An easy way to make better videos is to come up with interesting ideas. In this lesson, we will go over two types of ideas and how to come up with them.
There are two kinds of ideas that work best: trend-focused ideas and recommended-focused ideas.
It's worth noting that these types of ideas can be combined, often leveraging the best aspects of both!
Trend-Focused Ideas
We've already went over how to come up with good trend-focused ideas in the starting from zero lesson. These ideas work best if you're a smaller channel. They typically use trending topics to get clicks, which is good when you're trying to grow a following from zero.
For smaller channels, these ideas start by getting views from search, but work best when they start getting views from the YouTube home page and up next traffic sources.
In fact, if you notice you're getting these sources, that's a good sign! It means your video is transcending just the search page and starting to grow enough to get featured on the YouTube home page and up next sidebar.
You don't have to just be a small channel to use these types of ideas. These ideas typically work best for commentary channels of all sizes. Commentary channels rarely stand out on their own, so they need to cover trending topics to stay relevant.
That being said, these ideas can work very well for live play YouTubers as well. See the example videos in the second table below to see both commentary videos and live play videos that use this type of idea.
Pros and cons of trend-focused ideas
| Pros of trend-focused ideas | Cons of trend-focused ideas |
|---|---|
| Easy to come up with ideas | Smaller potential audience due to niche topics |
| Easy to find an audience | |
| Works great for commentary channels | |
| Works great for smaller channels |
Examples of trend-focused ideas
Notice how these videos take a trending topic, but then add an original addition, as per the starting from zero lesson.
| Video | Trending Topic | Original Addition |
|---|---|---|
| What is the Most IMPOSSIBLE Geometry Dash level? | Impossible levels | Not a generic list video, but a journey to find the most impossible level |
| What is the BEST 2.2 Level in Geometry Dash? | 2.2 | Finding the best level |
| Geometry Dash 2.2 Sneak Peek 1:1 Recreation (how it was made) | Geometry Dash 2.2 Sneak Peek | 1:1 recreation and how it was made |
| Why does everyone HATE Avernus | Avernus | Answering the question why people hate it |
| I Made a Challenge Randomizer in 2.2 | 2.2 | Adds a challenge randomizer into the mix, which is an original idea |
Recommended-Focused Ideas
While the name choice may seem odd, I chose to call this type of idea recommended-focused because rather using YouTube search, these ideas typically get recommended to the viewer on the YouTube home page and up next sidebar.
Once you have a decent sized following from using trend-focused ideas, you may no longer need to rely on trendy, niche topics as described in the starting from zero lesson. Instead, you might be able to come up with recommended-focused ideas by creating your own innovative ideas that get views from the YouTube home page and up next traffic sources.
This is where innovation takes place. While it is harder to come up with these ideas, it can really pay off. Instead of relying on trending topics to reach an audience, which will always have competition, you can create your own innovative ideas that are so new they will have no competition.
While this sounds better than trend-focused ideas as a smaller creator, it is important to know that while there is less competition, this type of ideas only works if you already have a following. Otherwise, there will be nobody to watch your video, and it won't grow.
Trend-focused ideas work for growth as a smaller creator because you're actively chasing after an audience. Because even if you don't have an audience, the topics that you make videos on will.
Unlike trend-focused ideas, there is no easy formula to come up with innovative ideas. If there were, everyone would be doing it!
However, here are some tips I personally use:
- Look at what other creators are doing, even outside the Geometry Dash niche (or whatever niche you're in). For example, I take a lot of inspiration from MrBeast Gaming and other Minecraft YouTubers.
- Take inspiration from books, movies, and other forms of media and try to apply it to the Geometry Dash niche (or whatever your niche is).
Pros and cons of recommended-focused ideas
| Pros of recommended-focused ideas | Cons of recommended-focused ideas |
|---|---|
| Bigger potential audience | Harder to come up with ideas |
| Works best for challenge-based channels | Harder to find an audience |
| Doesn't work well for smaller channels |
Examples of recommended-focused ideas
Notice how the last three entries in this tabel take elements from trend-focused ideas. Remember earlier how I said you could combine them? They are good ideas of doing just that, being innovative ideas that use trends to grab your attention, getting the best of both worlds.
| Video | Why it went viral |
|---|---|
| This Geometry Dash Puzzle Has A Crazy Solution | One of the most original ideas in a Geometry Dash video, being a scavenger hunt across the game. This intriques people enough to click and watch. |
| Can You BEAT Geometry Dash Without Jumping? | Changes the whole Geometry Dash experience by removing the key thing that makes the game possible. It's too interesting of a question to not click and the storytelling keeps you watching until the end. |
| Last to Stop Straightflying Wins $100 | Turns a popular form of Geometry Dash gameplay into a MrBeast-styled challenge for a cash reward. |
| I Played Would You Rather In Geometry Dash | An original idea with two trending topics in the thumbnail, the world's hardest jump and the famous level Slaughterhouse. They click for those topics but continue watching because of the original idea. |
| I Played Skyblock in Geometry Dash | Another original idea in Geometry Dash. Once again, people click for skyblock but stick around for the original challenge. |
Disclaimer
These are not the only types of ideas you can make videos on. However, they are the most successful. You will surely find evidence of successful YouTubers who get away with doing different kinds of ideas. For example, both Wulzy and Tride's building videos may not fit into either of these idea types.
However, these two types of ideas—trend-focused ideas and recommended-focused ideas—work very well for growth and going viral.
That being said, if you want to make building videos, you can do that too! Just make a few trend-focused videos to gain an audience and by that point, you might be able to get away with regular building videos, as you'll still be providing value to your audience.
Videos like Why does everyone HATE Avernus by Tride is a good example how you can grow your audience by using trend-focused ideas. His Kratos series is also a good example of using trend-focused ideas to grow a following.
The point is: these are the two best types of ideas for growth. If you're currently starting from nothing, these types of ideas are a good starting point. But once you grow a following, you can make more general content (see Tride's memory level series). This course is designed to get you that following. After that, you can do you!
Summary
In summary, we recommend using trend-focused ideas if you're a new channel and recommended-focused ideas if you're an already established creator looking to innovate.