How the Dalgona Coffee Trend Took Over the Internet

Key Takeaways

Organic Channel Focus — TikTok: TikTok generated the highest volume of video views about dalgona coffee with 750 million views, followed by YouTube with 275 million views. Trending food topics generally tend to move the fastest on short-form video platforms such as TikTok rather than YouTube as it takes longer to create and edit a YouTube video compared to a TikTok video. 

Content & Messaging — Recipe Videos: Top performing recipe videos on both TikTok and YouTube incorporate ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), and have a minimal aesthetic with close up shots of each drink. The barista’s face is never shown, rather the video is strictly focused on the different ingredients and the final coffee product. 

Audience Demographic — YouTube Coffee Influencers: The audience demographic of coffee YouTubers are predominantly male with 76% of their audience over the age of 35 while YouTube channels who led the dalgona coffee trend conversation (food channels, mukbang, beauty, and mommy influencers) have audiences that are predominantly female with 75% of their audience under 34 years old. Keep this audience demographic in mind before collaborating with coffee or food influencers on YouTube.

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Dalgona coffee is a whipped drink made out of instant coffee, sugar, water, and milk. The dalgona coffee craze took over the internet in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trend first began in South Korea after the whipped coffee drink was featured in a Korean variety show and since then has gained international popularity around the world. 

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Dalgona Coffee became a trending topic worldwide in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people found themselves quarantined at home. Although dalgona was a widely trending topic in March 2020, food influencers are still posting videos about the coffee trend in 2021.

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TikTok generated the highest volume of video views about dalgona coffee with 750 million views, followed by YouTube with 275 million views. 

TikTok

Influencers leading the dalgona coffee conversation on TikTok fall into the following categories:

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Top performing content buckets about the dalgona coffee trend on TikTok include:

Recipe Videos:

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Coffee Alternatives:

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Common Tactics:

• ASMR
  
• No human faces are seen, rather the shot is focused on the coffee cup
  
• Clean background
  
• Focus on different layers of the drink (i.e: milk, whipped coffee, etc.)
  
• Typically there are no voice overs, rather a music soundtrack is played in the background
  

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Top performing content buckets about coffee in general on TikTok include:

Recreating Starbucks Recipes:

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Coffee Humour

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Coffee Art

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Best practices:

• Use trending TikTok sounds and hashtags to increase visibility
  
• Incorporate captions into the video to help tell a story
• Keep videos short and sweet, the optimal video length on TikTok is between 9 to 15 seconds
• Don’t be afraid to showcase your brand’s personality by adding an element of humour!

YouTube

Influencers leading the dalgona coffee conversation on YouTube do not specialize in creating content about coffee and fall into the following categories:

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While coffee influencers did not dominate the dalgona conversation on YouTube, the top coffee channels on YouTube are:

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The audience demographic of coffee YouTubers are predominantly male with 76% of their audience over the age of 35 while YouTube channels who led the dalgona coffee trend conversation (food, mukbang, beauty, mom) have audiences that are predominantly female with 75% of their audience under 34 years old.

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Top performing content buckets about the dalgona coffee trend on YouTube include recipe videos, mukbang, dalgona variations, vegan recipes, cheap vs. expensive reviews, education content and latte art videos.

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1. Recipe Videos‍

Tactics Used:

• ASMR
• No voice overs or people
• Close up shots of each ingredient

Examples:

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2. Mukbang

Tactics Used:

• Food reactions
• Collaborations with other YouTubers
• Intriguing video titles - “World’s BIGGEST Dalgona Coffee”

Examples:

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3. Dalgona Variations

Tactics Used:

• Putting a new twist on an original recipe 
• Keto recipes
• Healthy alternatives (i.e: sugar-free)

Examples:

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4. Vegan Recipes

Tactics Used:

• Providing vegans a non-dairy alternative to making dalgona coffee
• ASMR

Examples:

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Top performing content buckets about coffee in general on YouTube include:

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1. Recipe Videos

Content Ideas:

• Celebrities’ favourite coffee recipe
• Coffee 4 ways 
• Influencer collaboration
• Starbucks recipes

Examples:

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2. Cheap vs Expensive

Content Ideas:

• Supermarket coffee compared to premium coffee
• Top picks for supermarket coffee
  

Examples:

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3. Educational

Content Ideas:

• Beginner’s guide to coffee
• Interesting coffee facts
• Coffee tasting 101
  

Examples:

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4. Latte Art

Content Ideas:

• Tutorial on how to create latte art
• Latte art compilations
• Celebrities/influencers trying latte art
  

Examples:

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