Generate Viral Video Ideas | Prompt Consulting

Most content creators produce videos that their existing audience politely watches and new audiences never discover. Viral reach is not random luck — it follows repeatable patterns: a hook that triggers curiosity or emotion in the first two seconds, a format that the platform actively promotes, a topic that lands at the intersection of what your audience cares about and what a broader audience finds universally relatable. This prompt reverse-engineers those patterns for your specific niche, audience, and platform to generate ideas with genuine reach potential — not just content your existing followers will see.

What It Does

Generates 10 high-potential video ideas across multiple content formats — education, entertainment, story, controversy, and transformation — all calibrated to your niche and the platform's current algorithmic preferences.
Maps out the hook, structure, and key moment for each idea so you know not just what to film but how to open it, how to build tension, and where to place the most shareable moment.
Identifies the specific audience signal or emotional trigger each idea is designed to capture — so you understand the logic behind each idea, not just the concept.

The Prompt

#CONTEXT:
I create video content for my business or personal brand and I want to generate ideas that have genuine viral potential — not just content that my existing audience will see, but videos designed to reach new audiences through shares, recommendations, and platform amplification. I want ideas that match my niche and credibility but that also have broad emotional or entertainment appeal beyond my core audience.

#ROLE:
You are a viral content strategist who has helped creators across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and LinkedIn Video generate tens of millions of views in niches ranging from finance and business to cooking, fitness, and education. You understand the algorithmic mechanics of each platform and the psychological drivers of sharing behavior — what makes someone stop scrolling, watch to the end, and send a video to a friend. You know the difference between content that an existing audience appreciates and content that earns new audiences.

#RESPONSE GUIDELINES:
1. Generate 10 video ideas — at least 2 in each of these formats: educational/how-to, story or case study, controversial or contrarian take, transformation or before/after, and entertainment or relatable moment.
2. For each idea, provide: the video title or working concept, the hook (first 2 seconds), the content structure in 3 bullet points, the key shareable moment, and the target emotional trigger.
3. Rank the 10 ideas by viral potential for the platform I specify, and explain the reasoning for your top 3.
4. Identify which ideas work as short-form (under 60 seconds) and which work better as long-form (3–15 minutes), and recommend the format for each.
5. For the top-ranked idea, write a full content brief: title, hook, scene-by-scene outline, CTA, and thumbnail concept.

#VIRAL VIDEO CRITERIA:
1. The hook must trigger one of three responses in the first 2 seconds: curiosity ("I need to know how this ends"), emotion (surprise, laughter, recognition), or self-relevance ("this is exactly my situation").
2. Every video must have a shareable moment — a specific insight, reveal, or emotional peak that makes a viewer want to send it to someone.
3. The topic must sit at the intersection of niche specificity and broad relatability — niche enough to feel credible, broad enough to appeal to people outside the core audience.
4. The idea must be executable with my specific equipment and skills — high-concept ideas that require a film crew are not useful.
5. Short-form ideas must deliver on their promise in under 60 seconds without padding. Long-form ideas must sustain interest through structure, not just running time.

#INFORMATION ABOUT ME:
- My niche and expertise: [NICHE — what you know and what you create content about]
- My target audience: [AUDIENCE — who watches your content and what they care about]
- My platform focus: [PLATFORM — TikTok, YouTube, Instagram Reels, LinkedIn Video, or a combination]
- My production capacity: [CAPACITY — e.g., iPhone only, talking-head setup, screen recording, professional camera]
- My content goal: [GOAL — grow audience, generate leads, build authority, drive product sales]
- What has worked before (if anything): [PAST PERFORMANCE — your best-performing videos or "starting from scratch"]

#RESPONSE FORMAT:
10 Video Ideas:

1. [Title/Concept]
Hook (2 sec): [Opening line or visual]
Structure: 
- [Point 1]
- [Point 2]  
- [Point 3]
Shareable moment: [Specific moment]
Emotional trigger: [Curiosity / Surprise / Recognition / Inspiration / Outrage]
Format: [Short-form / Long-form]

[Repeat for all 10]

Viral Potential Ranking (for [PLATFORM]):
1. Idea [N] — [Reason: algorithm fit, emotional trigger, topic breadth]
2. Idea [N] — [Reason]
3. Idea [N] — [Reason]

Full Brief for Top Idea: [Idea N]
Title: [Final working title]
Hook script: [Exact first 2 seconds]
Scene outline:
- Scene 1: [Description]
- Scene 2: [Description]
- Scene 3: [Description]
CTA: [What to say at the end]
Thumbnail concept: [Visual description]

How to Use

Describe your niche at the expertise level, not just the topic level. "I make finance videos" is too broad. "I teach 25–35 year olds how to invest their first $10,000 using index funds without paying financial advisor fees" gives the AI enough to generate targeted, credible ideas.
Mention your best-performing past video if you have one — the AI will use the pattern to generate more ideas in the same vein, which is usually more reliable than reinventing your content approach.
Be honest about your production capacity. A great idea that requires equipment or editing skills you do not have will not get made. Constraint is a creative feature, not a limitation.
Run the top-ranked idea brief through a second prompt asking the AI to write the full script — hook, body, and CTA — so you can film without improvising.

Example Input

## Information about me

- My niche: Personal finance for teachers and other public sector workers — specifically how to maximize pension benefits, use 403(b) and 457 accounts, and achieve financial independence earlier than traditional retirement age
- My target audience: Teachers and public school employees aged 28–45 who feel like their financial options are limited because of their salary, but who have access to unique government benefits they do not understand
- My platform focus: YouTube (longer form, 8–15 minutes) with clips repurposed to TikTok
- My production capacity: Ring light, decent USB microphone, able to do screen recordings and talking-head videos; no animation or studio
- My content goal: Grow YouTube subscribers and generate leads for my financial coaching service
- What has worked before: My video "The Pension Mistake 80% of Teachers Make" got 3x my average views — it had a counterintuitive claim in the title and solved a specific problem most people did not know they had

Tips

Study what went viral in adjacent niches, not just your own. The formats, hooks, and emotional triggers that work in fitness content often translate directly to productivity content or business content with slight adaptation.
The thumbnail and title are 50% of the performance. A great video with a weak thumbnail loses to a mediocre video with a perfect thumbnail every time. Plan your thumbnail before you film so the key visual moment is captured intentionally.
Constraint your hook before you extend your content. If you cannot articulate what someone will gain, feel, or learn in the first 10 seconds, the idea is not ready to film yet. The hook must be clear before the script is written.
Comment sections are your next 10 ideas. Read every comment on your best-performing videos. The questions, frustrations, and "I never knew this" reactions are a direct signal of what your audience wants more of.
Consistency of format builds algorithmic momentum. Once you find a format that works — talking head with a specific editing style, screen recording walkthroughs, story-based explanations — repeat it with different topics rather than constantly experimenting with new formats.