Launched on Valentine's Day in 2005 by 3 Paypal employees as a video sharing website, YouTube has changed the way video is delivered online. It's a platform that has given some users worldwide recognition (who doesn't remember “Chocolate Rain”) as well as paying out millions of dollars in royalties to users every year.
Over a billion users watch almost 5 billion videos every day on YouTube. As a promotional tool, it's a must use channel if you produce any type of video, whether it's “explainer videos” for your products or a recruiting video for your business.
On November 13, 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion, making it Google's second largest acquisition. In the years since, YouTube has grown to be one of the most visited websites on the Internet.
If you're still not sure if YouTube is that right video channel for your marketing efforts, here are 25 more YouTube statistics that can help you to understand the power and reach of this amazing website!
YouTube Statistics: Users
YouTube has captured the major marketing demographic of users between 18-49 years old.
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6 out of 10 people prefer online video to TV (Think with Google)
Online video streaming is growing every year. It's estimated that by 2025, half of viewers under 32 will not subscribe to a pay-TV service.
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In an average month 8 out of 10 18-49 year olds watch YouTube (Think with Google)
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In 2015, 18-49 year olds spent 4% less time watching TV while time spent on YouTube increased 74% (Think with Google)
Online video consumption is continuing to grow every year and YouTube is the top choice.
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YouTube reaches more 18-49 year olds that any broadcast or network TV station (Think with Google)
Are you noticing a trend here? If you are trying to reach that critical 18-49 year old demographic, YouTube is their gathering place.
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YouTube is navigable in 76 different languages in 88 countries across the globe covering 95% of the Internet population (YouTube)
This is one of the most interesting YouTube statistics. YouTube is a global phenomena and uploading to YouTube potentially opens your product up to a worldwide market!
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Daniel Middleton, known online as DanTDM, is the highest earning YouTuber, bringing in $16.5 million in 2017 (Forbes)
People and businesses are making residual income from their YouTube channels. For businesses, video content can significantly drive traffic and increase sales when distributed through YouTube.
YouTube Statistics: Usage
YouTube boasts some of the most impressive usage statistics of any online business!
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YouTube is the second largest search engine and third most visited site in the world after Google and Facebook
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500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute (Notta)
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Viewers watch over 1 billions hours of YouTube videos every day (YouTube)
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More than half of these views come from mobile devices (FortuneLords)
If you don't have a mobile marketing plan in place that includes video, you should!
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The First video to hit 1,000,000 views was a Nike ad (YouTube)
Ten Years ago, this video broke the Internet!
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The current video with the highest number of views is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee with over 4.7 BILLION views. It reached 1 Billion views in just 97 days!
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The time people spend watching YouTube on their TV has more than doubled in the last year (Think with Google)
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The average YouTube viewing session lasts more than 40 minutes (YouTube)
If you're looking for eyes, YouTube users are dedicated to the platform.
YouTube Statistics: Marketing
YouTube is an impressive marketing channel. With a little planning YouTube can be an inexpensive way to drive traffic, increase conversions and close sales.
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Millennials are YouTube fanatics! YouTube accounts for 2/3 of the premium online video watched across devices by millennials (Think with Google)
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9% of small businesses in the United States use YouTube (FortuneLords)
With only 9% of small business using YouTube as a marketing channel, there's plenty of room for growth!
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The number of channels earning 6 figures each year has increased by 50% year over year (YouTube)
These are royalty/licensing payments, not direct sales.
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The most popular branded channel is LEGO which has received over 6 billion views (Statista)
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Viewers who complete TrueView ads by watching to completion or at least 30 seconds, were 23 times more likely to visit or subscribe to a brand channel, watch more by that brans, or share the brand video. (Think with Google)
YouTube is a powerful advertising medium as well as a video distribution channel. The next couple of YouTube statistics about TrueView, bear this out.
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Viewers who are exposed to TrueView ads, but who don't watch to completion are still 10 times more likely to take action. (Think with Google)
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When brands use TrueView, they see views of previously existing content increase by up to 500% after posting new videos. (Think with Google)
TrueView is a viable option for businesses looking to build brand recognition and authority on YouTube.
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32% of the most viewed brand videos are on average 31 – 60 seconds long (SocialBakers)
Video content doesn't need to be long to be effective.
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Interbrand's Top 100 Brands are collectively uploading a video to YouTube every 18 ½ minutes (The Drum)
The top brands in the world rely on YouTube to drive sales.
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Steam is the most frequently-mentioned brand on YouTube in 2021, with 10.08k channels mentioning it (Statista)
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Searches of “How-To videos on YouTube are growing 70% year on year (Think with Google)
If you make explainer videos, YouTube is the perfect place to post them!
If you use video in your marketing efforts YouTube is the premium channel for getting eyes on your videos. With over 1,000,000,000 hours of viewing in 88 countries around the world every single day, YouTube can drive traffic, conversions and sales.
The numbers don't lie. If you haven't yet started a YouTube channel for your business what are you waiting for?
Rob Steffens
I am the Director of Marketing here at Bluleadz. I'm a huge baseball fan (Go Yankees!). I love spending time with friends and getting some exercise on the Racquetball court.