What’s Trending on Instagram and TikTok: July Edition

July’s trends didn’t hold back.

They were bold, quick to catch attention, and made space for real personality. From confident struts to snack breaks and post-holiday glow, brands and their campaigns leaned into humour, style and everyday moments that felt relatable.

These trends weren’t just fun to watch. They were easy to join. That’s what makes them perfect for brands. With the right hook and a well-placed product, you don’t need a big production. Just a trend that feels like a natural fit.

Here’s what’s trending now and how brands can take part.

“Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday” Trend

This audio is the unofficial anthem of summer. Cheerful, funny and instantly recognisable, it has become the go-to soundtrack for travel content. Influencers are using it to showcase dream destinations, chaotic travel moments or even low-budget getaways made to look like luxury.

The energy is always joyful, and the format leaves room for sincerity or satire, depending on how it’s used.

How Brands Can Use It

• Travel and Hospitality: Partner with influencers to highlight trips, hotel stays, or unique experiences.
• Airlines and Tourism Boards: Turn organic travel moments into brand-aligned stories without sounding like an ad.
• Food & Beverage: Fit in as the go-to snack, drink, or self-care product that “travels well” or completes a trip.

“You Look Happier” Trend

This one is simple, but it hits. The visual? A clean reel with the text “You look happier” across the screen and a short response underneath. The tone can be anything. Romantic. Sarcastic. Sentimental. The beauty lies in its range and restraint.

For brands, it’s an invitation to tie your product to the feeling of better days and small wins.

How Brands Can Use It

• Wellness and Fitness: Tie the happiness to new habits, routines, or health changes your product supports.
• Beauty and Skincare: Use it to highlight glow ups, self-care rituals, or product-led transformation.
• F&B and Lifestyle: Connect with emotional moments like better mornings or comfort foods.

“Nicki Minaj Challenge” Trend

This trend is pure confidence. Balance, strength, chaos. This challenge has it all. Influencers attempt a one-legged squat on gym plates while wearing heels. Some nail it. Others fall with flair. Either way, it’s bold and impossible to scroll past.

It’s the kind of challenge that celebrates confidence, personality and trying, even if you don’t succeed.

How Brands Can Use It

• Fashion and Footwear: Feature your heels or apparel in a fun way that shows off durability, style, or just confidence.
• Fitness and Wellness: Use the challenge to spotlight your gym or equipment while showing strength with personality.
• Entertainment and Events: Use the audio and format as part of a live challenge or social event teaser.

“Six Syllable” Trend

This TikTok trend uses the instrumental of “New Flame” by Chris Brown to spotlight a rhythmic six-syllable message that repeats across the screen. It’s catchy, hypnotic, and perfect for bold reminders or cheeky commentary.

It’s simple, versatile, and designed to go viral with just the right phrase.

How Brands Can Use It

• Finance and Lifestyle: Turn it into a snappy PSA about saving, spending, or treating yourself.
• Retail and E-commerce: Drop a playful promo message like “Grab it while it’s hot” or “Add it to your cart.”
• F&B or Gifting: Use it to plant ideas like “Buy your friend cake” or “Get your mum flowers.”

“Imma Be” Trend

This trend captures daily routines with timestamps and phone-in-hand storytelling. The style is easygoing, aesthetic and highly personal. It feels like peeking into someone’s itinerary, but in the most laid-back way.

Influencers are showing what they’re doing at different times of the day while travelling or living their best regular life.

How Brands Can Use It

• Travel and Lifestyle: Partner with influencers to show what they’re doing and when, from airport to arrival, and everything in between.
• Food and Beverage: Use the timestamps to mark snack breaks, café visits, or dinner plans, paired with your product.
• Fashion and Retail: Let influencers show off outfit changes by time of day, with your brand naturally woven into the routine.

“Catwalk” Trend

This trend turns every entrance into a main character moment. Influencers strut into rooms with dramatic text overlays revealing something painfully real or oddly specific. It’s a catwalk with context, and the captions do all the work.

It’s always something funny, personal, or oddly specific. Think “me asking my boss for annual leave” or “me helping my husband find the thing I threw away.”

How Brands Can Use It

• Fashion and Retail: Showcase your latest collection with a wink and let influencers use the audio to walk in your outfits, but with captions that bring humour.
• FMCG and Lifestyle: Let your product be the reason for the strut, or the punchline. Think “me walking in with the snacks I said I wasn’t going to buy.”
• Tech and Apps: Use the strut to show off before-and-after results or how someone walks in after using your product.

What July’s Trends Mean for Your Next Campaigns

What made this month’s trends stand out wasn’t just the visuals. It was the attitude. The ability to say something quickly, playfully, and in a way that made people pause.

For brands, these trends are entry points. Not everything needs a big-budget setup or cinematic transition. Sometimes, all you need is the right moment, the right influencer and a smart way to join the conversation.

Want to stay ahead of what’s working on TikTok and Instagram? Let AtisfyReach help you smartly match with influencers who know how to turn trends into results.

Book a demo and see how we help brands show up where it matters.