I Built an AI Trend Tool. Nobody Used It.
I built TrendSpotsAI because I thought it was obvious.
Creators need ideas.
The internet is noisy.
Trends move fast.
So I built a tool that scans the web every day and surfaces trends early, with short summaries you can actually read.
I launched it.
And then… nothing.
No users.
No signups.
Just me refreshing analytics like an idiot.
The Product Wasn’t the Hard Part
The tech side honestly went pretty smooth.
I already knew how to:
- Scrape and aggregate sources
- Run AI summaries
- Store and rank trends
- Ship a clean UI
That part felt comfortable. Almost fun.
What I didn’t expect was how hard it is to explain value when you’re inside your own head.
To me, the trend cards were obvious:
“This is a video idea.”
To everyone else, they looked like:
“Some trending news?”
That difference matters a lot.
“No Users” Is Weirdly Emotional
You don’t expect it to hit you, but it does.
You build something. You polish it. You hit deploy.
And then the silence makes you start questioning:
- Is this dumb?
- Am I missing something obvious?
- Do I even understand the problem?
The worst part is that nothing is technically broken.
It’s just… ignored.
The Real Problem: Framing
After stepping back (and getting some blunt feedback), it clicked.
TrendSpotsAI wasn’t failing because:
- The data was bad
- The AI was weak
- The UI was broken
It was failing because I wasn’t telling creators why they should care.
I was saying:
“Here are trends.”
Creators need to hear:
“Here is your next post.”
Same product. Totally different meaning.
The Changes I’m Making
No big pivot. No rebuild. Just clarity.
1. Stop saying “AI-powered insights”
Nobody wakes up wanting insights.
I changed the headline to something boring but true:
Never run out of content ideas.
Because that’s the actual job the product does.
2. Reframe the trend cards
The cards were already there, but they felt like news.
Now the framing is:
“Today’s trends creators are turning into content”
Same cards. Different lens.
I also changed labels like:
- “Why it’s trending”
to - “Why creators care”
That one line alone changes how you read the whole page.
3. Add permission
Creators don’t just need ideas — they need permission to act.
So I added tiny hints like:
Good for: Short-form video · Thread · Newsletter
It’s subtle, but it tells your brain:
“Yes, you can post about this.”
What I Learned (The Hard Way)
Building is the easy part.
Marketing isn’t ads or growth hacks — it’s translation. It’s taking what feels obvious to you and making it obvious to someone who just landed on your site 6 seconds ago.
If your product has no users, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s bad. It might just be quiet.
What’s Next
I’m keeping TrendSpotsAI small and focused:
- Built for content creators
- About early ideas, not late trends
- Signal over noise
If it works, great. If not, I’ll learn again.
That’s kind of the deal.
— Andrew