How to Create Trending Digital Content in 2026

Audiences are nostalgic for 'the old web' and yearn for content that feels timeless. Many creators are already starting to tap into this by dropping trends and focusing more on evergreen material like vlogs and storytime videos, or reviving retro aesthetics (although this itself is likely simply a present trend). You don't want to waste important time creating videos for the sake of hopping on a trend audiences don't desire to see it anyhow.

Don't feel forced to post every day. Instead, focus on top quality content that reflects your craft and worths. Do not simply hop on the fond memories trend usage throwback referrals or older music styles just if they match your story. Choose those that align with your brand name and avoid the rest.

I utilize AI to develop social media content every single day, but most likely not in the method you're believing. Instead of typing in a prompt and then publishing, AI is woven into almost every phase of how I think, prepare, style, and ship material.

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A year ago, my AI use appeared like the majority of people's: open ChatGPT, ask it to compose a caption, get something generic back, rewrite the whole thing anyhow, and wonder what the point was. The issue wasn't the tools, it was that I was using them one-dimensionally when the genuine take advantage of was all over else.

Not because AI was composing better posts for me, but since I was writing better posts with AI managing the friction. I have actually tested a great deal of tools. These are the 14 that stuck, arranged by where in my workflow they come in, beginning well before I open a blank page.

I'm a company follower that the quality of my content is directly tied to the quality of what I consume. Compared to the quantity of time and energy I have, there are unlimited quantities of material and connections to be made. This is where this tool comes in: they assist make that procedure simpler and more repeatable.

Where I wish to break away remains in making connections and having a special perspective, so my content does not feel acquired. Sublime assists me do that. When you save something to Sublime a quote, a link, an image, a note it right away surfaces associated ideas from other individuals's libraries. Sublime's creator, Sari Azout, calls this "communal understanding management."In practice, it feels less like a productivity tool and more like browsing the reading lists of the most fascinating individuals you understand.

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Sari's framing is one I come back to frequently: the secret to much better AI output isn't better triggers it's much better inputs. There's a genuine distinction between asking AI to "compose me something about individual branding" and handing it 40 concepts you have actually been collecting about identity, craft, and audience-building and asking it to discover the thread.

Or I'll drop them onto a digital infinity board and begin having fun with the flow rearranging concepts, including my own notes and external context up until a shape emerges. It does need active engagement. You have to sit with what it surfaces, not simply wait to a folder you'll never ever reopen.

Sometimes I require to draw out structure from my own rambling I talked through a concept, and now I require to find what's in fact worth keeping. Other times I've got the opposite problem: spread referrals across tabs, notes, and half-watched videos, and I require to manufacture them into something coherent that still sounds like me.

Turning spoken ideas into structured starting pointsGranola is technically a conference transcription tool it captures audio straight from my device (no awkward bot joining the call) and utilizes AI to turn raw discussion into arranged notes. However that's not why it's on this list. The use case I lean into for Granola is considering loud.

What I get back isn't just a records. It's a beginning point. When concepts won't await a hassle-free minute, so you just interrupt everybody (my team has actually been very patient with me) This is how I use Granola to stay present in conferences without losing every thought that pops up.

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Granola makes that instinct productive. It's just listening and organizing.

I drag in YouTube videos, TikToks, short articles, PDFs, voice notes whatever raw material I'm working with and arrange it into groups that the AI can pull from simultaneously.

I utilize it primarily for scripting YouTube videos, short-form material, anything where I want the output to really sound like me instead of generic AI-speak. My typical setup looks like this: Examples of my own previous content (this teaches it my voice) Recommendation videos I want to study not to copy, but to find out from their structure, hooks, pacing The working draft, where the AI pulls from both groups simultaneouslyThat tail end is what makes it click.

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It's manufacturing my voice from Group 1 with the structural patterns from Group 2. The output still requires modifying, but I'm starting from something that seems like me riffing on concepts I really care about not a generic script template. I can also access several designs (ChatGPT, Claude) within the same work space, which is useful when I desire to compare outputs or utilize various designs for different parts of the procedure.

The real tool beneath is more thoughtful than its landing page recommends, but it's a meaningful financial investment. Strategies are yearly just with a credit-based system, so it deserves screening within the 30-day money-back guarantee before you go all in.Price: From $400/year (yearly billing just; 30-day money-back guarantee) Here's what I have actually found works much better than asking AI to compose my material: asking it to assist me think through my content.

: Strategic sparring and seeing ideas before I develop themClaude is my thinking partner. What makes Claude distinctively beneficial for content work is the mix of deep reasoning and the ability to in fact show me things.

However it can also imagine what we're going over: model a websites design, mock up a report structure, develop a working preview of a landing page. I'm not just discussing ideas in the abstract. I'm taking a look at them. For our upcoming State of Social Engagement report, I went back and forth with Claude over several rounds until the structure clicked.

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That iterative procedure is where the genuine thinking occurred. I have actually also used it to prototype websites designs before sharing concepts with my team. Having the ability to see the structure, not simply describe it, helps me come to discussions much better prepared. The sparring only works if I actually push back, though.