/trending-ad-hook-spotter

name: trending-ad-hook-spotter
description: >
  Monitor Twitter/X, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Hacker News for trending narratives,
  viral posts, and hot-button topics in your space. Maps trends to ad hook
  opportunities with timing urgency scores. Tells you what to run ads about
  right now while the topic is hot.
tags: [ads]

Trending Ad Hook Spotter

Scan social platforms for what's trending in your space right now — viral posts, hot debates, breaking news, memes — and translate each trend into a concrete ad hook you can run while the topic is still hot.

**Core principle:** The highest-performing ads ride cultural and industry moments. This skill finds those moments before your competitors do and tells you exactly how to capitalize.

When to Use

• "What's trending in our space that we could run ads about?"
• "Find viral hooks for our paid campaigns"
• "What topics are hot in [industry] right now?"
• "I want to ride a trend with a paid campaign"
• "What should we be running ads about this week?"

Prerequisites

• **Environment variable:** `APIFY_API_TOKEN` — required for Reddit scraping (optional if using only web_search + HN API)
• **Web search access** — your AI agent must support `web_search` or equivalent for Twitter/X and LinkedIn lookups
• **No API key needed** for Hacker News (Algolia HN API is free and public)

Phase 0: Intake

1. **Your product** — Name + one-line description 2. **Industry/category** — What space are you in? (e.g., "AI sales tools", "developer infrastructure") 3. **ICP keywords** — 5-10 keywords that define your buyer's world 4. **Competitor names** — So we can spot when they become part of a trend 5. **Platforms to scan** (default: all):

• Twitter/X
• Reddit (specific subreddits if known)
• LinkedIn
• Hacker News

6. **Content velocity** — How fast can you create ads? (Same-day / 2-3 days / Weekly)

Phase 1: Social Scanning

1A: Twitter/X Trend Scan (web_search)

Use web_search with `site:x.com` or `site:twitter.com` to find trending posts — no scraper or credentials needed:

# Industry trending topics
web_search: "<industry keyword> (viral OR trending OR hot take OR thread) site:x.com"

# Competitor mentions (momentum signals)
web_search: "<competitor1> OR <competitor2> (raised OR launched OR shut down OR acquired OR outage) site:x.com"

# Pain/frustration spikes
web_search: "<category> (broken OR frustrating OR tired of OR switched from) site:x.com"

Run 3-5 queries to cover:

• Industry trending topics and hot takes
• Competitor momentum signals (launches, outages, funding)
• Pain/frustration spikes in the category
• Viral threads with high engagement

Score each tweet/thread by engagement velocity (likes + retweets relative to account size and age).

1B: Reddit Trend Scan (Apify)

Use the `trudax/reddit-scraper-lite` actor to scan relevant subreddits for hot posts:

**Browse specific subreddits (for trending/hot posts):**

POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/trudax~reddit-scraper-lite/runs?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "startUrls": [
    {"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/SUBREDDIT1/hot/"},
    {"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/SUBREDDIT2/hot/"}
  ],
  "maxItems": 30
}

**Search by keyword (for specific topics):**

POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/trudax~reddit-scraper-lite/runs?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "searches": ["<industry keyword> OR <competitor>"],
  "maxItems": 30
}

Poll until the run finishes:

GET https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/trudax~reddit-scraper-lite/runs/{RUN_ID}?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN

When `status` is `SUCCEEDED`, fetch results:

GET https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/{DATASET_ID}/items?token=$APIFY_API_TOKEN

**Output fields:** Each item has `dataType` ("post" or "comment"), `title` (posts only), `body`, `communityName`, `upVotes`, `numberOfComments` (posts), `url`, `createdAt`.

Look for:

• Posts with unusually high upvote/comment ratios
• "What do you use for [X]?" threads (buying intent)
• Complaint threads about incumbents
• "I just switched from X to Y" posts

1C: LinkedIn Trend Scan (web_search)

Use web_search with `site:linkedin.com/posts` to find high-engagement KOL posts — no scraper or credentials needed:

web_search: "<industry keyword> site:linkedin.com/posts"
web_search: "<competitor_name> site:linkedin.com/posts"
web_search: "<KOL_name> <industry keyword> site:linkedin.com/posts"
web_search: "<trending topic> site:linkedin.com/pulse"

Run queries for:

• 5-10 key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the space — search their names + topic keywords
• Industry-level keyword searches to find viral posts
• Competitor mentions from thought leaders

Identify high-engagement posts on topics relevant to your product category.

1D: Hacker News Scan (Algolia HN API)

Use the free Algolia HN Search API — no API key needed:

**Search for relevant stories:**

GET https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search?query=KEYWORD&tags=story&hitsPerPage=20

**Search for recent stories (past 7 days):**

GET https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search?query=KEYWORD&tags=story&numericFilters=created_at_i>UNIX_TIMESTAMP_7_DAYS_AGO&hitsPerPage=20

**Get front page stories (current trending):**

GET https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search?tags=front_page&hitsPerPage=30

The response includes `points`, `num_comments`, `title`, `url`, and `created_at` for each story. Sort by `points` to find the highest-engagement discussions.

Run queries for:

• Each ICP keyword
• Each competitor name
• The product category
• Check front page for anything tangentially related

Phase 2: Trend Identification & Scoring

Trend Detection Framework

Group collected signals into trends. A "trend" is:

• A topic appearing across 2+ platforms within the past 7 days
• A single post/thread with exceptional engagement (10x+ the norm)
• A breaking event (funding, acquisition, outage, launch) with cascading conversation

Score Ea