Free Content Idea Finder

What is a content idea finder?

A content idea finder shows you topics that already proved themselves with a real audience.

This one starts from posts that already worked: posts that got far more attention than their creator's other posts.

For example, a creator whose Reels usually get about 8,700 views posted one that reached 12 million. That's more than a 1,000x jump on the same audience.

Why outliers make the best content ideas

A big account's average post will always beat a small account's best one on raw views.

So sorting by views mostly shows you who is already famous.

An outlier shows you which idea pulled far more people than its creator normally reaches. And an idea that travels beyond one audience has a good chance of travelling for you too.

Here's how the three ways of looking at a post compare:

The finder opens on Top outlier. You can switch to Recent, Top liked, Top comments, Top shares or Top viewed at any time.

How the ideas are picked

Every post in the finder comes from creators I track across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Facebook, Substack, Pinterest and Bluesky.

Each creator's latest posts are read again every 1 to 3 days, and their numbers are updated with them.

A post shows up when it clears four bars:

• 2x its creator's usual or more – the usual is the median of that creator's other posts of the same kind.
• From the past 12 months – older hits tell you less about what works now.
• From an account with a real baseline – at least 10 posts, with a usual of 1,000 views for video or 10 likes for everything else.
• No more than five posts from one creator – one prolific account can't fill the page.

The median, the middle value, isn't pulled up by one viral post the way an average is.

How the usual is worked out

A post is only compared with the same creator's posts of the same kind.

Long YouTube videos are measured against long videos, and Shorts against Shorts. Instagram Reels are measured against Reels, and photos and carousels against photos and carousels.

One channel I track gets about 32,000 views on a typical long video and about 800 on a typical Short. Measured together, its usual comes out near 4,000, and every normal long video would look like an 8x outlier.

Video is measured by views. Posts without views, like text posts, photos and newsletters, are measured by likes.

What gets left out

A list of outliers is only useful if the outliers are real.

So three kinds of posts never make it in:

• Paid reach – an ad gets views without likes. A video needs its likes showing, and at least a fifth of its creator's usual likes per view. One brand's promoted videos had 8 to 69 million views and almost no likes, so they stay out.
• Thin baselines – a creator with a handful of posts, or posts that usually get a few likes, turns any normal post into a huge multiple. The floors above keep those out.
• Floods – without a limit, one creator had 50 of the top 300 posts. Now each creator shows their best five.

How to read the multiple

The number on each post is its views or likes over its creator's usual:

The multiple stops at 99x on the card. A post marked 99x+ did at least that.

How to use the content idea finder

Start with the search box.

Type a topic, like AI agents, morning routines or pricing, and the finder searches every post it holds, not only the ones on screen.

Then narrow it down:

• Platforms – open the filter in the search box and pick one or more platforms.
• Sort – choose Top outlier, Recent, Top liked, Top comments, Top shares or Top viewed.
• Time period – look at the past week, month, 3 months or year.
• Niches – the row under the search box filters by niche, like AI, business or productivity. Pick several to see them together.
• Photos or videos – the two buttons at the end of that row show only one kind.

Click any post to open it in full, with its numbers, its video if it has one, and a link to it on its platform.

The list shows 30 posts at a time. The Load more button under it adds the next 30.

The Creators tab lists every creator in the finder. Open one to see all of their posts, sorted by what worked best.

How to turn an outlier into your own content

An outlier gives you a proven topic. Find what made it work, then make your own version for your audience:

1. Name the promise – what did the post promise, and to whom? That promise is the idea.
2. Get the words – pull a video's full script with the YouTube transcript generator, the Instagram Reel transcript generator or the TikTok transcript generator, or its key points in a minute with the YouTube video summarizer.
3. Keep the structure, change everything else – the video script generator turns a video that worked into your own script: the same structure, your topic, your words. There are versions for YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels.
4. Test the title – score your YouTube title against real channels' videos with the YouTube title checker, or any headline with the headline analyzer.
5. Check the post before you publish – the LinkedIn post analyzer and the Instagram post analyzer grade a draft against posts that worked.

Content ideas by platform

Each platform rewards different formats. These free tools go deeper on one platform each:

Final thoughts on content ideas

Posts that beat their creator's usual show you ideas an audience already wanted.

Find a post that beat its creator's usual, work out the promise behind it, and make it your own.

Keep reading:

• YouTube outliers – the videos from the past 2 weeks that beat their channel's usual, by niche
• Video script generator – turn a video that worked into your own script
• Creator finder – the creators and founders worth following, by topic and platform

Pick one outlier from your niche today and plan your version of it.