming, or mental health in their companion animals. As a result, they are exposed to various content creators, including experts who offer valid, evidence-based solutions. During the process, they are exposed to veterinary brands that focus on these and unrelated pet topics. Companies recognize these opportunities and contribute credible, educational content through expert voices to expand their relevance and build brand connectivity. This supports awareness and builds trust.
For marketers and PR professionals, this requires reevaluating how their companies appear in conversations online. Understanding how audiences encounter, reference, repurpose, and share content is more valuable than controlling the message. Partnering with creators or influencers and analyzing organic and AI search trends, companies can play an important role, becoming a resource on TikTok to ensure younger generations of pet owners are aware of their brands and value them.
#3 – ROI on TikTok: Emotional ROI, Justifying the “Why”
Most users rely on the platform to understand how organizations operate in practice. As a result, the “why” behind decisions, programs, products, and services now carries as much weight as the “what.”
In 2026, impulse decisions are declining while audiences are taking a more intentional approach with their prompts and choices. Emotional response is increasingly shaping how users evaluate value. Audiences are comparing missions, validating claims, and looking for context before committing. Users are considering:
- Confidence: Do they feel assured that this organization knows what it’s doing?
- Trust: Do they believe what is said and how it is said?
- Reassurance: Is uncertainty or anxiety reduced around decisions or choices?
- Belonging: Do their values align with this organization’s mission?
- Credibility: Does this feel real, transparent, and consistent with lived experience?
According to TikTok, 63% of all successful TikTok ads communicate their message right away. So, when companies and nonprofits address these considerations/questions, they strengthen trust and create conditions for sustained engagement. This impact happens quickly, often within the first seconds of a video. If the purpose or rationale is unclear at the outset, audiences move on.
What This Means for PR and Marketing in 2026
TikTok Next 2026 sets a clear direction for how the platform expects brands to engage moving forward. Across all three trends, the priorities are consistent:
- Content must reflect cultural awareness and emotional intelligence.
- Content that aligns with audience intent and context outperforms ones built for broad exposure.
- Value must be demonstrated before it is claimed.
TikTok’s forecast offers a roadmap rather than a guarantee. For organizations implementing smart social media marketing programs, the implication is clear: credibility, clarity, and relevance directly affect engagement.
Companies that approach TikTok as a constantly evolving engagement platform, rather than a static content distribution channel, will be better positioned to build authority and engagement in the year ahead.
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Rosica Communications is a nationally recognized social media marketing and thought leadership PR agency specializing in media relations, online reputation management, and corporate communications. We partner with animal health, education, nonprofit, and healthcare product companies to promote and protect their brands.
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