22 social media trends to try for your business this October
Social media trends for business, pulled straight from Creative Radar
I run social media for SecretSauce, so I spend my week inside Creative Radar watching the top performing videos on TikTok and Instagram. This month I pulled the 22 formats worth copying for your own business.
You'll get the trend, why people watch it, and how to run it yourself. You can make every one of these with SecretSauce, including the ones that look like they need a shoot day, a second person, or a camera operator who knows what they're doing.
We run these ourselves. We jumped on the KitKat Heist trend and had content out in 35 minutes.
How to run any of these viral TikTok trends yourself
To run any trend in this post:
- Copy the trend’s blog section into a new SecretSauce chat with: "clone this trending format for my brand. Ask what inputs you need from me to make it nuanced."
- Ask SecretSauce to schedule it to Instagram using Social Planner
- Browse Creative Radar for more posts trending in your industry right now
1. My American Girl Doll Mia
The audio comes from a 2009 home video by creator Angelo David, who found old clips on his dad's computer. In it, he holds up his American Girl doll Mia and yells "my American Girl doll Mia, woahhh, I just got her two weeks ago," with total unfiltered joy.
Creators lip-sync the "woahhh," then reveal their own version. The joke comes from the gap between how thrilled the audio sounds and how ordinary the item is.
Use it to introduce a restock, a new flavor, a seasonal item, a new hire.
2. It was a bad dream
This one borrows the "it was all a dream" trope and jokes that an inanimate object is having a nightmare. The video opens on a disaster in progress (a jar sliding off a table or a phone tipping toward a sink) then cuts to the same object tucked up in bed, waking and looking around in confusion.
Choose a moment you'd hate to watch happen to your own product, like a candle tipping off the edge of a table, a cake sliding toward the floor in its box, a phone tilting over a full sink.
3. Can I try your
In this trend, one person asks to try what their friend is drinking or using, the friend hands it over, and the video cuts to the face they make on the first taste. Then, it cuts to mini clips of them exchanging their orders or favorite items.
This is the one on the list you'd want to shoot for real, with your own customers in your own shop, or feature your product, since the whole value sits in a reaction and a friendship bond. For example, your beauty brand could use it to introduce a new eyeliner.
4. Turning my mom into me
A mom swaps her usual clothes for her daughter's wardrobe, then walks back in for the reveal. The first versions date to 2022 and the format has come back around, with more than 6,000 posts on the hashtag and one recent compilation at 11.2 million views. The comments land in the same place every time, which is that moms are still baddies under the mom clothes.
If you're a fashion, beauty, or lifestyle brand, this is a fun one to recreate.
5. Kinda chic
In this trend, a butter-yellow caption reading "kinda chic to" sits over a photo, video or carousel, and you finish the sentence with something nobody would call chic. The audio is Steve Lacy's "oh yeah?", the format has passed 100,000 hashtags on Instagram, and Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore have both posted their own.
It reframes the unglamorous parts of your day as intentional. Use the trend to tell your audience what’s "kinda chic" about your business:
- Kinda chic to wear the same perfume for ten years
- Kinda chic to own four mugs and use one
- Kinda chic to eat the same breakfast every day for a year
6. Gold star behavior
People post a photo with the words "gold star behavior" on top, then add a few gold stars with a small good habit written under each one. For example, wearing the same outfit twice in a week or remembering an umbrella. The habits are meant to be tiny. That's the joke: you're giving yourself a sticker for something nobody else would notice.
Most of them are also about buying less, so it reads as the opposite of a haul video.
For your own version, pick a small good habit involving what you sell, then give it the star.
- Candle brand: burning the nice candle on a normal Tuesday
- Bakery: buying the loaf instead of the supermarket one
7. You can't do that
The text "you can't do that" sits over a video or image, and you answer it with "of course I can," plus a deadpan insult for the critic who exists only in your head: "you whimsical loser," "you uncreative loser."
The audio is Jaydon Lewis, "Dance Till You're Dead" (Official Tram Remix). The joke is that you're arguing with a critic you made up but you clearly don't care.
Take an objection customers have about your business, then shrug it off:
- Fashion brand: "You can't wear red and pink together." Of course I can, you beige loser
- Hot sauce brand: "You can't put hot sauce on breakfast." Of course I can, you basic loser
- Pizza place: "You can't put pineapple on a pizza." Of course I can, you joyless loser
8. 10/10 habits
These videos start with the line "10/10 habits to," then name one goal and list the habits that get you there.
Right now most of them are about self-improvement: staring at a wall for ten minutes before you study so your brain settles, deleting every social app for a month. The habits are meant to be hard, and that’s the appeal: people are tired of the endless scroll and want to feel in control of it.
For your version, swap their goal for one your product helps with. Every habit on the list should lead to that same goal. For example, a tattoo studio could run: "10/10 habits to stop getting tattoos you regret: Sit on the idea for a month. Never choose the design in the chair. Say no to matching ones…"
9. WTF is
You say "wtf is," name something you don't understand, then cut to a clip of what you do instead. The point is to take a side. Some people agree, some argue, and both leave a comment.
Use it on something in your world that gets treated as normal but you think is silly:
- A coffee roaster: "wtf is a 12-shot caramel order," cut to pouring a flat white
- A tailor: "wtf is buying a suit that arrives in three weeks," cut to the workshop
10. Getting robbed
The videos open with "getting robbed but I'm" then name the weirdly specific habit they’d keep doing while getting robbed. The joke is how silly it looks next to a burglary.
The unexpected contrast is a great format for highlighting products, habits, or activities your customers relate to.
For example, "getting robbed but" and the person is still sitting down eating the delicious pizza at your restaurant.
11. Some people call me
In this video, you list the names people call you, then finish with "you can call me when," plus the moment someone needs you.
One going around now is "some people call me a personal trainer, but you can call me when you want toned and not just skinny."
Bakers, estate agents, trainers, florists and authors have all done it. Mix the nice nicknames with the rude ones, then make the last line very specific, like "call me when you’ve left the wedding photos until six weeks before."
12. Message from A
You write yourself a mean text signed "- A," like the stalker in Pretty Little Liars, calling out one of your own small habits. Then you show yourself doing exactly that.
The one that blew up came from @nia.lavine: "I saw you dim your brightness and check your account before checkout, you brokie -A."
Most use a sound called "pll purposes only ty." It started on 19 September 2026, Shay Mitchell posted hers on the 23rd, and Lucy Hale opened her TikTok account with one on the 24th that hit 6.7 million views in a week.
For a brand, send the text to your customer instead of yourself, about something they do with your product. For example, an Airbnb host: "I know you said you’d explore the whole island and you’ve been on that balcony for three hours -A," then the shot of the balcony.
13. That’s so you
This trend shows off a carousel or collage of very specific details that describe one kind of person: their songs, their drink order, the way they always do something. It works for team favorites, office habits, playlists, and behind-the-scenes bits.
Build this video around a customer you recognize and put your product on one of the slides. People send the oddest slide straight to the friend it describes, which is where the reach comes from.
For example, an Airbnb host makes one for the guest who books a place with a full kitchen and eats out every night. The slides: the unopened olive oil, the one clean pan, four restaurant receipts, the kitchen island nobody touched.
14. I will ask you one question. Answer with one word.
In this trend, you ask someone or ChatGPT a bunch of personal questions then turn their one-word answers into an aesthetic visual collage.
For a brand, ask about yourself: what season are we, what color, what time of day. Then illustrate each answer with lifestyle photos.
15. This fall I want more
This is a carousel in which every slide names something else you want more of this autumn. This year, content is moving away from the perfect version of fall: the lined-up candles and the coffee next to a book nobody is reading. Now creators are showing the real October: wet commutes, the heating going on, the same coat all week.
Write your slides like that and put your product in two of them. For example, a soup brand could say "I want more rainy days."
16. No time for what
Here someone says they have no time for something, then the punchline shows the hours they're already spending elsewhere. It's easy comedy and it fits almost any industry.
Put your product in the punchline. For example a tailor says: "no time for a fitting," then scrolls on their phone.
17. Cat in the Hat
This trend comes from the 2003 live-action film The Cat in the Hat, where Mike Myers played him in full prosthetics. The look has been meme material ever since. In late summer, people started generating creepy AI videos of him, filmed to look like someone had spotted him lurking on their street at night. It got big enough that police in the UK and Ireland had to confirm the sightings were fake.
Now that it’s nearly Halloween, jump on the trend by placing the creepy Cat in the Hat in your business: sitting at a table in your restaurant, browsing the rails in your shop, waiting on the balcony of your rental.
18. Swiping reel
In this trend, the camera swipes fast across the frame to get from one scene to the next, so separate clips look like one continuous shot. It suits vlogs, product showcases, travel and day-in-the-life. The swipe hides the edit.
19. GRWM foot-level POV
This trend has the camera on the floor and capturing everything laid out around you while you get ready. It makes familiar get-ready content look new and adds some personality.
Steal the camera angle for your brand. It doesn’t just have to be a get ready with me video. For example, a hotel could lie the camera on the tiles by the pool and capture all the flip flops walking by, people getting into the water, drinks by the pool.
20. Rock, paper, scissors
This trend shows two hands playing the classic rock, paper, scissors game. Each hand is labeled as something else, but replaced with a product, item or favorite item.
Use this for your brand by labeling one of the hands as your brand or product.
21. Hacks I’d gatekeep
This trend has you giving out good advice but framing it as "hacks I'd gatekeep if I wanted you to fail." It's a strong curiosity hook for teaching, business, beauty or lifestyle content. Pretending you'd rather keep it makes people read on. Give away the advice you'd normally charge for and show it rather than listing it.
For example, a florist could show how to make shop flowers that last two weeks. Or a restaurant could show you how they cook a popular dish.
22. Trending audio on TikTok to use in October
Four tracks in particular are trending high this October. Sound on the way up gets your post shown to more people, because the platforms push whatever is climbing. Pick a track that fits what you're already making.
"Dance No More" and "Crank 2" suit fast cuts, "Stay" suits slower posts, and "Nicole Kidman" works when you want personality.
More social media content ideas on Creative Radar
Creative Radar updates as new social posts take off, so by the time you read this there will be formats here that weren't a week ago. Open it, pick your industry, and you'll see the TikTok trends and Instagram trends getting the most engagement in your category right now, with the top performing videos attached so you can watch the format before you copy it.
Use it as your source of social media content ideas rather than a monthly check-in. I go in on Mondays, save three or four posts worth copying, and bring them into SecretSauce the same day. A trend has maybe two weeks before everyone's posted their version, so finding it early is most of the work.
Browse Creative Radar for the viral TikTok trends in your industry today. Free to sign up.
People also ask
What's the fastest way to find trending audio on TikTok?
Open TikTok's Creative Center, filter by your region, and sort sounds by the last 7 days. For trending audio TikTok surfaces this way, check how many videos already use it: under about 50,000 you've got room to post before the format gets tired. SecretSauce’s Creative Radar does the same job from the other direction, showing you the top performing videos in your industry so you hear the audio inside the format that's earning the engagement.
How do I know if a TikTok trend fits my brand?
Ask what the joke is before you ask whether you can film it. Most of these social media trends for business carry a specific emotion: pride, panic, mild embarrassment, relief. If your brand has a moment that produces that same feeling, the trend fits. If you have to explain the connection in the caption, skip it and take the next one.
Two checks that save you a bad post: watch five creator versions to see where the punchline lands, then write your version's punchline as one sentence. If the sentence sells rather than lands, rewrite it.
Can I create these trends without filming a video myself?
Yes, every trend in this post. Paste the section into a SecretSauce chat with your brand connected and ask it to clone the format. You'll get the shots, the pacing and the on-screen text, including the Instagram trends that look like they need two people and a camera operator. Then ask it to schedule the post to Instagram or TikTok with Social Planner.