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Knuckling down to grow your channel and get your content out in front of the eyes of the world is a hugely exciting place to be. As a creative, you’ve no doubt been itching to get your voice heard, have your opinions shared with your growing viewer base, and have that almighty algorithm putting your videos at the top of every search term you can imagine.
But one day – and it happens to us all, no shame – you sit in front of your screen, jiggle your fingers in preparation at your keyboard, open your favorite script planning software and… stare off into space.
Is it a creative block? Have all the good ideas already been done? Are you just on the edge of the infamous and dreaded YouTube Burnout?
Don’t fret! Take a step back and evaluate your sources when it comes to the best content ideas for YouTube videos. Bring a few of these tools into your research repertoire and creative process, and you may never feel the numbing bite of the creative block again.
Summary:
How to stay open to new YouTube video ideas
YouTube Studio Analytics
You know what they say – sometimes the best ideas are right there under your nose the whole time. While we’ll be exploring plenty of options for great YouTube video ideas, it’d be remiss not to go to the heart of the matter first and foremost.
Your Studio Analytics page shows a ton of powerful and oftentimes profound insights into your audience. That’s gender, age and geographic spread, but also the search terms and video titles they’re engaging with the most.
Often, a simple follow-up video to a popular upload you’ve already made is a fantastic option. Reviewed a product? Follow up with an ‘after six months’ update when the time’s right.
Called out a pop culture trend or video game playstyle wrong? Own it! A classic ‘I guessed wrong about’ video can be a great way of staying humble and approachable to your audience, while also giving you the chance to explore a shift in opinion with nuance and appeal.
Google Trends
Where better to beat creative block and find YouTube video ideas than at the source, so to speak? Google searches are a fantastic way of gauging just what’s on the public’s mind – be that closer to home, or all over the world.
When you’re of a mind to grow your channel, tapping into the discourse – while adding a niche spin that helps you stand apart as a content creator – is key.
Google Trends uses easy at-a-glance charts, bars and graphs to demonstrate popular search terms over a period of time that you can assign. If you’re super into targeting your audience, you can break it down by geographic spread too.
Search terms aren’t just keywords for SEO lovers – they’re valuable insights into your audience’s psychology, helping you shape the content they’ll find useful and entertaining.
Keywordtool.io
Also used by marketers and SEO professionals, Keywordtool.io is able to help you break down more complex ideas into the search terms and aspects of conversation your audience is actually having.
That’s thanks to this tool’s strong focus on long-tail and mid-size keywords – in other words, fuller sentences or statements than simply searching for a keyword like ‘PlayStation’ or ‘makeup tutorial’.
You can begin with a keyword or two that your channel focuses on, and watch as Keywordtool.io expands out the rest for you, based on real searches by internet users around the world.
Few online domains can boast of being as downright packed with chatter as Reddit can – and the great news is, it’s easy to sift through, browse and collate this information.
This is a great way to research YouTube content ideas in real terms if you’re not so into using keyword searches and Google algorithms. Join some Reddit boards that focus on the things your channel discusses, and you’ll find a deep well of video content ideas awaits.
Reddit moves fast too, meaning that those of us with YouTube channels that rely on being timely can step up to the plate as swiftly as the story breaks.
Don’t overlook the potential for evergreen content either – videos that do the numbers for months, maybe years. This kind of timeless YouTube content is easily inspired on Reddit too, simply because there’s so much passionate discourse to draw from.
It’s easy to disregard Twitter as to where arguments and bickering rule the day – but don’t be so quick to overlook its value in inspiring YouTube video ideas! In fact, in terms of timely content creation, Twitter moves even faster than the Reddit recommendation above.
Of course, doing your own research to ensure you’re not reporting on fake rumors or bad information is always smart – although you can turn this to your advantage too, in certain circumstances.
Plenty of content creators post reactions to rumors or breaking stories, and this can be a valuable way to keep content coming in between more evergreen or long-lasting series you’re working on.
AnswerThePublic
One thing that’s great about AnswerThePublic is that it collates search terms and related questions from real web searches in a spiderweb-like way. You’re essentially getting a word cloud before your eyes, and it’s a great way of getting the creative juices flowing.
You can pluck niche terms or ways to extrapolate existing ideas from these swarms of search terms, or simply lean on the confidence of knowing what’s popular to guide your next YouTue upload.
Keep in mind that, unless you’re willing to hand over $99 per month, AnswerThePublic only offers two free searches per day. If you’re keen to stay on the more budget-friendly side of this tool, make your usage count!
Tubics
If you’re not into trawling all over the internet chasing SEO terms and forum replies, you can always get your creativity sparked into life with a tool like Tubics. That’s because this is a tool inherently designed for video content creators, rather than some of the more generalized YouTube idea sources we’ve been discussing so far.
Tubics works by connecting with your YouTube channel itself, and when it does, it analyzes your SEO optimization across the board. That means you can also use this tool to refine and improve your existing video content as uploaded, from improved descriptions and hashtags to more search-friendly titles and thumbnail images.
Tubics also lets you conduct A/B testing for thumbnails going forward, letting you maximize the impact your new uploads have. And of course, its powerful search term technology means it’s going to have plenty of ideas to offer you too.
OnThisDay.com
When it comes to inspiring ideas, sometimes it’s all about taking a look back in history. From as little as a year ago to centuries in humanity’s past, OnThisDay.com collates and presents major happenings – from the rise and fall of empires to sports statistics, celebrity birthdays and iconic events.
What’s great here is that it’s all completely free, but you can also simply come back tomorrow or the next day if nothing catches your eye the first time you try it.
Unexpected trivia, flashes of inspiration or even knowing your most inspiring celebrity was born on a given day and you never realized it can all send you down the rabbit hole of research!
If nothing else, you could grab a few fantastic gag ideas or throwaway lines from the facts shown off here.
Forekast
If you’re ready to go play ball with the bigger boys, Forekast is a trend analytics and prediction tool used by marketers at many of the world’s most proactive corporations. This is the tool used by marketers, PR professionals and high-end content creators – so expect a price tag to match, but a wealth of YouTube video ideas in return.
Put simply, Forekast focuses on events on the calendar, from national holidays to international events and more niche celebrations, and helps you shape a content strategy that touches on them.
This is great if you’ve got a channel that’s as much about hitting the big talking points of a given calendar year as it is about digging out lesser-known celebrations and ‘did you know’ moments from around the world.
Having a companion piece like this at your side all year round can help ensure you’re never dry on ideas for YouTube videos – and that you know when best to prepare them to catch public interest among your target audience. Not to mention the algorithm!
Your own audience
We get it – reading comments isn’t always the most mentally nourishing way to spend time. Yet a lot of YouTube channels thrive, let alone survive, by keeping a level of interactivity with their viewership in mind at all times.
That’s because your viewers will often discuss, suggest or even accidentally name drop fantastic new ideas or follow-up conversations for you to have that can inspire all new YouTube video upload ideas – or even entire mini-series.
Getting to know your audience this way is a brilliant means of fine-tuning the overall strategic growth of your channel, too.
It’s often also a good idea to seek out the content creators who make similar videos to your own too – both in terms of identifying what it is their audiences are discussing versus yours, but also getting to know those content creators themselves.
A bit of networking can go a long way, and you could unearth all kinds of ideas – from collaborations and joint projects to shared pain points you can brainstorm ways to workaround.
How to stay open to new YouTube video ideas
There’s a certain frame of mind that a content creator needs to master to allow the best YouTube video ideas in. A lot of people think of it as similar to a food diet – you get out what you put in, and all that jazz.
Curiosity
If you’re naturally curious, finding new YouTube content ideas – be that from our suggestions, or your own ingenuity – will definitely come a lot easier.
Remember also, the things you’re curious about are likely things your viewers are too – and if you can do a decent explainer video to help them understand, they’re going to definitely appreciate it!
Openness
How many of us can truly say we feel totally okay with having our points of view challenged? This level of discomfort doesn’t come easy to a lot of people.
In fact, when pursuing ideas for YouTube content, you might well find information you totally disagree with. While it’s easy to dismiss that stuff out of hand, is there any value in you exploring it deeper – perhaps exploring a contrary point of view in a video?
Patience
Rushing to slam out a half-baked idea might not always work out in your favor. It’s worth taking your time to truly give your content the respect and professional polish it deserves – and that’s more than likely going to translate into better view counts too.
Similarly, if you spend a day or two sifting through ideas and still can’t nail a concept down, that’s not your fault – and nothing to beat yourself up about.
Powerful creativity takes time, and that means being prepared for that ‘dead air’ between bursts of excitement – using it to regroup and recharge.
Got patience but no production time? We can help!
We totally understand and appreciate that taking your time in the fast-moving world of content creation isn’t always a viable or desirable tactic.
In fact, even simply putting a video together to begin with can feel like a hugely daunting task from time to time.
How about a hand with the busywork? Vidchops offers a number of packages to help content creators with editing and video production – freeing you up for more downtime, or the means by which to explore the kinds of ideas we’ve been discussing today.
