More and more people are choosing to consume digital video content over traditional media. It isn’t uncommon to find young people who don’t own a television, using YouTube or streaming services to consume their content via laptops and digital devices – time spent watching YouTube in sitting rooms (akin to traditional television viewing) more than doubled last year. Cisco estimate video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017.
YouTube currently dominates digital video platforms, with over a billion users and 400+ hours of content uploaded every minute. The platform is hugely popular with the 18-34 year old market – reaching more users in the US than any cable network – and CEO Susan Wojcicki claims it as the primary entertainment platform for the younger generation.
YouTube’s most obvious rival is Facebook – now claiming more then 4 billion daily video views, with more than 70% of videos uploaded natively (and no longer hosted on YouTube). Snapchat is another digital player, with over 10 billion video views daily and 60% of users uploading video daily.
It is clear online video is popular with users, but how does that affect the advertising landscape? Previously, advertisers would apportion a large budget for traditional media and then look at online platforms like YouTube afterwards (if at all). Next year, however, EMarketer expects digital advertising spend to surpass TV spend. Wojcicki says “[YouTube are] being considered right alongside TV”. With online video ads delivering a 50% higher ROI than TV ads, it seems no wonder.
There’s never been a better time to market with video.
Sources;
http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/06/facebook-video-tab/
http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jan/14/video-content-marketing-media-online
“How YouTube Will Take Over The World”, The Sunday Times, 10/04/16, pp 4-6