Young Audiences Follow Brands on YouTube
One of the major forces drawing more advertising dollars to YouTube is its popularity with Millennials. Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. Most researchers and commentators use birth years for the Millennials as ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. These are people who are coming in to their own and you should be marketing to them.
A survey of U.S. digital video viewers by the cloud-based video service Animoto in February 2015 found that 75.5% of viewers ages 18 to 35 followed brands on YouTube. Compare this with 57.6% among total digital video viewers (which includes matures, baby boomers and others).
The Millennials are here.
Brands on YouTube should be ready to engage Millennials as spenders.
Like the Google/Pixability study mentioned above, this 2015 survey of over one thousand American consumers reveals the potential that brands have for reaching Millennials through advertising on video-sharing channels. Specifically:
- 7 in 10 consumers watch a video while shopping online
- 80% report that video is helpful when researching a purchase decision
- 62% prefer to watch a company’s video rather than reading text like a blog post or white paper
- 76% follow companies on YouTube, indicating they’re interested in receiving that content
The Key Takeaway from this is that marketers must be ready to deliver to the next generation of consumers. The 18-35 age group (Millennials) are coming into their spending years. Brands not only must create products for this tech-savvy and socially conscious group, but also reach them where they live. Right now, the majority access YouTube frequently.
YouTube’s Future Could Be Even Brighter
Recognized as the second-largest search engine by most, YouTube doesn’t have the same chronological timeline/feed structure that dominates Facebook and others. Instead, people land on it and search for something interesting just as much (or more) than they scroll for new content put up there. Therefore, marketers appreciate it for the SEO assistance it provides, as well its social media possibilities.
At this point, it seems that the excitement over YouTube video ads may be outpacing the ability to keep up and measure performance. A May 2015 study from social analytics firm Quintly revealed that 51% of the companies surveyed track their Facebook performance, while only 8% of companies track their YouTube performance. Of course, every marketing effort should be tracked for its return on investment.
What do you think? Do your customers use YouTube more as a search engine or a social media channel? Does the new surge in viewer time and increased brand spend on the channel motivate you to create a YouTube video ad?
Are you using YouTube to assist your online presence? If all of this befuddles you, belittles your being, begs your brain to be foddered, belying your intellect…not to worry, PTC Computer Solutions is an expert on this stuff and is here to help. It’s what we do. Contact info@ptccomputersolutions.com or go to our website at www.ptccomputersolutions.com for more information. We are always at the ready.
Online marketing is an incredibly dynamic environment with a tremendous number of moving parts. It is a constantly changing world. You do what you do best. Let us do what we do best. Keeping involved and staying ahead of the latest improvements is what we do at PTC Computer Solutions. If you are looking to get noticed on the Internet but don’t know where to begin, let PTC Computer Solutions help you get started or help improve your current website and website marketing plan and budget.
Among everything else we do, PTC can plan a full marketing strategy and budget for your company and complete any marketing efforts, web or otherwise, you wish to achieve in order to deliver a consistent and effective message to your prospects. Contact David W. B. Parker (when you think of “W. B.” think of WeB) at davidp@ptccomputersolutions.com or go to our web site at www.ptccomputersolutions.com for more information.
By David W. B. Parker
President
PTC Computer Solutions
10/20/2015
PTC Computer Solutions – Internet, Web Sites, SEO, Online Marketing
PTC Computer Solutions
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
904.992.9888
davidp@ptccomputersolutions.com
www.ptccomputersolutions.com