3 TikTok trends, twisted + tied together by the Miami Heat

Brands always try their hand at trends when they start TikToking. Most aren’t… great. It’s tasty bait, but too often the resulting content leans into “internet culture” so much it totally forgets the product, what the company stands for, and why scrollers should care about your brand.

That’s why I love how the Miami Heat are TikToking. They’re twisting trends to show off their players & team culture in a way that’s true to them, and more importantly, true to current & potential fans.

Let’s look at 3 examples from their feed, each utilizing a different TikTok trend or feature, cleverly built into a narrative worth following.

TikTok Trend #1: a Day-In-The-Life with a twist

Honestly, day-in-the-life TikToks may rival get-ready-with-me’s as the platform’s most popular format. When Vox profiled the style, their piece had no less than 29 examples spanning every niche imaginable—med school students, single moms working three jobs, stay-at-home parents girlfriends, 20somethings being 20somethings… the list goes on. That’s the format’s strength: it’s applicable to just about everyone, and we’re all curious how people live their lives.

Day-in-the-life content is a no brainer for professional sports teams. And the Miami Heat could’ve followed around players, shot footage, comped together the day, then had their social media team narrate. That’d have been interesting! I’d have watched that.

But they came up with an even better hook: follow a player, then have a different player narrate the content with some friendly poking.

@miamiheat

OG is way too good at these 😅 #voiceover #tylerherro14 #og #NBA

Most day-in-the-life TikToks are first-person voice overs with the subject explaining their own day, but this is Udonis Haslem explaining Tyler Herro’s workout. The 42-year-old is a 20-year NBA vet who’s spent his whole career with the Heat—he’s the team captain and leader, and clearly a pretty funny dude.

A typical day-in-the-life for Herro would’ve likely shown off his shooting, maybe a few highlights indicative of his 20 points-per-game average. By having another player narrate, we get Herro’s skill, and Haslem’s humor, and a peek at Heat Culture, and injection of playful roasting, all of which combine for a more potent piece of content that’ll recruit old & new fans alike.

256,000 views + 47,600 likes make it the 5th highest performing Heat TikTok in the last month, which is why it inspired…

TikTok Trend #2: A Duet Reaction with the roasted.

Reaction videos have become so popular they’ve got their own Wikipedia page. What started as a YouTube format became popular on TikTok thanks to the platform’s Duet feature, allowing users to post their own video side-by-side with someone else’s TikTok. Here’s a great explainer for making duet content.

Then there’s the dream within a dream: Duet Reacting to your own content.

Because Herro never heard Haslem’s voiceover from the previous video, the Heat social team used TikTok’s duet feature to record Tyler’s immediate reaction:

@miamiheat

#duet with @miamiheat Tyler might be getting his payback soon 👀🤣 #tylerherro14 #nba #voiceover

Herro basically just giggles along! And it’s fun to watch! We get a human reaction from a pro athlete alongside the original video. It’s clever content repurposing that’s native to the platform, good enough for 211,000 new views + 26,000 comments. But wait, there’s more!

TikTok Trend #3: A Reply-To-Comment with payback

It’s always wise to use a social platform’s native features when making content. A unique play on TikTok: reply-to-comment-with-video. It’s just as it sounds, allowing TikTokers to make new videos not just inspired by comments, but showcasing said comment.

When a Heat fan suggested having previously-roasted Tyler Herro narrate a player’s day-in-the-life, the social team gave him sweet revenge: Herro got to narrate Haslem’s day-in-the-life video, reaching into a deep bag of old guy jokes.

@miamiheat

Replying to @xoparina soooo is this a new series now? 🤣 #tylerherro14 #udonishaslem #voiceover #nba

The TikTok only went up yesterday, but already earned over 360,000 views, making it their 2nd most-watched video in the last month. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one sneaks past the half million mark.

Just a really cool, really smart content build from the Heat. Not sure we’ll see a part 4 with playoffs beginning this week, but keep an eye out just in case. Also, congrats & happy retirement to Udonis Haslem—he’s the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder, a 3x NBA Champ, and one of only three players to spend a 20-year career playing for a single team.

So what did we learn?

• Use TikTok trends to your brand’s advantage, but always stay true to your product, your company’s values, and why a potential customer should care about your brand.

• If the social platform has unique features that allow for different content formats, give them a try. They’ll feel more native to the platform than just another video.

• Don’t be afraid to subtly differentiate your trend content from the format’s typical plays. As long as you keep the spirit of the trend, you’re set.

• When a TikTok goes viral, continue building off it—duet yourself, turn it into a series, lean in, and ride the wave.