How to generate engaging Youtube video ideas?
In this section, you'll understand how to generate engaging YouTube video ideas using proven methods & AI tools.
Topics covered:
- Steal like an artist
- The Outlier Ideation Method
- How to find outliers?
- How to come up with new ideas?
- Automated Outlier Ideation with AI
- The Transfer method
Steal like an artist
Here's a secret, you don't need to be a creative genius to find YouTube video ideas.
Don' take it from me. Here's two quotes from actual creative geniuses:
The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steal from
David Bowie
Every artist gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" The honest artist answers, "I steal them." How does an artist look at the world? First, you figure out what's worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing. That's about all there is to it.
Austin Kleon in "Steal Like an Artist".
What the great creators understand is that nothing is completely original.
This idea can be depressing, but as the french writer André Gide put it:
Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.
The Outlier Ideation Method
But...how does this work in practise with YouTube videos?
This is where the outlier ideation method comes in.
This method is all about spotting outliers in your topic, or adjacent topics so you can come up with ideas based on what works!
A real world example of the outlier ideation method
What are YouTube outliers?
Outliers are the top performing videos within a YouTube channel. They're the 1 of 10s, the video's worth studying.
How to identify outliers?
This is very straighforward, you only need two metrics:
- Video Views: The total number of views a video has received.
- Average Channel Views: The average number of views a channel has received.
You can then calculate the Views Multiplier Score by dividing the video views by the average channel views. Any video with a score above 1, we can consider it an outlier!
Note: TubeLab's Ideas Finder uses the z-score which is a statistically more accurate method for identifying outliers.
These outliers are validated ideas — proof that a specific topic, title, thumbnail,or framing resonates with the audience.
Outlier Ideation Examples
How to find outliers?
In the previous lesson, we covered which mistakes you should avoid when researching YouTube, they also apply here.
This is where TubeLab comes in.
Instead of searching for outliers manually, you can use TubeLab's Ideas Finder to quickly search through millions of outliers, in any topic, in seconds.
Simply head to the TubeLab Ideas Finder and search for your topic.
TubeLab Ideas Finder - Outliers Search
How to come up with new ideas?
There's no way around it, you need to search for inspiration.
You might already know what sort of topics you want to create videos about, but if you don't, you can start by clicking on the "breakout videos" filter.
This filter will only show recent videos from small channels that are blowing up!
Then you scan through the results, and find similar outliers to the ones you're interested in.
Tip: Search specific terms like "japan travel controversies" or "baseball controversies" for better results.
Now, once you have a collection of outliers, study:
- The packing: title formats, thumbnail styles, descriptions, ...
- The execution: the intro, hook, the type of language used, ...
- The audience: analyse the comments, what do they like, or dislike, ...
This process can be time consuming, but it's the difference between getting 100K views on your first video or 100 views.
Don't just copy the ideas, study them and come up with your own ideas.
Apply little twists to the ideas, and you'll end up with solid and fresh ones!
Automated Outlier Ideation with AI
What if you could skip the manual ideation process and generate ideas with AI?
We've integrated ChatGPT in the Ideas Finder, so you can generate new ideas as your search in seconds.
However, there's a better way to do this...
The transfer method
This is the most effective way to generate ideas with AI.
Let's use an example: imagine I want to create a video about baseball.
You think I'd search for outliers in the baseball niche?
No! I'm going to search for outliers in the adjacent "sports".
I will search for:
- Basketball essays
- NFL controversies
- Soccer documentaries
- Tennis fun facts
And then, I will bookmark the outliers I like in a "sports" collection.
Example of an outliers collection
Then simply click on the "Generate Ideas" button.
AI Ideation Button
And I will get 10 new ideas, inspired by the outliers in the "sports" collection.
AI Ideation settings
You can see the actual collection & ideas generated here.
Conclusion
Remember, you don't need to be a creative genius to come up with great YouTube video ideas.
It's about being strategic. By using the outlier ideation method and TubeLab's AI-powered tools, you can consistently find proven content formats and put your own unique spin on them.
The key is to study what works, understand why it works, and then adapt those insights to create content that resonates with your audience.
How to generate engaging Youtube video ideas?
In this section, you'll understand how to generate engaging YouTube video ideas using proven methods & AI tools.
Topics covered:
- Steal like an artist
- The Outlier Ideation Method
- How to find outliers?
- How to come up with new ideas?
- Automated Outlier Ideation with AI
- The Transfer method
Steal like an artist
Here's a secret, you don't need to be a creative genius to find YouTube video ideas.
Don' take it from me. Here's two quotes from actual creative geniuses:
The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steal from
David Bowie
Every artist gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" The honest artist answers, "I steal them." How does an artist look at the world? First, you figure out what's worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing. That's about all there is to it.
Austin Kleon in "Steal Like an Artist".
What the great creators understand is that nothing is completely original.
This idea can be depressing, but as the french writer André Gide put it:
Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.
The Outlier Ideation Method
But...how does this work in practise with YouTube videos?
This is where the outlier ideation method comes in.
This method is all about spotting outliers in your topic, or adjacent topics so you can come up with ideas based on what works!
A real world example of the outlier ideation method
What are YouTube outliers?
Outliers are the top performing videos within a YouTube channel. They're the 1 of 10s, the video's worth studying.
How to identify outliers?
This is very straighforward, you only need two metrics:
- Video Views: The total number of views a video has received.
- Average Channel Views: The average number of views a channel has received.
You can then calculate the Views Multiplier Score by dividing the video views by the average channel views. Any video with a score above 1, we can consider it an outlier!
Note: TubeLab's Ideas Finder uses the z-score which is a statistically more accurate method for identifying outliers.
These outliers are validated ideas — proof that a specific topic, title, thumbnail,or framing resonates with the audience.
Outlier Ideation Examples
How to find outliers?
In the previous lesson, we covered which mistakes you should avoid when researching YouTube, they also apply here.
This is where TubeLab comes in.
Instead of searching for outliers manually, you can use TubeLab's Ideas Finder to quickly search through millions of outliers, in any topic, in seconds.
Simply head to the TubeLab Ideas Finder and search for your topic.
TubeLab Ideas Finder - Outliers Search
How to come up with new ideas?
There's no way around it, you need to search for inspiration.
You might already know what sort of topics you want to create videos about, but if you don't, you can start by clicking on the "breakout videos" filter.
This filter will only show recent videos from small channels that are blowing up!
Then you scan through the results, and find similar outliers to the ones you're interested in.
Tip: Search specific terms like "japan travel controversies" or "baseball controversies" for better results.
Now, once you have a collection of outliers, study:
- The packing: title formats, thumbnail styles, descriptions, ...
- The execution: the intro, hook, the type of language used, ...
- The audience: analyse the comments, what do they like, or dislike, ...
This process can be time consuming, but it's the difference between getting 100K views on your first video or 100 views.
Don't just copy the ideas, study them and come up with your own ideas.
Apply little twists to the ideas, and you'll end up with solid and fresh ones!
Automated Outlier Ideation with AI
What if you could skip the manual ideation process and generate ideas with AI?
We've integrated ChatGPT in the Ideas Finder, so you can generate new ideas as your search in seconds.
However, there's a better way to do this...
The transfer method
This is the most effective way to generate ideas with AI.
Let's use an example: imagine I want to create a video about baseball.
You think I'd search for outliers in the baseball niche?
No! I'm going to search for outliers in the adjacent "sports".
I will search for:
- Basketball essays
- NFL controversies
- Soccer documentaries
- Tennis fun facts
And then, I will bookmark the outliers I like in a "sports" collection.
Example of an outliers collection
Then simply click on the "Generate Ideas" button.
AI Ideation Button
And I will get 10 new ideas, inspired by the outliers in the "sports" collection.
AI Ideation settings
You can see the actual collection & ideas generated here.
Conclusion
Remember, you don't need to be a creative genius to come up with great YouTube video ideas.
It's about being strategic. By using the outlier ideation method and TubeLab's AI-powered tools, you can consistently find proven content formats and put your own unique spin on them.
The key is to study what works, understand why it works, and then adapt those insights to create content that resonates with your audience.