This program will provide top-tier mentorship, access to investors, and business development opportunities to help participants transform their ideas into successful ventures. The three-month accelerator program will culminate in an Investor Mixer and Pitch Competition, where finalists will showcase their businesses to industry experts, investors, and key stakeholders.

Hatem Samman, TikTok’s executive Director of Government Relations and Public Policy in Saudi Arabia, stated: “Startups and SMEs are vital to the Kingdom’s economic growth, and through this program, we are equipping young founders, particularly women, with the resources, mentorship, and exposure they need to succeed. With 55% of SMEs recognizing TikTok as a key motivator for young entrepreneurs and 61% reporting increased brand awareness, we see firsthand how digital platforms like TikTok are transforming the startup landscape in Saudi Arabia. As the Kingdom continues its journey toward a thriving, diversified economy, we are proud to play a role in empowering the entrepreneurs of today to build the industries of tomorrow.”

Blossom Accelerator’s CEO and Founder, Emon Shakoor added: “Saudi Arabia is witnessing a groundbreaking shift, and entrepreneurship is at the heart of this transformation. The ‘TikTok x Blossom SME Empowerment Program’ is a testament to our commitment to inclusion, job creation, and fostering a thriving private sector aligned with Saudi Vision 2030. By empowering startups and SMEs, we are building the foundation for innovative companies in emerging sectors that will drive of our nation’s future. We are honored to partner with a global leader like TikTok to bring this vision to life, creating opportunities that will drive economic diversification, inspire new industries, and shape a resilient, inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem for generations to come.”

Applications for the ‘TikTok x Blossom SME Empowerment Program’ will open March 16, with selected startups set to begin their journey in June 2025. Entrepreneurs interested in participating can find more details and apply at http://www.blossom.sa/tiktok.

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The event was hosted by charismatic content creators Hadeel Marei and Mohanad Alhattab, who have made waves in the MENA region with their humorous yet relatable content. In addition, sensational breakthrough artists Naïka and Marwan Moussa, whose music gained massive traction amongst fans on the platform, electrified the stage with captivating performances of hit tracks, including Naïka’s “Ma Cherie” and Marwan Moussa’s “Hob Khena’a.”

To recognize the variety and diversity of content emerging from the region, the ceremony honoured 33 creators across various categories, including Yara Aziz, who took home the Creator of the Year award, Annan Science, who was named TikTok’s Changemaker of the Year and Abir El Saghir, who became TikTok’s gold Visionary award winner of the year. Among the other categories shortlisted by TikTok, everyone’s favourite foodie, Emad Cooking, struck gold with the Food Creator of the Year award. At the same time, Egyptian rising artist TUL8TE claimed TikTok’s gold Artist of the Year award.

The TikTok Awards in MENA aim to celebrate and recognize the talent and impact of some of the region’s most prominent creators. Spanning categories from lifestyle and entertainment to education and sports, TikTok has cultivated a safe, inclusive environment where anyone can produce content that resonates with millions worldwide. As a hub for emerging talent, TikTok is committed to providing creators with unique opportunities to share their creativity and be discovered authentically by audiences within the region and beyond. With the successful conclusion of its second round of awards, TikTok sends a powerful message: whatever your passion may be, you can find your community on this platform.

“The TikTok Awards MENA are a testament to the remarkable creativity and innovation that our community brings to life every day. These awards celebrate the region’s favourite creators who have not only entertained and inspired millions but have also redefined culture across MENA and beyond.” said Kinda Ibrahim, General Manager of Operations for TikTok Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan, and South Asia.

“With public voting open to our TikTok community, the response was extraordinary. Millions of votes poured in from across the region, showcasing the community’s deep admiration for all the creators here tonight. Looking back at 2024, with all its challenges and achievements, one thing has remained constant: our commitment to our creators. We are constantly inspired by their ambition, perseverance, and boundless creativity, and we remain dedicated to helping them connect with their communities and continue doing what they love” she added.

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Over the past five years, TikTok has grown to be the global entertainment platform with over 1 billion users, and a destination for advertisers to authentically connect with their community to turn discovery into results. People come to TikTok to be entertained and leave discovering new products and trends. With 61% of users having purchased something after seeing content on TikTok, people are taking real action as a result of their experience on the platform.

This week the TikTok introduced Smart+, a brand new advertising solution, now available in METAP and internationally. It will help brands tap into the full power of TikTok, enhance their ad creation and deliver the right ad to the right person with the best performance.

A deeper dive into ad automation
Smart+ automates the performance advertising process across targeting, bidding, and creative. Advertisers simply input their assets, budget, and targeting goals and Smart+ automatically creates or selects the best creative asset, chooses the right audience, and puts the best ad in front of the right customer at the right time. Smart+ utilizes TikTok Symphony, a suite of creative solutions powered by generative AI, which scales content development, creativity, and productivity on TikTok, making everything – from writing a script to producing a video and optimizing assets – simple and efficient.

Smart+ simplifies the ad buying process while maximizes business outcomes with various campaign objectives including:

• Smart+ Web Campaigns – Drives traffic and lower funnel actions, including sales, on advertisers’ websites;
• Smart+ Catalog Ads – Drives lower funnel outcomes by automatically delivering relevant product recommendations to people based on their interests, intent and actions;
• Smart+ App Campaigns – Leverages the power of discovery on TikTok to drive app installs and conversions;
• Smart+ Lead Generation Campaigns – Turns leaned-in audiences into high-value customers utilizing our next gen, lead gen solutions.

Brands are talking about innovative marketing on TikTok
Brands have already started testing Smart+ and have been seeing significant results. For example, Trendyol, the e-commerce platform renowned for its innovative marketing strategy, sought to enhance its performance and drive sales for top products in the rapidly growing digital markets of the UAE & KSA. To accomplish this, Trendyol collaborated with TikTok to optimize its online presence, delivering highly engaging and relevant ads to a broader, tech-savvy audience while focusing on maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS).

Trendyol leveraged Smart+ to deliver maximum performance efficiency. Focusing on a full-funnel strategy, Trendyol set out to increase brand awareness and drive conversions during peak shopping seasons, when e-commerce demand is at its highest. Smart+ seamlessly integrated performance best practices into one cohesive, highly efficient campaign, enabling Trendyol to optimize its efforts across all stages of the customer journey. Additionally, the platform’s powerful creative optimization tools allowed Trendyol to leverage TikTok’s advanced AI to enhance creative assets swiftly, significantly reducing both production costs and ad fatigue. By automatically reallocating budgets to the best-performing creatives, Smart+ not only improved campaign effectiveness but also eased campaign management, freeing up the marketers to focus more on strategic growth rather than day-to-day operations.

By utilizing the power of Smart+, Trendyol saw outstanding results: a 21% lower cost per acquisition (CPA), a 26% increase in conversion rate, an 89% improvement in return on ad spend (ROAS). This highlights the power TikTok’s targeting and optimization, unlocking significant efficiency and growth for Trendyol’s digital strategy.

“At TikTok we are always building for the future. We have been listening, learning, and innovating with our advertiser partners to continuously develop solutions that deliver performance,” states Shadi Kandil, General Manager, Global Business Solutions, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Central and South Asia – TikTok. “TikTok is a unique ecosystem where culture, discovery, and commerce come together. Our goal with these new solutions is to empower brands in the region to engage their communities on TikTok and achieve business results.”

TikTok is helping advertisers meet their community where they are – discovering, searching and buying on TikTok. The platform is focused on helping our partners deliver real business outcomes, in addition to helping them achieve their media goals.

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As spending power increases across diverse demographics in the region, consumers are no longer waiting for traditional sales events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday to make purchases as generational shifts have further shaped the market. Driven by these factors, TikTok has witnessed a clear shift towards continuous shopping behaviors on its platform. Audiences whose interests span a variety of categories now engage with brands throughout the whole of Q4, highlighting the increasing importance for brands to activate the entire quarter, rather than focusing on promotional moments, to meet the growing demand.

TikTok’s Marketing Science data revealed a significant surge in consumer interest and transactions during the last quarter of 2023, with millions of transactions recorded and activities extending beyond the platform in the region.

Brands that maintained a consistent presence throughout Q4 saw significant improvements in their marketing performance during this period. They experienced a 44% increase in conversion rates, a 79% reduction in cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and drove 1.1 times more product purchases compared to brands that focused solely on specific shopping occasions.

Analysts predict this trend will accelerate in 2024 as MENA consumers, like their global counterparts, increasingly rely on digital platforms to discover and interact with brands. With four in five shoppers saying that they always discover interesting brands and products on TikTok, and 67 percent expressing a strong likelihood of purchasing after seeing an ad on the platform, brands are recognizing that the traditional discount periods now extend to a full ‘Golden Quarter’.

Implementing a sustained marketing strategy that blends creative content with innovative advertising through TikTok’s versatile toolbox has enabled marketers to maintain continuous consumer engagement, nurturing brand loyalty that transcends seasonal trends. Collaborating with TikTok creators, utilizing the platform’s creative experts, production partners, and creative tools to streamline and accelerate production, and tapping into ongoing trends allows brands to extend Q4 strategies, maintaining a lasting presence in consumers’ lives while maximizing return on investment.

“The region’s vibrant and fast-growing retail landscape presents brands with a rare opportunity to seize high-engagement moments year-round,” said Aref Yehia, Head of Business Partnerships for Retail & E-Commerce, Global Business Solutions, MENA – TikTok. “As consumer confidence in online shopping continues to grow and the market matures, brands can use TikTok’s cutting-edge advertising and creative solutions to deliver stronger business results and cut through the clutter of the shopping season. The key takeaway is that sustained engagement, which involves starting early and maintaining a consistent presence by leveraging the creative tools on our platform, drives better results. Shopping Season will be a pivotal opportunity for businesses to deliver value, foster loyalty, and secure significant returns.”

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As the submission deadline approaches on September 7, 2024, TikTok is offering key tips and tricks for agencies and companies aiming to make their entries stand out:

• What’s the challenge? Show how the unique TikTok features or culture were the solution to your creative challenges.
• Who’s the community? Explain how you used communities or creators on TikTok to drive engagement for your campaign.
• What’s the Big Idea? Highlight how your big creative idea and solid strategy created a successful campaign.
• Is it innovative? Tell us if you used TikTok solutions in an innovative way, or pushed storytelling boundaries in a way that’s never been done before.
• What role did sound play? As a truly sound-first, sound-on platform, how did you use this to drive your idea?

The deadline for submissions is September 7, 2024. Winners will be announced in November 2024. For submission details and to enter your campaigns, visit TikTok Ad Awards METAP.

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“The global Mobile App industry has been experiencing exponential growth, with the number of Apps covering all sorts of consumer needs expanding by the day. As the competition in this space grows, we held the first ever TikTok Apps Summit, bringing together pioneering figures from the industry, shedding light on global growth opportunities, and providing a space for them to collaborate, share expertise and learn about some the best examples of successful growth strategies,” commented Shadi Kandil, General Manager, Global Business Solutions, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Central and South Asia, TikTok.

Apps’ user behavior is changing
An insightful deep dive into industry intelligence with Sensor Tower, an enterprise focusing on insights and analytics for Mobile Apps globally, showed:

• Users are becoming more selective and are close to finding sweet spots of apps that are worth their time and money. Data shows that over the last 5 years, there’s been a deceleration in app installs (only 5% CAGR), while spending on apps keeps growing year on year by 27% CAGR.
• Apps need to diversify their monetization strategy across subscriptions and one-time purchases: getting a download or a conversion is not the end of the road. Apps can maximize ARPU (Average revenue per user) by retargeting their users with add-ons and enriching their in-app experience.
• Adding AI features to an app leads to an immediate spike of 12% increase in revenue.

Community performance
On TikTok, content is curated based on what communities find entertaining. TikTok community has a diverse range of interests and a high level of engagement, which encourages them to contribute and join conversations – and brands can use this perfect blend for their benefit.

Communities play a significant role in driving stronger adoption, by adapting to the authentic behaviors of people living in a highly-informed and interconnected digital world. They seamlessly tackle the phases of the decision journey, but more importantly, the in-between phases.

1. Firstly, between awareness and consideration, communities provide social proof: an app is only worth my time and money if it’s worth other people’s time and money. Doubling social proof leads to double the downloads.
2. As users learn about the app’s selling proposition, and before they actually convert, communities help them understand how the app fits their lifestyle and needs: an app earns its slot on my home screen if it earns its slot in my daily life. Data shows that creator collaborations lead to an increase in purchases by 3.5 times.
3. Finally, what TikTok has shown time and again, is the ability of its communities to turn apps into sensations through orchestrated virality: an app deserves my advocacy only if it’s part of a larger conversation. Leveraging content engagement and virality can lead to a 2.5x increase in revenue.

Community performance, that TikTok uniquely offers, significantly impacts results across the conversion funnel. TikTok shared cases of brands who unlocked the influence of communities and how they were able to increase conversion rate by 41%, decrease customer acquisition cost by 18% and boost overall quality lead-generation by +22%. The more brands deploy and leverage the communities, the bigger their addressable audience and the more cost effective and efficient their strategy is.

Symphony: TikTok’s AI-powered creative solutions
During the event TikTok gave an update on its recently introduced range of creative product suite called Symphony, which helps businesses of all sizes, creators and agencies blend human imagination with AI-powered efficiency to scale content development, creativity, and productivity on TikTok. Now apps companies can maximize their return on creative: with ideation, script generation, avatar video generation and dubbing to 10+ languages and dialects, Symphony Studio drives efficiencies across the entire production process, while ensuring videos are TikTok-optimized.

Apps going global: geographical expansion on TikTok
TikTok works closely with app businesses to find opportunities and create strategies not only to capitalise their initial markets, but to expand globally. The platform helps businesses understand which markets show the best potential for them, learn consumers’ needs and preferences to better inform the strategy, localise their app creatives to resonate with consumers and, finally, apply best practices in order to drive tangible results. The approach to a successful geographical expansion strategy on TikTok consists of 4 steps:

1. Identifying the markets that work best for the brand,
2. Understanding everything about the relevant TikTok communities in the targeted countries: from digital shopping habits ,
3. Localising creative assets,
4. Optimising performance by testing new audiences, refreshing creatives and adapting offerings.

Success story
One of the great examples of capitalising on the platform’s opportunities is the campaign by Careem Quick, a widely popular superapp from the MENA region. The brand used TikTok to boost its grocery segment discovery and conversion, measure the effectiveness of its performance campaign and increase cross-selling with current user base. They utilised a TikTok Measurement Marketing Partner to build customized user lists, as well as used audience split tests to measure lift in discovery and first orders. As a result, the app discoveries increased by almost 6% on iOS and by 25% on Android, whilst first orders on iOS increased by 15%.

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In the last year, entertainment has fundamentally shifted and consumers have more choice and freedom than ever before. On TikTok, our community is constantly discovering the spark of something new. The diversity of experiences and creativity on TikTok is what encourages communities to discover and entertain new ideas, creating real world change and opportunities.

In this new era of entertainment, the TikTok community has gone from strength-to-strength, setting new global standards for togetherness, culture-defining moments and real world impact. Marketers are beginning to meet the community where they are, by embracing TikTok in bold, innovative ways, defining a new era of marketing best practice.

We call this transformative mindset “Creative Bravery”, fueled by a blend of curiosity, imagination, vulnerability and courage.

“Entertainment has fundamentally shifted. Consumers have more choice than ever before and are leaning into entertainment for discovery in all areas. For brands to break through on TikTok, they need to shift from occasional displays of Creative Bravery to infusing it into daily behavior and strategies. Those who embrace such boldness will be the ones who ultimately win big.”

“At this year’s Cannes Lions, we are urging marketers to embrace vulnerability and push creative bounds, exploring how new creative tools and technology will enable creative at scale whilst driving business impact.” said Blake Chandlee, President, Global Business Solutions.

At Cannes, we’ll be unpacking how marketers everywhere can embrace this creatively brave mindset, and unlock growth via creative scale.

Creative Bravery starts with culture
The way consumers engage with content is changing. Media fragmentation and the speed of culture create an attention challenge and creative bravery is key to cutting through.

TikTok sits at the intersection between culture and creativity which gives life to this Creative Bravery mindset. From acting as the window to cultural moments like the holy month of Ramadan to catapulting products into virality, TikTok influences daily conversations and new trends. On TikTok, creativity sparks more creativity and inspires new forms of storytelling.

Blending curiosity, imagination, vulnerability and courage, brands demonstrating Creative Bravery on TikTok will build deeper community connections. The ones that will see most success will pique global curiosities, flip traditional story arcs, and deepen trust with their audiences. While stories can stand alone on TikTok, part of the fun for audiences is to thread unexpected stories together in gripping and surprising ways.

Brands need to be bold enough to be vulnerable and let audiences into the full process, evolving their mindset to meet these new expectations.

Audiences are seeking engagement beyond a one-time sale. They’re looking for brands to lead positive societal change and establish clear brand trust and values.

The creator community at the heart of authentic connections
From #BookTok, #FashionTok to #MomsofTikTok, TikTok is home to broad and welcoming communities, where sharing similar interests and appreciating differences leads to the forging of strong connections.

Communities and creators alike are calling upon brands to participate alongside them and, importantly, to keep it real. Authenticity is what fuels content on TikTok and if brands are to bridge the gap that exists between them and communities, they must seek to shatter conventional advertising norms and build authentic connections with audiences.

TikTok has democratised discovery, allowing for a greater diversity of creators to stand out and find success on the platform. Centred around co-creation and participation, brands can collaborate with this diverse universe of creators and foster authentic connections with communities.

Marketers see that creators are driving real-world business outcomes for their brands, with 58% of TikTokers saying they’re more likely to trust brands after learning about them from creators [1]. We have invested in building a variety of solutions that allow creators to monetize content and brands to seamlessly capitalize on the value creators bring to the table.

Creative Bravery, at scale
Brands need to embrace creative freedom and experimentation and create at the speed of culture to thrive in this new ecosystem.

TikTok is building for this era of creative bravery with a suite of tools and solutions to help brands create at scale, build meaningful connections with audiences and achieve the best results. From bringing their brand personalities to life through the power of music and sound, to utilizing creators to tell their brand stories with TikTok One, and harnessing Symphony AI creative tools to maximize their creative, marketers need to embrace new creative tools and technology to help them unlock creative at scale.

Solutions that make it easier to create. Save time and scale faster with expert partners & tools.

• TikTok One: Your all-in-one TikTok creative platform that gives brands access to nearly 2 million creators, discover top agency partners and leverage our creative tools. With TikTok All-In-One, all the resources needed to implement and scale a successful TikTok campaign are at your fingertips— with a single log-in.
• Symphony: Symphony is TikTok’s suite of ad solutions powered by generative AI. With Symphony, businesses of all sizes, creators and agencies can blend human imagination with AI-powered efficiency to help scale content development, creativity, and productivity on TikTok.

• • Symphony Creative Studio is our generative AI-powered video generator. Creative Studio helps to speed up TikTok content creation with AI-enabled features, generating TikTok-fit videos from just a few inputs.
  • Symphony Assistant is an AI assistant that empowers advertisers with creative knowledge to easily implement their TikTok campaigns.
  • Symphony Ads Manager Integration is a TikTok Ads Manager integration that embeds into the creative process to automatically generate, fix, and optimize TikTok ads for better performance.
  • Symphony Digital Avatars are AI-generated representations of real people that breathe life into your content.  Created using authorized footage of real human beings and TikTok’s cutting-edge in-house AI technology, avatars possess a rich array of physical movements, facial expressions, languages and voiceovers.
  • Symphony AI Dubbing is a translation tool that allows creators and brands to connect with global audiences and make their message more inclusive and impactful.
  • Symphony Collective: Industry Advisory Board is an advisory board to help facilitate important discussions around the development and use of AI in creative marketing. The board is comprised of a diverse range of content creators and thought leaders to provide feedback about TikTok’s AI marketing solutions and discuss the industry at large.
• Adobe Express: We have expanded our partnership with Adobe and they are now a badged Creative TikTok Marketing Partner. We have also integrated the TikTok Commercial Music Library into Adobe Express, giving brands seamlessly access to more than a million top and trending songs directly within Adobe Express to quickly create, score and publish high-impact TikTok content.

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More clarity about TikTok’s rules
TikTok’s Community Guidelines set the standard for what is acceptable on TikTok, ensuring that the platform remains a positive space for all users. The latest update, effective next month, includes refined definitions and more detailed explanations of TikTok’s policies, such as those concerning hate speech and health misinformation. Additionally, the platform has expanded guidelines on how features like Search, LIVE, and the For You feed are moderated.

To further improve the For You eligibility standards and ensure they remain appropriate for a broad audience, TikTok is also revising its eligibility standards. Accounts that repeatedly post content that goes against our For You feed standards may temporarily become ineligible for recommendation, making their content less discoverable in searches. Creators whose accounts have been restricted in this way will receive notifications about this restriction and can appeal.

Empowering Creators with Knowledge and Tools
Understanding the rules is crucial for the platform’s creators. To answer this, TikTok is also introducing a warning strike when a creator violates the Community Guidelines for the first time, which will not count toward their account’s strike tally, but any future violations will. Creators will be notified about which rule they’ve broken and how they can appeal if they believe a mistake has been made. Zero-tolerance policies (incitement to violence) aren’t eligible for these reminders; accounts will immediately be banned.

Improving account status information for creators
Further supporting its creators, the platform is also launching a new ‘Account Check’ tool that allows creators to review their last 30 posts and overall account status at a glance. This feature helps creators assess whether they are in good standing and informs them of any restricted access to features such as comments or direct messaging due to violations and whether their content has been removed for breaking the rules or has been restricted from reaching the For You feed. It builds on the existing “Account status” page introduced last year, allowing creators to better understand how their content and behaviour may have affected their standing on the platform and how they can appeal decisions if they believe it’s wrong.

Setting standards for creators involved in TikTok programs
In addition to their updated Community Guidelines, the platform is also introducing the TikTok Creator Code of Conduct, which will take effect in the coming weeks. These standards set expectations for creators involved in TikTok programs, features, events and campaigns to follow on and off-platform, in addition to the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. TikTok believes that being a part of these programs is an opportunity that comes with additional responsibilities, and this code will also help provide creators with additional reassurance that other participants are meeting these standards too.

TikTok continues to lead the way in creating a safer online environment, focusing on enhanced clarity and creator education to ensure that the platform’s community of over a billion users remains a supportive and engaging space for everyone.

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The evening was distinguished by speeches from Kinda Ibrahim, General Manager of Operations, TikTok Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan, and South Asia, Joumana Al Rashid, CEO of SRMG, and Reem Akl, Regional Communications and Advocacy Analyst at UN Women Arab States. All of these women highlight the critical role of women entrepreneurs in shaping the future of business in the MENA region.

The judging panel for #HerAmbitions included renowned creators and entrepreneurs such as lifestyle influencer and businesswoman Karen Wazen; culinary expert Chahrazad Al Hajjar, founder of Chahrazad’s Cuisine The Bakery; Doaa Gawish, CEO and founder of The Hair Addict, who all played a crucial role in guiding the participants through their entrepreneurial journey.

With the support of the United Nations Women, the TikTok MENA Creator Hub has successfully identified and nurtured the business talents of women entrepreneurs across the MENA region. The program provided a platform for participants to showcase their unique talents and business acumen, receiving mentorship from successful female leaders, and engaging in valuable workshops and panels.

“TikTok is at the forefront of championing Arab women, underscoring our collective belief in the transformative power of collaboration. Such partnerships ignite innovative solutions and foster enduring teamwork, offering women enhanced opportunities in the entrepreneurship industry. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to TikTok and to the myriad of creative minds and innovators. Your creativity and resilience have been instrumental in paving the path toward a more promising and inclusive future for everyone”, commented Reem Akl.

The TikTok MENA Creator Hub unfolded through three dynamic stages, from the initial in-app announcement and elevator pitch submissions to live panels, culminating in the awards ceremony where finalists showcased their businesses. The winners were awarded monetary prizes, with the first-place winner, Duaa Al-Bataiha, receiving significant support for her business venture. Second and third-place winners, Heba Qadeer and Lara Akl, also received substantial monetary awards to further support their business initiatives.

Kinda Ibrahim, expressed, “The second edition of The MENA Creator Hub #HerAmbitions has not only set the stage for these remarkable women leaders to shine but also amplified their voices and stories, building a supportive community that celebrates the power of women in business. We are thrilled to be in Riyadh to witness the positive impact of the #HerAmbitions campaign on empowering women entrepreneurs across the MENA region.”

The awards ceremony also featured a captivating performance by SEERA, the all-female Arab Rock fusion band, adding a unique musical dimension to the celebration. Additionally, the event featured immersive creative experiences, including Riyadh-based digital illustrator Anjali Rengan, further enhancing the overall experience for attendees.

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Throughout 2023, we have seen the TikTok community in the MENA region celebrate authenticity and share diverse talents, ideas, knowledge, and memorable moments. The platform has developed into a digital fusion hub, connecting users with various backgrounds and cultures globally, while offering businesses, regardless of size or industry, to break through the noise and thrive through innovation, creativity, and talent.

To empower marketeers with insights into the latest preferences of the TikTok community and support them in shaping their strategies for the coming year, TikTok has introduced its fourth annual trend forecast – the TikTok What’s Next Report 2024. The report introduces the concept of Creative Bravery as the guiding mindset to be embraced by the TikTok community in 2024. Brands showcasing Creative Bravery on TikTok, characterized by a blend of curiosity, imagination, vulnerability, and courage, will create deeper connections within the community. Succeeding on TikTok requires a shift from occasional displays of Creative Bravery to incorporating it into everyday behaviours and strategies. Brands that consistently capture global curiosities, reimagine traditional storytelling, and build trust with their audiences will see the most success.

Shadi Kandil, General Manager, Global Business Solutions, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Central and South Asia, TikTok said: “This past year, we have seen so many creative minds push the boundaries of what it means to create engaging content. Because of the talent we see on the platform and across the regional creative ecosystem, communities on TikTok are redefining traditional storytelling, fueled by a blend of curiosity, imagination, vulnerability and courage. For brands, this presents a huge opportunity to embrace creative bravery, build deeper community connections and engage with relevant audiences.”

The report spotlights the most practical and long-lasting trends: Trend Signals. Trend Signals are recurring content patterns showing emerging behaviours and interests, providing brands with insights to shape their extended content strategies. These Trend Signals can be categorized into three groups:

• Curiosity Peaked
• Storytelling Unhinged
• Bridging the Trust Gap

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 in KSA are 1.3x more likely to agree that TikTok introduces them to new topics they didn’t even know they liked. One of the key trends, highlighted by TikTok’s What’s Next Trend Report – Curiosity Peaked – reveals that users flock to TikTok out of curiosity about their world, popular culture, trends, and brands.

There have never been more options to discover new ideas or things, but finding relevant answers has never been more taxing. For brands, this means creating hyper-relevant, delightful, and useful content that piques every curiosity, even the ones communities didn’t know they had.

Storytelling Unhinged
The ends of stories start 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. Rooted in fandom culture, #delulu is a blend of fantasy and manifestation – adopting a fake-it-til-you-make-it persona for audiences to tap into, fantasizing about their hopes, dreams or self-defined delusional realities.

From co-created content to ‘staying true to #delulu’ on TikTok, the shift where everyone can have a voice has unleashed creativity for all – where diverse voices, collaborative formats, and subject matters are flipping everything we know about traditional storytelling on its head.

What brands need to keep in mind is that it’s the most intriguing narrative structures that guide viewers past the first few seconds and deeper into the story. In the UAE and KSA, TikTok ads intended to make users curious are proven to 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. They’re also looking for brands to lead positive societal change and transparency. Establishing clear brand trust and values are non-negotiable. On TikTok, brands have an open line of communication with their consumers and community.

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 in KSA trust the brand 24% more, are 42% 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.

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