The NEW Way to Find Viral Ideas in 2025 (and blow up your content)

Summary

This video dives deep into the art of generating high-performing video ideas using a systematic, data-driven approach. It introduces the concept of 'idea Lego bricks'—seven core components of a video idea: topic, angle, hook, story structure, visual format, key visuals, and audio. The creator outlines a three-step idea mining system: finding outlier videos in your niche, analyzing their patterns across the Lego bricks, and remixing the strongest components to create better content. Using tools like Sandcastles.ai, viewers learn how to efficiently identify top-performing content, track daily and long-term trends, and consistently develop compelling, viral-ready video ideas.

Takeaways

• 🧩 Every video idea is made up of seven 'Lego bricks': topic, angle, hook structure, story structure, visual format, key visuals, and audio.
• 🎯 A strong idea is the most important factor in video performance; without it, nothing else matters.
• 📈 Top creators use a three-step idea mining system: outlier research, pattern analysis, and holding/remixing components.
• 🏆 Outliers are videos that significantly outperform the average channel performance, identified using an outlier score.
• 🔍 Step 1: Find outliers by studying high-performing videos in your niche, focusing on the same content type and platform or across other platforms.
• 📊 Step 2: Analyze outliers across the seven Lego bricks to identify recurring patterns, validated by data rather than guesswork.
• 🔄 Step 3: Hold the winning Lego bricks constant while remixing weaker or improvable elements to create better-performing videos.
• ⚡ Sandcastles.ai is a tool that accelerates idea mining by aggregating top-performing videos, filtering by score and engagement, and providing detailed analysis.
• 📝 Document insights using a structured approach: daily inspiration (topics, angles, key visuals) and long-term pattern tracking (hook, story structure, visual format).
• 💡 Idea development involves recombining Lego bricks from mined outliers into new, optimized videos, iterating to maximize success.
• 📌 Success in content creation relies on understanding niche-specific patterns; what works in one niche may not work in another.
• ⏱️ Consistent, repeated analysis over time increases accuracy in identifying winning patterns and improving idea quality.

Q & A

What are the seven components of a video idea according to the script?

The seven components, or 'idea Lego bricks,' are: 1) Topic, 2) Angle, 3) Hook Structure, 4) Story Structure, 5) Visual Format, 6) Key Visuals, and 7) Audio.

How does the script define an 'outlier' in content creation?

An outlier is a video that performs significantly better than the average video on a channel. Its performance is measured using an outlier score, calculated by dividing the video's views by the channel's average views.

What is the purpose of breaking a video idea into 'Lego bricks'?

Breaking a video idea into Lego bricks allows creators to analyze each component individually, identify patterns in successful content, and strategically remix elements to create better-performing videos.

What are the three steps of the idea mining system?

The three steps are: 1) Outlier Research – identify high-performing videos in your niche, 2) Analyze Outliers – break them into seven Lego bricks and look for winning patterns, 3) Hold & Remix – keep strong components and remix weaker ones to create new, high-potential video ideas.

Why is using data important in the content idea process?

Data is important because it helps creators identify patterns that consistently perform well in a niche, reducing guesswork and increasing the likelihood of creating successful videos compared to relying solely on intuition.

Which sources are recommended for finding outlier videos?

The best sources are videos of the same content type on either the same platform or different platforms. Other sources like different content types or unrelated platforms may require more effort and experimentation.

How does Sandcastles.ai streamline the idea mining process?

Sandcastles.ai allows creators to build watch lists of top creators, filter videos by outlier score, engagement, and recency, and aggregate top-performing content in one place, making pattern recognition much faster and more efficient.

What is the difference between daily inspiration and long-term pattern tracking?

Daily inspiration involves capturing interesting topics, angles, key visuals, or audio from individual videos to create immediate content ideas. Long-term pattern tracking monitors trends in hook structures, story structures, and visual formats over time to inform strategic content planning.

What is the recommended way to analyze each outlier video?

First, watch the video manually to get an initial impression. Then, use the idea detail page to review the transcript, hook structure, story structure, and other metrics. Take notes for each Lego brick, noting strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements.

How should creators use the findings from idea mining to develop new content?

Creators should take the winning Lego bricks from outlier videos, hold the strong components constant, remix the weaker or variable elements, and iterate. This approach increases the chance of outperforming the original videos while maintaining a proven structure.

Why does the winning combination of Lego bricks vary by niche?

Each niche has unique audience preferences, trends, and content consumption behaviors. What works in fitness may not work in marketing or beauty. Therefore, idea mining must be niche-specific to accurately identify high-performing patterns.

What filters and metrics are recommended for identifying relevant outliers in Sandcastles.ai?

Recommended filters include an outlier score of 5x or higher, engagement rate of 5% or higher, and post date filters depending on content type (recent for news-based content or longer periods for evergreen content). Videos should then be sorted by outlier score in descending order.