Some days you’re bursting with brilliant YouTube video ideas, other times it’s trickier to get a spark of inspiration. We've been there, all creators have! So we put on our thinking caps, asked ourselves 'what would Airrack do' and came up with the essential list of content ideas for YouTube creators.
Shake things up with a format you haven’t tried before, collaborate with other people in your niche, or even just share a little bit more of yourself. You’ll get loads of great YouTube video ideas to keep your channel fresh! So fire up your creativity, get inspiration for your next banger video, and create YouTube gold.
Introduce yourself
Hey, nice to meet you! It’s fun getting to know people and you can quickly build a deeper connection with your viewers if you open up and show them what you’re all about. Share the things you’re passionate about, let people see what makes you tick and give them a reason to subscribe to your YouTube channel!
1. Tell people about yourself
Don’t be shy, tell people exactly who you are! You can talk about your likes, dislikes, your road to becoming a YouTuber, anything you like. You’re the star of the show and you can set whatever agenda you want to.
2. Go behind the scenes
Give your audience a peek behind the curtain and show them how you create your masterpieces. Whether you’ve got a cool home studio set-up, or you rival Sam Kolder when it comes to piloting drones and capturing footage on the fly, it’s a great way of letting your audience into your world.
3. Document your experiences
Take people along for the ride as you try out new experiences and share your excitement! You never know, you might get suggestions in the comments for awesome eateries or hidden gems that you can include in your next adventure.
4. A day in the life
Showing your audience what you get up to on a day-to-day basis is an effortless way of letting your viewers get to know you better. You could be doing something as routine as picking up your groceries, or showing the scale of your next big shoot. Give your audience a glimpse into your daily routine.
5. Share your interests
If you’re passionate about it, there’s a good chance other people are too. So show off your collection of figurines, impress viewers with your mastery of the Marvel Universe, or share your favorite spots for wild swimming - whatever you're in to!
6. Show off your style
You’ve got a passion for fashion and your make-up is always on point! Join the legion of inspirational YouTubers like Jenn Im and PatrickStarrr sharing essential advice for staying on-trend, whether you’re into high fashion or something a bit quirkier.
Educate others
As the world’s second-biggest search engine, loads of people head to YouTube for step-by-step guides, priceless hacks, and all sorts of useful nuggets of wisdom. Share your area of expertise and help to educate the masses!
7. Tutorials
Make yourself an invaluable resource for your audience as they look to master new skills. Share a recipe for how to make immaculate cupcakes. Give step-by-step instructions on the best way to groom your dog. Show people how they can upcycle old clothes or furniture. Teach your audience some of the skills you have!
8. Teach other YouTubers
Sharing is caring. Help out your fellow creators with some of the lessons you’ve learned on your YouTube journey so far. It could be where to find the best gear bargains, handy editing tips for creating magic on Premiere Pro, or even a list of other YouTubers that inspire you!
9. Mythbusting
We all get a kick out of fun facts but you can’t believe everything you see on the internet. Don your sleuthing cap and bust those nonsensical myths. After all, is the Great Wall of China really visible from space? And surely we don’t actually swallow that many spiders while we’re sleeping!
10. Little known tricks & hacks
Sharing neat little tricks can make for seriously satisfying videos, creating the perfect combination of entertaining content that is actually useful too! Mastered the art of making the perfect poached egg? Found a nifty little shortcut for folding your laundry? Turn your top tips into super handy videos.
11. Follow an instructional video
Don’t worry if you don’t have loads of top tips you’re dying to share, we can’t all be Martha Stewart! What you can do instead is road test other people’s instruction videos, see what works and also suggest some improvements too. Even if it goes horrifically wrong, you’ll still have a pretty entertaining video!
Entertain people
Putting a smile on people’s faces is a glorious thing. If you were born to entertain, join the likes of Smosh, PewDiePie, and the wide variety of musicians, comedians and YouTube personalities using the platform to brighten up people’s lives.
12. Comedy skits
From well-crafted parodies to hilariously-awful dad jokes, if you can get people belly-laughing you’ll be onto a winner. You could come up with a whole stand-up routine, share your own take on the classic Christmas cracker gags, or take a sideways glance at what’s going on in the world. Go on, spread some laughter!
13. Challenge videos
So you probably don’t have the budget to recreate Squid Game like Mr Beast, but with a little creativity you can come up with some brilliant challenges for you or your friends to take on. Maybe steer clear of reading the entire Bee Movie script though.
14. Gaming skills
From building your own worlds in Minecraft and Roblox, to taking on all-comers in Fortnite and GTA. Gaming is massive on YouTube, Minecraft videos alone have well over one trillion views. Not to mention some of the biggest YouTubers started out by sharing videos of their gameplay.
15. Make music
Whatever your musical talent, your YouTube channel can be your stage. Fancy yourself as a guitar virtuoso or a titan on the tambourine? Do you have a singing voice that kills at karaoke, or perhaps you’re a whistling champion? You may not become the next Justin Beiber, but you could well find an appreciative audience!
16. Share lists
We’re about to get meta, but lists are a neat way of sharing facts and opinions in a simple format. Want to share the greatest burger bars in your hometown? Got strong views on what the best Star Wars films are from best to worst? Start a debate by sharing a list!
Reactions
Take a look around you, there is inspiration for YouTube ideas everywhere you look. From the latest blockbuster movie trailer to the cereal you had for breakfast this morning. Get opinionated, share your hot-takes, give people an insight into the world as you see it, and get people talking.
17. Response video
Flick through the news for a free and easy source of new material. Give your views on anything from the latest political scandal through to celebrity gossip. You can keep it light or tackle the really weighty issues. Take a stand and start a debate!
18. Reviews
Love the latest Beyoncé album? Can’t stand it? Completely indifferent? You can review absolutely anything from the newest gadgets through to the latest New York Times bestseller, massive live events right down to a local band you think will be the next big thing.
19. Compare products
iPhone vs Samsung Galaxy. Coca Cola vs Pepsi. Throw your hat into the ring and lay down your views on some of the contentious product discussions. Or you might want to use your platform to highlight some great products you’ve found too. Like Uppbeat perhaps? 😉
20. Product unboxing
Who doesn’t love the satisfaction of opening up a package for the very first time! Unbox Therapy may have access to wildly expensive tech, TVs, cars and limited edition smartphones that are beyond most budgets, but anyone can recreate that same unboxing experience.
21. Travel reviews
If you have a drone, a GoPro, or simply your smartphone, capture your experiences and inspire others to explore the world. Counting down the days till an incredible city break? Discovering a new island paradise? You could even stay closer to home and show off the best parts of your hometown to reveal a fresh and exciting new destination to your audience.
Embrace your community
Your audience is a big part of why you do what you do and they can be a brilliant source of inspiration as well! Don’t be afraid of reaching out to your viewers and seeing what they want to see from you.
22. Q&A Session
Encourage audience participation and see the range of interesting questions you get back! Lots of YouTubers invite their audience to get involved by taking part in live streams, submitting questions, and sharing their unpopular opinions. By including your fans in your videos, they’ll be that bit more invested in your channel.
23. Interview an expert
Know someone in your particular niche that really inspires you? Why not reach out to them and ask if they’ll feature in an interview. Not only will you get quality content, you’ll also be able to ask them anything you like too!
24. Collaborate with other creators
You shouldn’t look at other YouTubers making similar videos to you as competition, they could be collaborators! You only need to look at The Sidemen getting together with Logan Paul to see the power of bringing fan bases together.
25. Throwback to old content
Don’t forget the gems you put out previously! There’s a good chance some of your newer fans might not have seen some of your earlier masterpieces. Why not dig out some of your best bits, or you could even make a reaction video for some of your previous hot-takes?
26. Give old videos a new lease of life
It’s a sad fact for creators that some of our greatest masterpieces will one day feel dated. But that doesn’t mean you can’t reboot old content! For example, you could review the most addictive TV boxsets to stream and create a new, updated version every year.
27. Crowdsource ideas
One of the simplest ways to find out what your audience wants to see is by asking them outright! Try to get into the habit of asking viewers questions during your videos and seeing what responses they give you in the comments. It could help to inspire new avenues to pursue or even a dedicated follow-up video of its own.
Take a different approach entirely
Hopefully at this point you’ll have loads of YouTube content ideas and exciting videos you can start working on, but there are other ways you can find inspiration. Change up your creative process and think about giving these a try.
28. Start with your title and thumbnail
Catchy titles and attention-grabbing thumbnails are the best way to get people to stop scrolling and hook them into watching your videos. Why not start your brainstorming process by spitballing snappy titles and the best thumbnails you can come up with? If the ideas grab your attention, the video you make off the back of it should be super engaging too.
29. Use YouTube to search for ideas
You know how YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine? You can actually use that to your advantage by searching for topics around your particular niche. For example, if you search ‘how to bake a cake’, YouTube actually gives you loads of suggestions for terms that other people are searching. You can use these to inspire you and create a video off the back of your research.
30. Give the people what they want!
The comments section on any YouTube video can be an absolute goldmine, and it’s a great way to find out what your viewers want to see from you! Keep an eye out for people asking the same questions, and you’ll soon start racking up a ton of new YouTube channel ideas.
31. Create YouTube Shorts
Switch things up and brainstorm a few ideas for YouTube shorts. Shooting in vertical and keeping your content super snappy gets you thinking differently and could inspire new ways of creating content in your long form videos too.
Go on, get creative!
Now you’re armed with a whole arsenal of awesome thought-starters for fresh videos, it’s time to take them from your ideas page to the YouTube homepage. From new variations of your already amazing content, right through to a completely new direction for your channel.
Have fun getting those creative juices flowing and take your YouTube game up a gear! Make sure you also subscribe to the Uppbeat blog for more great tips for YouTubers, guides on how to find the perfect soundtrack for your project, and other essential advice for creators.