Are you excited about the changes coming to online video content and social media platforms in 2020? We asked the experts at vidIQ for their tips and predictions for the coming year.

What do Video Creators Need to Know for 2020?

 YouTube’s not going anywhere and neither should you.

 Tricks are not as important as understanding your value to the world. No title, thumbnail or description is going to make someone watch your entire video. Really focus on the value you bring. Discover your superpower and become a perceived thought leader in that niche.

 There is still an enormous opportunity to build an audience around your video content on YouTube - but you have to go all-in with strategy! While a handful of lucky channels generate a massive amount of views and engagement with random content, that’s not going to work for 99% of creators. Pick a focus for your channel, learn what your potential community is searching for around that topic, then create, create, create and optimize, optimize, optimize until you hit your stride.

Carla Marshall: Head of Content Marketing

 While 2020 will bring on new challenges for creators, one thing will not change; viewers on YouTube want to be entertained or educated. Your content should either entertain the person watching or teach them in some way about something they are looking for. Think about some of the reasons you watch YouTube. When you are looking to learn something, what kind of aspects of a video work best? When you are looking to be entertained, what works when you watch that awesome video that you shared with your friends? Think about the viewer first!

Travis McPherson: Customer Success Manager

 YouTube might constantly change, but the one element that is consistent is making good content people want to watch. Going into 2020 it is important to understand what you are bringing to YouTube and your channel, why would someone want to watch you over another and are you delivering value.

Liron Segev: Director of Customer Success

 Focus on timeless and perennial truths, keep on shipping videos, whether you deem them good or bad and keep honing your craft until you get really great at creating content consistently without much effort required. Your audience will give you feedback in the way of comments, views, likes, and other ways, and keep testing and improving what you’re doing. 

Mr Beast didn’t become Mr Beast overnight

, and neither will you. When you empower your analytical left brain with mastery of creating content and the shipping process, your right brain has the power to be creative and find those magical ideas that become trends.

 Unless you make videos aimed at children, don’t let COPPA and the FTC slow you down when it comes to your content schedule. Remaining optimistic on YouTube is essential when you’re trying to stay focused on your next upload.

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What Trend Are You Most Excited For in 2020?

 There are some exciting things going on with YouTube analytics. At first, like everyone else, I was resistant to the huge overhaul. But now I’m really getting into the flow of what YouTube is trying to do, which is to spell out as loudly as possible to creators: this is what’s working for your channel, do more - dare I say it, taking a page from vidIQ’s own book.

I will miss the classic studio but the time does now feel right to move on and once we do, within three months no one will remember how YouTube analytics used to look. That should free up YouTube to create even more tools.

Talking of mobile....there is a LOT in the vidIQ pipeline for 2020 and I’m looking forward to sharing it with the vidIQ community. 

Tools that complement YouTube’s analytics

 and help you grow your channels smarter and faster.

On another note, I’m as intrigued as everyone else to see how this 

 ‘thing’ is going to play out. There has been a LOT of negativity and it’s an especially challenging time for kids content creators… but amongst the chaos, I believe there is going to be opportunity. Whether or not it directly affects you as a creator, if you approach this with an open mindset and stay positive you will overcome this obstacle, just like every other one that has been put in front of you.

 I’m most excited to see how people will evolve based on new laws and changes to the algorithm. Many of the best things in life come when you have to get creative and have restrictions. The creative problem solvers might just win 2020 on YouTube.

 Two things. Firstly, the ‘Shane Dawson Effect’ on documentary commentary and long-form content. Did the YouTube audience tune in specifically because of the 

 and the drama that came with it or are we about to see an explosion of longer and more in-depth content from publishers and creators on YouTube?

Secondly, the evolution of TikTok - I’m excited to see what steps (if any) the platform will take to help creators monetize. Also, am ready to get out the popcorn and watch the mass migration of creators to other platforms if this doesn’t happen.

 In 2020 we will see more creators using other platforms to connect with audiences. This is already happening on channels where comments and notifications have been disabled.

Docuseries style content will become more mainstream and I expect more high-profile individuals such as celebrities (Will Smith) will continue to use YouTube to keep top-of-mind.

New show formats such as video podcasts will also emerge as varied content will be tried and tested to ascertain if there is a receptive audience. Phil DeFranco, HotOnes, Kevin Hart LOL Network are just some Podcast shows doing it with a twist.

 In 2020 and beyond, everyone is self-employed. That means you’re going to have a whole lot more competition because we all need our own brands and that’s exciting because that means whatever you want to teach or become, there’s usually a growing audience for it. We are responsible for our own success, no one is going to hand you success.

 Every year on YouTube the competition grows, forcing creators to come up with even more insightful, engaging, valuable videos to help them stand out. I look forward to seeing people who record gameplay videos (for example) look to find more ways to build their audience besides just playing a game.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

Blue 3D 2020 numbers with light and shadows on a smoky blue background.

2020 is going to be a huge year for online video, but what changes can we expect and what do YouTubers need to get right?

Online Video 2020: Tips and Predictions from vidIQ

Valentine's Day is just weeks away and millions of viewers will be turning to YouTube for ideas around dinners, desserts, and decor as well as inspiration for gifts and ways to treat their other half.

Of course, this offers a massive opportunity for creators to publish the exact content viewers will be looking for. Let's take a look at the top keywords and terms around Valentine’s that users on YouTube have been searching for in the past 30 days.

If your strategy is to upload content about Valentine’s Day then you need to confirm the keywords users are searching for. We did our research using the invaluable 

, and the following are the most searched for Valentine’s keywords and phrases on YouTube right now:

When are Viewers Searching for Valentine's Content on YouTube?

Of course, as a creator, you should also know when people are searching for Valentine’s Day content so you can maximize your video’s viewing potential. As with any tentpole or holiday event, interest is often specifically seasonal.

, interest from viewers in Valentine’s Day starts to peak around the end of December and lasts right through to the beginning of March. No breaking news there of course but a great strategy would be to publish 2 to 4 weeks ahead of February 14th to attract those views and engagements.

Don’t forget that tentpole content is evergreen so if you’ve published any Valentine’s Day clips on YouTube in the past, and you believe the videos are still relevant, 

update your titles and custom thumbnails to see if can leverage the interest in the content

 that always comes this way this time of year.

Finding Opportunities to Create Valentine's Content on YouTube

When viewers are searching for content on YouTube, it’s usually with a specific topic or question in mind. They want an answer for something they’ve gone searching for, and will use a core keyword as a kickoff point for more ideas.

A look at most-searched-for keywords brings up a lot of search intent around Valentine’s Day decor, so let’s take a deeper dive into what viewers are interested in around this category:

Top 10 Valentine's Day Decor Keywords: YouTube

If you want an idea of the type of Valentine’s decor inspo that YouTube viewers love, take a look at this upload, published by IDunnGoddess on January 30th 2016. It has generated over 7.8M views to date:

Top 10 Valentine's Day Treats Keywords on YouTube

Valentine’s Day content about gifts and treats is also a total winner with viewers (and creators and publishers) on YouTube. Here are the top keywords in this category:

MissRemiAshten uploaded this 9:41 minute video a couple of days before Valentine’s Day 2016 which has attracted just under a million views to date:

Striped heart-shaped gift box, pink heart cookies spelling love, rose petals on wood

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us ❤️ Here are the most searched for keywords on YouTube around this romantic tentpole event.

Top 15 Valentine's Day Keywords on YouTube

YouTube Rewind is designed to celebrate all that is good on the platform. The 2018 edition features Will Smith, Baby Shark, Ninja and many other famous YouTubers. But what was once a loved tradition now seems to be one of those lightning rod videos that people will click on and immediately dislike irrespective of the content.

Here is an explanation on why it did so bad

Marques Brownlee has a lot of great ideas and theories on why this video blew it.

Haters are always gonna hate but there just seems to be a lot more of them on YouTube these days. It wasn't always like this. People use to look forward to the annual YouTube Rewind video. In 2012-2016 millions would watch and like it and less than a hundred thousand would dislike it; a ratio of more than ninety percent in the positive.

As the years have gone by and YouTube has become global and more mainstream however, they've also been hit by bad news stories such as adpocalypse and the controversy over Logan Paul - remember he was one of a poster boys of last year's Rewind. 2017 saw a 25% drop in approval while 2018 sees the Rewind being disliked almost twice as much as it is liked.

So what's going on? More people are watching YouTube than ever before, more video creators are making more money on YouTube than ever before yet more viewers seem more disillusioned than ever before

We noticed something about YouTube Premieres

In this video we talk about our thoughts on how they used YouTube Premiers for this video and why that confused us.

We'd love to hear your constructive thoughts on why you think this is happening on YouTube. Let us know in the comments.

YouTube Rewind 2018 with 2 million dislikes and vidIQ logo overlay

People seem to really hate the YouTube rewind 2018 video. In the first 24 hours, it received over 2.35 million dislikes making it the 9th most disliked video of all time on YouTube.

YouTube Rewind 2018 Hits 2 Million Dislikes in 24 Hours

vidIQ’s Search Companion made it easy for us to put together a list top holiday in just a few minutes– the keyword research tool appears right on your YouTube search results page and reveals information on your search query including Top Related Keywords, Trending Videos, and Average Age of the videos.

We already put together a quick list of the best holiday keywords (see yesterday’s post), so we used them to find out what holiday videos are getting the most views right now. Results below:

Top 5 Holiday Videos Right Now (Watch them all)

An unexpected holiday surprise #MakeItHappen (Microsoft Lumia, 6,700 VPH)

Merry Christmas from Rodney, Tom, and Mono (Joanne Gardner, 640 VPH)

Hanukkah Explained By Christians (Buzzfeed, 640 VPH)

It’s The First Night of Hanukkah (The Ellen Show, 446 VPH)

Keywords used: Hanukkah, Christmas, Happy Holidays, Holidays, and Merry Christmas (

All of this information is at your fingertips with the vidIQ Search Companion, available to vidIQ Pro and Enterprise users. Not a Pro subscriber? 

Find out more about our products and sign up here.

Assorted wrapped gift boxes with red ribbons and gift tags on wooden background

’Tis the season for racking up video views—we took a look at the creators/videos who are trending for the holidays this year using the vidIQ Search Companion.

YouTube Insights

Online Video 2020: Tips and Predictions from vidIQ

Top 15 Valentine's Day Keywords on YouTube

YouTube Rewind 2018 Hits 2 Million Dislikes in 24 Hours

Top Trending Holiday Videos 2014

YouTube SEO For The Holidays