How to Find Trends on YouTube: Effective Strategies That Work!
Staying on top of trends if you’re a content creator is a must. Even if your videos typically cover timeless topics, throwing in a few clips that focus on what everyone’s talking about at the moment won’t hurt. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. If you get the balance right, such videos can help expose your work to a larger audience and potentially help you grow your following faster.
So, how to find trending topics for YouTube? In this guide, we’ll share some of the best strategies that actually work.
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Do Trends Even Matter?
It's a tough market out there for creators on YouTube. There's so much content being uploaded every minute, over 500 hours, that it's hard to stand out. But there are ways you can make sure that your content gets noticed. One way is to spot trends early and then make the most of them.
If you don't jump on the bandwagon with trending topics, you'll be less likely to pop up in the platform's recommendations. That'll make it tougher for you to stay ahead of the pack in your niche. And it’s definitely not something that you would want.
Without further ado, here are the primary methods on how to find trends on YouTube…
1. Using YouTube's Native Popularity Tools
The Trending Tab
The quickest and easiest way to see what's currently popular on YouTube is through the platform's dedicated Trending page.
To access this, simply:
- Go to the homepage.
- Look for "Trending" in the left navigation bar.
- Browse through the categories that you’re interested in.
The Trending tab gets updated about every 15 minutes, so you'll always be up to speed on what's catching people's attention at the moment. Just remember that these trends are country-specific, so make sure you're looking at the right trends for your target audience's location.
YouTube Analytics Research Tab
If you want to get into the nitty-gritty, the Research tab in YouTube Analytics has all the info you need.
- Search patterns
- Content gaps (such a ‘gap’ happens when viewers can’t find enough quality search results for their specific inquiry)
- Viewer interests
- Geographic trends
2. Taking Advantage of Google Trends on YouTube
Google Trends is perhaps one of the most powerful tools for identifying the popularity of YouTube topics. Here's how you can make it work for you.
Method 1: General Analysis
- Visit Google Trends.
- Click on "Explore".
- Enter your topic.
- Change the search type to "YouTube Search".
- Adjust parameters to make the search more specific.
Method 2: YouTube-Specific Search
- Go to Google Trends.
- Select "Trending Searches".
- Filter for YouTube-related trends.
- Here, you’ll be able to analyze both daily and real-time trends.
Some Extra Tips to Help Search Trends on YouTube
1. Keeping an Eye on Shorts Trends
YouTube Shorts offers creators a great chance to make the most of their ideas, with its own special way of getting noticed. To find out what's trending for Shorts:
- Browse the Shorts feed regularly.
- Pay attention to:some text
- Popular audio tracks
- Common themes
- Recurring formats
- Engagement patterns
- Use the hashtag #Shorts in searches.
- Monitor successful Shorts creators in your niche.
2. Using Various Third-Party Tools
- vidIQ: Gives you trend alerts and keyword research
- TubeBuddy: Gives you tag suggestions and trend analysis
- Social Blade: Tracks channel growth and trending content
- Ahrefs: Offers all-in-one keyword research capabilities
How to See Trends on YouTube: Analyzing Other Platforms
1. TikTok
TikTok is a great way to spot trends that will eventually make it to YouTube. To make the most of this:
- Check out the latest on TikTok's Creative Center.
- Keep an eye on trending hashtags.
- Take note of the content that's going viral.
- Look into cross-platform success for creators.
2. Social Media Monitoring
It often happens that trends emerge on several different platforms before they start to gain traction on YouTube. Some other key platforms for monitoring are:
- X (formerly Twitter)some text
- Track trending topics
- Follow industry leaders
- Monitor relevant hashtags
- Instagramsome text
- Watch Reels trends
- Follow competitor content
- Analyze popular hashtags
Examples of Trending Content in 2024
Educational AI Content
Creators who quickly switched gears to show off AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALL-E saw a big boost in growth.
Here’s what videos you might decide to create:
- Tutorials on using AI for productivity
- AI art creation guides
- Comparisons of different AI tools
- Ethics and the future of AI discussions
Behind-the-Scenes Content
There was a lot of interest in "day in the life" or process videos from content creators:
- Small business owners showing their operations
- Content creators revealing their workflow
- Artists showing their creative process
- Tech workers sharing their daily routines
Short-Form Video Adaptation
The folks who used YouTube Shorts to full effect saw their numbers take off pretty quickly. A few ideas you might want to consider:
- Repurposing long-form content into bite-sized pieces
- Creating platform-specific short content
- Using trending sounds and formats
- Cross-posting from TikTok strategically
Interactive and Community-Driven Content
Creators found more success by involving their audience more directly through:
- Live problem-solving sessions
- Real-time polls influencing content
- Community challenges
- Collaborative projects
Sustainable Living and Minimalism
Content focused on:
- Zero-waste lifestyle tips
- Sustainable home improvements
- Minimalist organization
- Eco-friendly product reviews
Creating a Content Strategy Based on Search Trends on YouTube
- Long-term Trend Analysissome text
- Study seasonal patterns
- Try to identify what happens over and over again
- Plan content in advance
- Real-time Responsesome text
- Set up trend alerts
- Prepare templates for quick content creation
- Build a flexible production schedule
- Take advantage of YouTube Premieres
- Trend Adaptationsome text
- Customize trends to your niche
- Maintain brand authenticity
- Add unique value to trending topics
When Should You Implement These Trends?
1. Timing Considerations
The popularity of a trend-based piece of content depends a lot on when you post it. Content creators should set aside some time every day to monitor search trends on YouTube to see what their audience is interested in.
When a good opportunity comes up, it's important to move fast. Remember that YouTube can take a while to process and index videos, which could affect how quickly they show up in searches.
2. Content Quality Balance
No matter how urgent it is to make the most of a trend, you should always make sure that the quality of your content is up to scratch. Each piece of content should offer something different that makes it stand out from similar trending videos.
Moreover, your trend-based content should fit in with your channel's overall style and identity.
3. Audience Alignment
It's important to remember that not every trending topic is going to be a good fit for your channel.
- Think about whether a particular trend will be relevant to your niche and content style.
- Your audience's demographics are super important for figuring out which trends to go for. What gets one group excited might not get another group interested at all.
- Also consider the long-term impact of getting involved with certain trends, as some could have a big effect on how people see your channel and how it grows.
- Finally, measure each trending opportunity against your channel's goals and overall content strategy to make sure it fits with your long-term vision.
Want to Make Sure You’re Not Late on Trends?
Identifying Google trends on YouTube is a big deal. But getting them done quickly and efficiently is a different story. This is where AI-powered tools like BigMotion come into play.
Creating content that's in line with current trends usually means juggling lots of tools and spending a lot of time on production. But modern AI solutions can make this process a lot more efficient.
What makes BigMotion stand out is its ability to create full video series based on what's trending. By combining AI scriptwriting, image generation, and voice synthesis from ElevenLabs, creators can produce unique content that's on-trend while still maintaining quality standards.
When it comes to trend-based content, how quickly you can get things done often decides whether it's a success or not. While you might spend days on manual content creation, automated solutions can help you test trending topics in just a few hours. But it's important to remember that AI tools should give you a helping hand, not take over completely. The best creators use these tools to get things done faster while adding their unique perspective and making sure everything's up to scratch.
Final Thoughts
If you want to make the most of search trends on YouTube, you need to use a mix of tools, techniques, and strategic thinking. Hopefully, our guide showed you how to spot and make the most of trending opportunities while keeping your channel authentic and of high quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep an eye on the trends daily, but zero in on the ones that matter to your niche. Set up alerts for important keywords and check the analytics every week or so.
Monitor the Shorts feed, check out the latest audio trends, look at the most popular hashtags, and see what the top Shorts creators in your industry are up to.
You can use Google Trends to check out historical data, pay attention to early indicators on other platforms like TikTok, and look into seasonal patterns in your area of expertise.
It's better to focus on trends that fit in with your channel's theme, the interests of your audience, and your production capabilities.
Trends tend to stick around for longer and have a deeper cultural impact, while fads are usually short-lived and more superficial. Looking at historical data can help us understand the difference between the two.