TikTok Music Trends Boost Ad Recall 24% in 2025

A wild 93% of TikTok users watch content with the sound on, which totally upends how we need to think about video ad sound strategies. This means TikTok music is a primary tool for grabbing attention, not just some background noise you tack on at the end.

The 24% Ad Recall Boost from Trending Audio

A 2025 Nielsen study (Nielsen.com/insights) found that TikTok ads with trending audio get a 24% higher recall rate. That’s a huge lift compared to ads using generic music. People are actively processing and remembering content when it’s tied to a track they already know and like. Ignoring audio trends here is like trying to run a silent film in a talkie era, you’re just speaking a language nobody uses anymore. The entire platform runs on shared cultural moments, and those moments are almost always defined by a song or a soundbite. When your brand ignores these auditory cues, you’re missing out on a powerful memory hook. You can’t just pick any popular song, either. Your audio choice has to feel native to the ad’s creative, like the ad itself is a part of the trend. This means you have to proactively monitor TikTok’s “Creative Center” (tiktok.com/business/creativecenter) to see what sounds are about to pop off and understand how people are actually using them.

13% Lift in Purchase Intent with Sound-On Strategies

A Kantar Millward Brown report (kantar.com/north-america/campaigns/media-and-digital-insights) just came out showing that TikTok campaigns built for a sound-on experience get a 13% average increase in purchase intent. This stat proves a critical point: sound directly drives commercial results. When we talk about video ad sound, we are talking about an element that directly pads the bottom line. So for advertisers, the takeaway is simple: stop treating audio like an afterthought. You have to develop your ad concepts with sound baked in from the very beginning. You need to think about how your dialogue, your SFX, and your music will work together to build an immersive experience that connects with how a user is feeling in that moment. The right track can make people feel nostalgic, excited, or make them laugh, and all of those feelings will subtly nudge them toward considering a purchase. For example, a beverage brand could use an upbeat, trending song to create a feeling of energy and refreshment, tying those positive vibes directly to their product.

70% of Users Consider Sound “Essential”

In a 2025 internal survey, TikTok found that nearly 70% of its users say sound is “essential” to their experience. This is a fundamental expectation that dictates how people consume content and, therefore, how well your ads will perform. When users call something “essential,” they’re telling you that if it’s missing or done badly, the whole experience is ruined for them. For any marketer, this means a beautiful ad with terrible or mismatched audio is dead on arrival. The TikTok experience is multisensory by nature, using sound to set the mood, get a message across, and grab attention in a super-fast feed. I’ve seen so many campaigns fall flat because the team obsessed over the visuals while forgetting the auditory layer that actually defines the platform. So, TikTok music and sound design aren’t nice-to-haves. They’re basic requirements for communicating effectively in this environment.

30% Increase in View-Through Rates from Trend Alignment

Brands that sync their ad’s audio with what’s popular on the platform right now are seeing up to a 30% jump in view-through rates. This data, pulled from aggregated campaign results published by Google Ads (support.google.com/google-ads), shows a direct link between being relevant and holding a viewer’s attention. This really challenges the old idea that unique, custom audio is always the better choice. While a bespoke soundtrack has its place (especially for building a distinct brand identity), the data is clear that for getting maximum initial engagement and watch time on TikTok, jumping on existing audio trends is incredibly effective. Users are already wired to interact with these sounds. They know them, they have feelings about them, and they are far more likely to stick around and watch a video to the end if it uses audio they recognize. In my view, marketers get too hung up on being original when what TikTok really rewards is resonance. Participating in the conversation that’s already happening is sometimes the best strategy, and that conversation is very often set to music.

Challenging the “Always Original” Imperative

There’s a belief in some marketing departments that every ad must be completely original to get noticed. Originality is great, but on TikTok, it’s not always the smartest play for your TikTok music and audio. The platform’s culture is all about remixes and jumping on trends. An ad that goes out of its way to avoid a trending sound in favor of a custom score can feel jarring and out of place, more like a corporate interruption than a piece of native content. This doesn’t mean you should throw your sonic branding out the window, but you do need a more balanced approach. For a campaign that needs broad reach and instant engagement, using a trending sound gives you a huge advantage by making the ad feel like it belongs on the platform. It’s all about understanding the context of how people are watching. They aren’t looking for some bold sonic masterpiece in every ad. Often, they just want content that fits right into their feed, and trending audio is the key to that integration. The trick is to adapt the trend in a way that serves your brand’s message, not just to slap a popular song on a generic video and call it a day. In the end, strategically using TikTok music and sound is a basic requirement for advertising on the platform. By using trending audio and building campaigns with sound at their heart, brands can get big gains in ad recall, purchase intent, and view-through rates, which all leads to stronger campaign performance.