Listen up, okay? The next viral product is hiding in plain sight right now, and your competitors are already looking for it. The difference between you finding it and your competitors is knowing exactly where to look.
Hey everyone, Michelle Bali here with Learn with Shopify, and today I'm breaking down something I'm genuinely excited about. Finding products that are about to blow up before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. In the next 10 minutes, I'm giving you my personal playbook, five proven methods to spot trending products before your competition even knows they exist.
From completely free tools anyone can use to real world tactics I've seen work time and time again. So, let's get into it. Before I dive into the methods, let's get clear on what actually makes a product trending.
Because there's a big difference between [music] a true trend and just like a fleeting fad or a micro trend, right? A truly trending product has three [music] key things. High demand that's actively growing, increasing search volume, people looking for it more and more.
And genuine buzz on social media, not just ads, but people actually talking about it. Here's what I personally look for. Does it solve a current problem people are actually [music] experiencing?
Does it have that I need to show this to my friends viral potential? Is a [music] search trend consistently going up, not just spiking because of a season or a holiday? And let's be real here for one second.
Can you make money on it? Because I know you guys watching aren't here to learn ring around the rosie. I know you want to make money.
So, I'm talking about profit margins that actually make sense. Here's the thing most people miss. Timing is absolutely everything with trending products.
Jump in too early and you're educating a market that's not ready to buy. jump in too late and you're fighting with a hundred other sellers in a race to the bottom on price. Neither is really a place you want to be.
Imagine selling a fidget spinner now. Or imagine trying to sell Blackberry cases at a time like this. Okay, are you ready to learn how to find trending products?
Oo, I'm so excited. Okay, come close. I'm going to show you here on my screen.
Let's start with the easiest one. Google Trends. Seriously, this free tool is gold.
I'm shocked how many people still don't use it. Um, okay. So just type in product keywords you're curious about and look at the 12 month view.
See that pattern? That's what you're analyzing. But it gets super interesting when you start comparing multiple related products and you start comparing them side by side like this.
Like let's say for example I want to add Hydro Flask. Now I'm going to compare it to say Stanley Cup. See how one is generally steady while the other had a huge spike and then dropped off.
That is the difference between a trend and a fad right there. And look out for red flag products. Anything with a consistently downward trend or something that's only hot for like two weeks each year that's going to be seasonal that's not trending.
If you've never used Google Trends before, just Google it. Free to use. Love it.
Let's move on. Okay, so here's where it gets fun. Social media is literally always showing you what's about to blow up.
You just need to know where to look on Tik Tok. Do not search hashtags, guys. That is amateur hour.
Get on your for you page [music] and train the algorithm by engaging with product related content. Then watch for videos that have that explosive view count. And I'm talking millions of views on random products.
Now for Instagram, the explorer page is going to be your secret weapon. Instagram's algorithm is good at showing you what's gaining traction in categories that you actually care about. Also, watch for products that keep showing up in multiple influencers content organically, not just paid promotions.
I even like to scroll over to reals to see what's popping in my feed for a product category like beauty products. And do not sleep on YouTube, guys. I could talk about this for days because this method is so so good.
Look for videos of product reviews and unboxings that are suddenly just getting tons of views from creators who don't actually normally have that amount of reach. That is going to be a clear signal that that specific video is trending. In recent years, founders have bragged about finding some of their most profitable products just scrolling through Reddit.
Reddit users are literally telling you what they want to buy. So, check out subreddits like shut up and take my money and didn't know I wanted that. These are literally dedicated to cool products people are discovering.
But also look at niche communities related to your market. The key to finding what's trending is looking for posts with tons of up votes and comments like, "Where can I buy this? " And definitely make sure though that these posts are recent.
[music] Facebook groups are good too, especially entrepreneur groups where people often share their winning products and Discord service guys, particularly for gaming, tech, and hobby communities. These are like early warning systems for trending products. I am literally gagged.
Look at this outlet extender that comes above couch height. 17k out votes. See, if only we thought of this a year ago, we could have really had something here, you and I.
So, timing, guys, is everything with these products. Now, let's get a little more advanced. Google Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account, though you'll get more detailed data if you're running active campaigns.
Even with a limited version, you can still spot trends. What you're looking for is keywords with strong [music] six-month growth patterns, not just high volume. That's often too competitive, but growth over time.
For example, searching Jorts might show related terms like capries [music] that are trending up over recent months. These growing search terms are going to be your gold mine. Now, that was a bit of a niche fashion example, but the point is, I'm thinking of adding capries to my cart, and so is the rest of America because these are trending products.
You can also use this for seasonal planning. Look at search trends from last year to predict what will be hot in upcoming seasons. Whether you're selling jorts, capries, iPhone cases, puzzles, you name it.
You're going to need a platform to make those sales. So, check out Shopify's free trial right over here and in the description box down below to give it a little test spin. And if you have any Capri recommendations, drop it in the comments section.
Back to it. Once you've got some product ideas, you're going to need to validate them before going allin. I'll walk you through my quick validation process using a professional SEO tool like hrefs or SEM Rush.
First, check the search volume. Here in Keyword Explorer, I'm going to type in our potential product keyword. And then the first number I look for is the [music] main search volume metric.
I generally look for at least a,000 monthly searches. Less than that and you might struggle to find enough customers. Next, I scroll down to the historical performance graph.
This is where you separate a real trend from a temporary fad. You want to see a consistent upward trend over at least six months, not just a sudden spike that could just [music] disappear as fast, right? And then finally, check the competition balance.
Look right next to the search volume for a metric called keyword difficulty or KD. This score usually is color-coded. It's going to tell you how hard it is to compete.
You want that sweet spot. enough demand to show the market is real, but a low KD score, ideally in the green, so that you don't need a massive budget to stand out. So, let me show you a perfect example.
I'm going to type in jorts. Okay, so look at this. The search volume is over a,000.
Check. The keyword difficulty is low and in the green. Check.
And now the graph when I trace this trend line, you can see it has grown from pretty low monthly searches to here in just 5 months, which is great. Speaking of trends, please let me know what are some of the worst trends or fads [music] that you participated in. As a consumer, I will go first.
As a teen, I was a throw pillow enthusiast. White ones, brown ones, circular, rectangular. There were so many throw pillows on the bed.
It was unhinged. I know a lot of you will have participated in the Beanie Baby collectibles craze. Perhaps some leg warmers, maybe a mullet even.
Although, I will say I did love the recent resurgence of the mullet a few years ago. Very chic. Leave them down below.
Not ready to invest in inventory? Here are three quick tests that I use. Test number one, run a small Facebook ad campaign.
Just $20 to $50 is enough. And create an ad for the product and see what the click-through rate is. Anything above 2% is promising.
[music] Test number two, build a simple landing page for the product and drive some traffic [music] to it. Use a heat map tool. You can see if people are actually clicking the buy button and that's going to show real purchase intent.
Test number three, my personal favorite. Create a coming soon page with an email signup. If people are willing to give their email to be notified when it launches, that is solid proof of interest.
Here are some red flags to avoid. Let me save you some heartache with these red flags that I've learned, unfortunately, the hard way. Watch out for fads versus trends.
Okay, this is a trap. If something seems too viral too fast, like fidget spinners were, it might be gone before your inventory even arrives. Be careful with products that might have legal issues like patent infringements, trademark problems, or regulatory concerns.
That cheap knockoff might seem profitable until you get a cease and desist letter. [music] And please, please check saturation. If you search the product on Google and see a thousand plus sellers already, especially if they're all running ads, you're probably too late to the party.
Now, let's put this all into a practical action plan that you can start today. First, create a weekly research routine. Dedicate 2 to three hours each week to spotting trends across these methods that we just talked about.
Consistency beats intensity here. It's better to spend 30 minutes daily than 5 hours once a month. Don't rely on just one method.
I recommend using at least three to four different approaches and looking for products that show up across multiple methods. So when Google Trends, Reddit, and Amazon are all signaling that same product category, that's when you pay attention. Create a simple documentation system, even a spreadsheet [music] where you just track product ideas with columns for trend signals, competition level, and profit potential.
That's amazing. That's a great place to start. And give each product a score from 1 to 10 on these factors.
For testing, give yourself a realistic timeline, 2 to 4 weeks minimum, to properly validate a trend. Rushing this process is how you end up with inventory that nobody wants. And please, guys, please calculate your profit margins properly.
I generally look for products where I can price at least 2 to 3x my cost, but this varies by industry. The important thing is leaving enough margin to cover marketing, shipping, and still make a profit. And yeah, guys, that is it.
We've just covered five incredibly powerful methods to find winning products for your store. If you're just starting out, focus on methods 1, 2, and three this week. They're free, they're easy [music] to use, and incredibly powerful when used together.
For those of you with a bit more experience, try combining five or more methods for maximum accuracy, the more confirmation signals you get across different channels. The more confident you can be in your product selection. [music] Remember guys, consistency and patience beat rushing to the market every [music] single time.
It's better to launch a well-ressearched product next month [music] than a guest tomorrow. If you're using Shopify for your store, definitely check out product research apps in the Shopify app store. There are several good ones like Product Mafia and Ecom Hunt that can automate a lot [music] of this research process.
And then there's also Sell the Trend which will work great alongside Shopify. That's going to help you find products you can then easily add to your store. I'm super curious guys, what trending product opportunities have you guys spotted using these methods.
Drp them in the comment section down below. And if you want more content just like this, hit that subscribe button and the notification bell. I loved our little hang today, guys.
I'm Michelle. This is Learn with Shopify. and I will see you guys in the next one.
Bye.
