5 social media trends to try right now

Social media trends for august header image feaeturing four Adobe Express templates over a pink to orange gradient background

Adobe Express is teaming up with social media expert Rachel Karten to bring you five high-impact post ideas every month. With over a decade of experience in social marketing — including her time at Bon Appétit Magazine — Rachel knows what works. She also writes Link in Bio, a must-read Substack newsletter for social pros.

We get it — consistently creating engaging content is one of the biggest challenges of running a social account. That’s where Rachel comes in! She scrolls the Internet so you don’t have to, curating the most effective post formats that drive engagement. Each month, she’ll break down five proven ideas — plus easy ways to bring them to life with Adobe Express.

This month is all about having FUN online. We all know that social media can sometimes be a grind — staying ahead of trends, posting regularly, and coming up with fresh ideas can be exhausting. Maybe you’re the founder, and posting online isn’t high on your priority list. Or you’re a social team of one, wearing so many hats you’ve lost track of the count. Or, like me, you’ve been working in this field for over a decade and still find yourself wanting to log off and touch grass every once in a while. The problem is: Your audience can tell when you’re not enjoying yourself. That’s why I want to share fun ideas for posts that bring joy back to the creative process. Let’s dive in.

1. Make up your own song

Write a few funny lyrics about your product, find a royalty-free beat, and sing a song. Maybe you add a voice changing effect to it or create a so-bad-it’s-good graphic designed music video. Oftentimes brands can’t participate in popular music trends because of legal issues, but we all know how important music is, especially on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Think of this as your opportunity to create the trending song you think should exist!

Check out these examples from Brita and Zion National Park
Express Tip: Use royalty-free music from Adobe Stock to find the perfect beat — no copyright headaches, just instant vibes. Looking for inspiration? The TikTok Symphony Assistant Add-On can help you choose a backing track that aligns with what’s performing well. Then layer on lyrics, voiceover, and animations to turn your brand anthem into a full-on music video.

Feeling inspired? Check out our collection of templates for this trend and others

Adobe Express template in brown for "make up your own song" trend

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2. Gamify your product

Turn your product experience into a video game. Take a product how-to or customer experience and gamify it by layering on fonts and graphics to a regular video to give it that nostalgic video game feel. Adobe Express and its library of sound effects will be your friend here! Now to decide which video game style you want to mimic….

Check out these examples from Marc Jacobs and Barbarian
Express Tip: Give your post retro gamer vibes by combining pixel fonts, video game-style overlays, and sound effects from Adobe Stock (search “video game” in the Media panel). Want to level up? Add playful animations to create that 8-bit feel with zero coding required.

Adobe Express template in yellow for "Gamify your product" trend

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3. Inspire with hopecore

What better way to bring joy to content making than by creating a hopecore video. This format has stood the test of time. The gist is that you take a speech (whether it was already recorded or one that you record for the video) and set it over b-roll imagery along with text that captions what the speech is saying. The music should feel hopeful and inspiring.

Check out these examples from Northeastern University and NFL on CBS
Express Tip: Record a voiceover right in Adobe Express using the Record Voiceover tool under Media. Then tap “Enhance Speech” to remove background noise and make it sound-studio quality. Add inspiring music from the Stock audio library and use scrolling captions to guide viewers through the message.

Adobe Express template for "inspire with hopecore" trend

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4. Play a game

How do you stop people’s scroll? Give them a game. Take a photo or design an iSpy challenge for your customers. Set out a bunch of objects and then mix in a new product to tease something that’s coming soon.

Check out these examples from Crown Affair and Squishmallows
Express Tip: Missing the perfect item for your photo challenge? Use Remove Background to drop objects into your design without a full photoshoot. Stack, layer, and duplicate items to create an I-Spy effect that’s both visually complex and totally scroll-stopping.

Adobe Express template for "Play a game" trend

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5. Create copypasta

You know those text message chains? The ones with all the emojis? Riff on them on your brand page. Make up a funny story, include lots of emojis, and mock it all up in a fake text message exchange. It’s an IYKYK type of post that will make your followers laugh.

Check out these examples from Reformation and MoMA PS1
Express Tip: Recreate a fake message thread with Elements — just search “text message” to find chat bubbles and phone UI icons. Use Animations to make the texts appear one-by-one like a real convo. Bonus: Start with a text message template and just drop in your custom copy for a fast, funny finish.