With the explosion of content on all types of media, from YouTube to blogs to Snapchat stories, people have way too much access to information than before.

As with any form of entertainment, people get attached to certain videos or pieces of content. These attachments grow stronger as the viewer becomes more invested in the video or material.

This is why it’s so powerful for companies to use social media to promote their products!

By creating an emotional connection with your audience, they will be far more likely to purchase the product or service you are advertising.

In fact, one study found that 94% of respondents said that using social media to advertise products influenced them to buy the product!

That number alone proves how effective marketing via social media can be! It seems like every company these days has a presence on at least one type of social network, if not many.

But what happens once their page gets popular? More people start viewing the ads, which makes the advertiser money, but also gives the brand visibility.

And even though most people claim to dislike commercial advertisements, studies show that almost half of all adults watch at least one television ad per week!

So while some may complain about the constant stream of commercials we see, I think there’s still a lot of value in advertisers looking to spread their message.

Many brands now use software to determine if a video advertisement looks legitimate.

The Influencer

There is an ever-growing community of people who have made their living by influencing others to purchase or invest in products. They are called influencers!

Influencers make money off of two things: marketing materials for the product/service they endorse, and sponsored content. Marketing material includes videos, blogs, and articles that talk about the product or service being endorsed. Sponsored content is when the person endorsing a product pays for advertising space or paid posting on the platform where you can’t opt out. This is very common with YouTube channels as people tend to advertise self-care or wellness products and services.

The thing about influencers is that they use their social media influence to help sales. People trust these individuals so if an endorsement seems genuine then it may push someone towards buying the item. An example of this would be someone talking about how greatylightproof yoga pants are before dropping some cash at the store.

There are different types of influencers but most work in one of three main areas: fashion, beauty, and health. Some focus more on one area than another. For instance, a fitness influencer could also do makeup or food reviews.

Overall though, all three areas contribute to helping sellers market their product.

The Content

With all of that content, viewers are able to browse through different categories and search for specific videos or channels. Viewers can also add certain channels to their list so they automatically watch new videos from those sites every time there’s an update.

By using this algorithm, people have noticed some interesting trends in how popular videos are.

There has been talk about how changing what kind of video you upload could potentially help your channel gain popularity. If your goal is to get more views, then uploading something unrelated may be your best bet.

On the other hand, if your main focus is to make money, creating educational tutorials might be the way to go. Either way, it’s important to remain consistent!

If you feel like your videos aren’t getting enough attention, then maybe trying out another genre is worth looking into. Many people start experimenting with weird things and developing their own style, which eventually catches eyes and gets them feedback.

The Audience

So how does YouTube determine what to show you? Firstly, it looks at your viewing history- all of your past videos. If you’ve never clicked on a video before, then YouTube will create an average view for that video based off all previous views!

It also uses data from other people to make an estimation of what you might like. For example, if lots of people have rated this movie as very good, then YouTube may decide to include it in its trending list.

The last factor is actually the most important one! If someone else has made a similar article or talk about something, then YouTube will add that into the trend list under their link!

That’s why you always see ‘the same topic’ being included in many different lists; someone made a talk about that exact thing somewhere! All of these factors are weighed together, and whichever one wins becomes part of the trend list.

The Subscriber base

There is one very important factor when it comes to YouTube’s trending tools-the subscriber base. If you look at the top trended videos of any site, such as MTV or Nickelodeon, their popular content is mostly targeted towards children. This audience skews slightly more expensive than average, making these sites main sources of income.

This means that most kids have some form of access to the internet which makes it possible for them to be exposed to your channel. By exposing their children to your channel, they may become loyal viewers who watch you regularly!

By having a large amount of subscribers, your channel will contribute heavily to your revenue stream. Many people make a good chunk of money off of advertising so all of those ads would pay for yourself!

There are two ways to gain new followers. You can do sponsored posts or giveaways with your channel which usually require no payment. Or you can create engaging content and grow your audience naturally.

The Videos

Now, let’s talk about what makes a video get popular or not. First of all, you need to understand that YouTube doesn’t just show you the videos with the most views.

It shows you the ones it thinks are interesting, which is why some less famous clips end up getting more attention than big name videos.

A little known clip called “The Best Of Ham On Toast” has racked up almost 2 million views due to its catchy music and funny content.

That’s even though the main character isn’t very clear and you have to work to figure out who he/she is.

There's also no real story involved other than someone doing something weird in front of a camera!

So how does YouTube determine if there’s an audience for a new piece of content? It looks at three things: engagement (likes and comments), sharing and watching time.

Engagement indicates whether people are interested in the content – by looking at the number of likes and comments, we can tell if people found it entertaining.

Sharing time tells us if the viewer was able to pass the content onto others, while Watching Time confirms they wanted to watch it for longer than a few minutes.

The Comments

Along with all of your YouTube data, including videos and comments you’ve posted to other people’s channels, there is an additional piece of information: the comments you have left for others’ content.

This is another way that social media sites use analytics to determine what trends are happening in the community. If someone else uploaded a video about how to do something, you can leave a comment saying why this video is wrong or good. Your comment may influence other viewers to view the video either positively or negatively!

The thing about these comments is that they don’t just exist as one-off messages, they live on in some sort of loop until deleted or timed out. This is important to note because once those words are gone, so too does the opportunity to add further insight to the topic and continue building upon the conversation.

If you wanted to keep talking about that same video, you would need to reupload your own commentary which takes time and effort, not only for you, but for whoever views your channel at that moment. Therefore, the length and timing of each individual comment is very crucial in determining if its effect was short lived or longer lasting.

By looking at the patterns and correlations of comments across different users, website developers and analysts are able to find insights into what communities like yours are trying to say and how it’s changing over time.

The Likes

There is an algorithm in place that monitors how many times you click like on a video or a third-party feature such as YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook to determine what content you like.

This process is then used to determine which videos are suggested for you to watch. If you’re not into any of these suggestions, you can opt out at any time by selecting “off” under Settings -> Your Profile -> Video recommendations.

You won’t see all of the videos in the Trends list but there will be some! And even more important, none of your current favorite channels or groups will be missing unless you actively choose to remove them.

By using this tool, Google has determined that you love videos about dogs so it will surface dog related videos for you to view. Just make sure you give puppies and kitties a chance before adding them to your favorites.

The Diggs

Many people are familiar with the trending lists that show you all of the popular videos on YouTube. These lists update frequently, staying in tune with what is happening online at the time.

But how does this happen?

The answer comes down to something called engagement. We talked about engagement before, but let’s look closer at it now. When someone views your video or article, they are providing an example for other people to follow by showing an interest in yours.

As such, when many people are interested in the same thing as you, then your video will get more attention because there are still others who want to see what everyone else is watching.

This is why your video may one day find itself on the trending list!

If you wanted to try this yourself, start creating content today! If your dream is to make a living producing content, then starting right away would be best. You can always test out your material on non-monetary sites first until you find a match.