How to find videos that are working in your niche
The fastest way to make a short video that works is to start from one that already does. A format that keeps people watching on TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts has already been tested on a real audience. When you borrow its hook or its structure, you start from proof instead of a guess.
Finding those videos by hand takes a lot of time. You can browse TikTok's Creative Center, search your category's keywords on each app, and scroll your For You page. But the feed is tuned to you, not to your market, and most of what's popular has nothing to do with what you sell. A useful search does three things:
- It looks where your buyers watch. That means searching TikTok, Reels, and Shorts for the words your customers use, along with the video ads competitors are paying to run.
- It checks the proof. A celebrity's ordinary post can rack up millions of views. A small creator's video that gets ten times their usual views has usually found something that works.
- It separates what transfers from what doesn't. The hook, the pacing, and the shape of the story can carry over to your brand. The creator's face, lines, music, and jokes stay with them.
That last step is where most video inspiration falls apart. A saved folder of viral clips doesn't tell you what your version would look like. The work only pays off when each reference comes with a concrete idea your brand can actually make.
This job suits an AI agent because it needs both search and judgment. The agent has to read dozens of videos quickly, and it also has to know your product, your customers, and what you can honestly claim. Kite is an AI marketer. It researches your business, builds a growth strategy, and ships the work that brings you new customers. It already knows your business from its research, so it can judge which videos fit and how you'd adapt them. Here's how.
How Kite finds trending videos for your brand to adapt
Kite starts from what it learned about your company when you signed up, including your products, your customers, your competitors, and your brand voice. Ask it something like "Find TikToks and Reels that are working for meal-prep brands," and it turns that into searches using the words your buyers would type.
Kite then searches the platforms that fit the request and studies the most promising videos closely enough to say what makes them work. It narrows them down to the few that fit your brand and writes an adaptation for each one. When you pick a reference, Kite saves it with its adaptation so it can carry straight into a video brief.
- Search the platforms where your buyers watch
- Judge whether a video is actually working
- Study what makes each video work
- Turn each reference into an idea for your brand
- Make the video and see how it performs
- Keep a fresh supply of references
Search the platforms where your buyers watch
Kite searches each platform for the kind of video you need. It looks at TikTok and Instagram Reels for social formats, YouTube Shorts for short-form hooks, and longer YouTube videos when you want ideas for a product demo or a launch story. It can also pull the video ads running in your category, or the ads a named competitor is running, because a video ad that keeps running is one that company keeps paying for.
On TikTok and YouTube, Kite runs the searches itself with its built-in research tools, so you don't need an account on either platform. For Instagram, it reads the public Reels its web research turns up and any Reel you send it. For each video, it reads the creator, caption, view count, and other engagement numbers, along with a transcript of what's said.
Kite looks at the past seven days first, unless you ask for a different window. If that week turns up nothing strong, it widens the search to the past 30 days and tells you it did. Older videos you send it are still useful as style examples, and Kite treats them that way rather than as current trends.
Judge whether a video is actually working
A view count tells you a video was popular. It doesn't tell you the video is rising, or that it would work for a brand like yours. Kite records the platform, the date the video was posted, the date it checked the numbers, and exactly what each number measures. Then it tells you which kind of evidence it has:
- A measured trend. The video ranks high within a defined search, or Kite has seen its numbers climb over time.
- A popular example. The video has strong numbers, but nothing yet shows it's still growing.
- An unverified result. Kite found the video through web search and couldn't confirm its numbers on the platform itself.
Kite compares videos only with others on the same platform and in the same search, because a Short and a TikTok aren't measured the same way. When Kite researches references for a video it's making and its search turns up several videos from the same creator, it also compares each one with that creator's others. A line like "7.7× its usual reach" means the video did nearly eight times better than that creator's typical post. That number usually says more than raw views, because a big account's ordinary post can outperform a small creator's breakout without having found anything new.
Ads get the same care. An ad that has been running for weeks shows that the advertiser keeps paying for it, but it doesn't prove the ad converts. Kite says so when it shows you one.
Study what makes each video work
Kite looks inside each promising video before it recommends it. Where it can, it checks the opening hook, the sequence of shots, the words on screen, the audio, the pacing, and how the product is shown. The first few seconds get the closest look, because that's where a short video wins or loses its viewer.
Kite is clear about how much it could see. A transcript shows what was said, and a thumbnail shows one frame, but neither one shows the cuts or the camera work. When Kite has only part of a video to go on, it labels the reference as partly inspected and keeps its advice to what it actually observed.
For a long YouTube video, Kite points you to the useful moment with a timestamp. You don't have to watch a 20-minute demo to find the 15 seconds worth borrowing.
Turn each reference into an idea for your brand
Every reference Kite recommends comes with an original version for your brand. Kite separates the parts of the video that can carry over from the parts that belong to the creator.
The parts that carry over include the main device, such as a "things that just make sense" list, a before-and-after reveal, or a deadpan reaction. The shot order, the edit rhythm, and the way sound is used carry over too. The parts that stay with the source include the creator's words, characters, music, brand, and any scene people would recognize as theirs. Kite writes the adaptation using claims your business can support and material you could actually use.
Here's an example. Say you sell glass meal-prep containers, and Kite finds a TikTok from a home cook titled "things in my kitchen that just make sense." It runs 18 seconds, cuts to a new item every two seconds, and has a caption that names each item in five words or fewer. The video has 1.4 million views, about nine times that creator's usual. Kite's adaptation for you is "things in a Sunday meal prep that just make sense." It shows your containers stacking, going from the freezer straight into the oven, and fitting a full week of lunches on one fridge shelf. The footage comes from your product photos and demo clips, with original sound. The list device and the fast cutting carry over, while the creator's kitchen, voice, and song stay with them.
Kite returns up to three references, usually with one clear recommendation. It leaves out weak matches rather than padding the list. Each reference includes:
- the original link and the creator
- the part of the video Kite inspected
- the performance evidence, and what that evidence actually measures
- the pattern that makes the video work
- why it fits your brand and audience
- the original version Kite proposes, and the material it would need
If nothing fits in the window Kite searched, it says so plainly. It also tells you if a platform or source wasn't available, so an empty search is never mistaken for a market where nothing is working.
Make the video and see how it performs
When you pick a reference, Kite saves it and its adaptation to your team's knowledge base. If you then ask for the video, the brief carries the reference, the moment Kite studied, the adaptation, and any limits on the evidence. That way the finished video is built on the structure you chose rather than a loose memory of it.
Kite can make the short video from there. It uses your own website images, product shots, and footage first, and it generates only the voice, sound, or scenes the story still needs. Kite uses original sound or cleared library music rather than a trending song, because brand accounts can only post cleared music, and a track cleared on TikTok isn't automatically cleared on Instagram or YouTube. Picking a format never gives Kite permission to reuse the creator's footage or likeness.
With your Instagram Business or Creator account connected, Kite can publish the finished video as a Reel. With your YouTube channel connected, it can upload the video as a Short. Kite brings each post to you first and publishes once you approve it. Afterward, it reads the views, reach, likes, and comments on the post and records what worked, so the next search starts from formats that have already worked for you.
Keep a fresh supply of references
What works on short-form video changes from week to week, so a one-time search goes stale quickly. You can ask Kite to run the same search on a schedule, such as every Monday morning for your category and your three main competitors. Each run looks at the newest videos and brings back only the references strong enough to act on.
The results arrive as a new conversation in the Kite web app. If your team uses Slack, they can go to a channel you choose, and teams without Slack can get them by email from your team's Kite address.
What you get
Up to three strong references
Each one has its link, creator, the moment worth studying, and performance evidence labeled for what it measures.
A breakdown of why each video works
You see the hook, pacing, on-screen text, audio, and product moment Kite observed, with a note when it could inspect only part of the video.
An adaptation for your brand
For each reference, you get an original version built on claims you can support and material you have, with a clear line between what you borrow and what stays with the creator.
A clear recommendation
Kite tells you which reference it would make first, or tells you plainly when nothing in the searched window is strong enough.
A path to the finished video
The reference you pick carries into a video brief, so Kite can make the video, post it once you approve it, and learn from the results.
How to get started
Tell Kite what you want to find in plain language. You might say, "Find TikToks that are working for skincare brands this week," "Show me Reels from coffee shops that I could adapt," or "What YouTube Shorts are our competitors' customers watching?" You can work with Kite in your browser or in Slack.
Kite uses what it knows about your business to choose the search terms and the platforms. If you have a specific window, market, or language in mind, or a video you already like, include it in the request and Kite will work from it.
You don't need to connect anything for the research itself, because Kite's built-in research covers TikTok, YouTube, public Reels, and video ads. Connect Instagram or YouTube when you want Kite to post the videos it makes from your references and read how they perform.
Integrations used to find trending videos to adapt
Kite finds and studies reference videos with its own built-in research, so the search needs no accounts. It reads public videos on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, including transcripts and engagement numbers, and it pulls the video ads running in your category. Connecting your own social accounts lets Kite post the videos it makes from those references and learn from the results.
Post Reels and read how they perform
Common questions
Where can I find trending TikTok videos for free?
TikTok's Creative Center is the official free option. It shows top ads, trending hashtags, songs, and creators, and you can filter by region and industry. You can also search TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube directly for your category's keywords. The catch is that each of these shows you what's popular, not what fits your brand, and none of them suggests how you'd adapt a video. Kite does that part. It searches for you, checks the evidence, and writes an adaptation for each reference.
What is the three-second rule on TikTok?
The three-second rule is the common advice that a short video has about three seconds to give someone a reason to keep watching. It's why so many strong videos open on the payoff, a face mid-sentence, or the problem itself rather than on a logo. When Kite studies a reference, it looks hardest at that opening. When it makes a video, it puts the hook on screen as short text and makes sure the point is clear by the third second.
Is it OK to copy a trending video for my brand?
Borrowing a format is normal on short-form video. Copying someone's content isn't. A list structure, a reveal, a reaction, or a pacing pattern is fair to reuse. The creator's footage, words, characters, and signature scenes belong to them. Music needs extra care, because business accounts generally can't use trending or chart songs. Kite builds every adaptation around the borrowed structure only, and it uses original sound or cleared library music.
Can Kite search Instagram Reels the same way it searches TikTok?
Kite runs searches on TikTok and YouTube directly. For Instagram, it reads the public Reels its web research finds and any Reel you send it, including the caption, creator, engagement numbers, and a transcript. It also sees the video ads running on Instagram through Meta's ad library. If you already follow accounts whose Reels you'd like to learn from, send Kite the links and it will study them alongside its own search.
Can Kite find video ads that are working in my category?
Yes. Kite pulls the video ads competitors are running on Meta, along with ads that match your category's keywords. It shows you how long each ad has been running, its copy, and its landing page. A long-running ad shows that the advertiser keeps paying for it, though it doesn't prove the ad converts. For a deeper look at a competitor's advertising, see competitor ad research, and for turning references into paid creative, see make video ads.