YouTube has been a reigning social media platform since its start in 2005. Now the second largest search engine on the Internet, this visual content creating platform has reached all over the world, both old and young demographics, and all types of humans. YouTube is home to a wide, diverse range of videos— for society sharing stories, creating culture, and setting trends through music, dance, etc., for brands to advertise new products and services, for consumers to create user-generated content that teaches influences, and sells. With over 5 billion views a day, YouTube has earned its rightful place the eternal digital platform.
The age breakdown: While we often tend to think YouTube is the home for millennials, what we fail to realize is the enormous reach the platform really covers. According to Think With Google, YouTube reaches more 18- to 49- year olds than any other broadcast or network TV station. Generation X (35- to 49-year olds) and Baby Boomers (50- to 65- year olds) are among the fastest-growing demographics for users. From 2015 to 2016, time spent on YouTube grew 40% among 35+-year-olds and almost tripled among 55+-year-olds. And it has only been growing since.
Nevertheless, the most active demographic on YouTube still yields to be millennials. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center states that in 2018, 94% of 18- to 24-year olds use YouTube as both users and creators making it the most active demographic. This isn’t hard to believe— millennials have found the advantages of monetizing off of YouTube including cultivating special relationships with their viewers. Four out of ten millennials feel as if their favorite YouTuber understands them more than their friends or family. The influence is undeniable. Even at an astonishingly young age like 6-year old Ryan ToysReview. Kinsta explains his success is nothing short of amazing; he earned $26 million just in 2019 making him the highest-paid YouTuber. A study published by The Sun states that 75% of 6- to 17- year olds aspire to be content creators over anything else.
The gender breakdown: According to the Pew Research Center, 78% of U.S. men actively use YouTube and 68% of U.S. women actively use YouTube making up for about 15% of the site’s total traffic.
The average watch time: People upload 500 hours of video every minute, creating an endless stream of content for users to dive into— as 51% of YouTube users say they visit the site daily. An average of 5 billion videos are viewed daily, and each visitor spends around 12 minutes on the site. Mobile viewing still dominates as YouTube video statistics suggest that 70% of the total watch time coming from mobile devices. Though, users opting for TV screens is becoming steadily popular. As consumers choose streaming services and apps over broadcast or TV providers, the platform has seen a 39% increase in TV screen viewership less than one year from 2018 to 2019.
The usage statistics: With over 50 million active users per day, YouTube is the 2nd most visited site in the world. The digital platform attracts 44% of all internet users and it’s easy to see why. Home to millions of different types of content, music videos are the most-watched. Product reviews, how-tos and vlogs follow closely behind in popularity. A study by Buffer states that about 62% of businesses use YouTube as a content sharing platform, and YouTube is currently the second most important social media channel for influencer marketing. Not surprisingly, over 90% of consumers have discovered a brand or product through the platform— making it an attractive medium for brands and businesses to utilize in regards to brand content, advertising, influencer marketing, and/or user-generated content.
The revenue statistics: YouTube’s revenue came to $15.1 billion for the full year 2019, up 36% from 2018. Steadily rising in 2020, Google is determined to invest more into YouTube creating more content creating opportunities for users, influencers, brands alike. The number of channels that earn $10,000 per year or more on YouTube grew by 50%. And the number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube grows by 40% every year. As the platform engages more users with advertising content, its success shows no signs of stopping. In the U.S. alone, YouTube will make 5.5 billion dollars in advertising revenue in 2020.
