apify-trend-analysis_skill

Overview

This skill helps discover and track emerging trends across Google Trends, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to inform content strategy. It orchestrates Apify Actors to fetch platform-specific signals, normalize results, and export summaries in quick, CSV, or JSON formats. Designed for content strategists, social managers, and researchers who need repeatable trend extraction and exportable results.

How this skill works

Select the appropriate Actor for the platform and trend type, fetch the Actor input schema with mcpc, then run the included script to execute the Actor with your chosen input. The workflow supports three output modes: quick chat summary, CSV export, or JSON export, and returns both raw results and a short summary of key insights. Error messages guide you to fix missing tokens, missing tools, or Actor issues.

When to use it

• When you need fast validation of a content idea across multiple social platforms
• When building weekly trend reports or content briefs from platform data
• When tracking specific hashtags, sounds, or marketplace/product trends
• When you need exportable datasets (CSV/JSON) for downstream analysis
• When monitoring short-form or discovery-driven content (Reels, Shorts, TikTok)

Best practices

• Identify the specific trend type first and choose the matching Actor from the checklist
• Fetch the Actor input schema with mcpc to know required parameters before running
• Use the quick answer mode for exploratory checks and CSV/JSON for archival analysis
• Limit input scope to avoid timeouts; increase timeout or split jobs for large crawls
• Keep your .env with APIFY_TOKEN secure and install mcpc globally (npm install -g @apify/mcpc)

Example use cases

• Run Google Trends Actor to compare search interest for two competing product names and export CSV for team analysis
• Track a TikTok sound and hashtag combo weekly to identify rising creators and reuse opportunities
• Scrape Instagram hashtag post metadata to quantify visual trends and top-performing captions
• Monitor Facebook Marketplace listings for emerging product demand signals
• Collect YouTube Shorts trending videos by hashtag to inform short-form content briefs