That’s how much video is being watched on YouTube now. Over one billion hours per day. Over 100,000 years. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a lot of video being watched.
However, when it comes to marketing, YouTube is often not spoken about that much. It doesn’t have the initial spike that Facebook video does and so seems to be forgotten.
Things to keep in mind:
- Whereas video on Facebook sees a large initial spike, it then often tails off quickly. Video on YouTube performs well over the long run – videos several years old will still receive views
- Facebook video is serendipitous. On YouTube, that happens sometimes but often it will be a case of people actively searching out your topic. This about this yourself. Have you ever searched for a video on YouTube? Have you ever searched for a video on Facebook?
Which brings me to my point: if you are advertising on TV (or have done so in the past) then you understand the power of video in your advertising mix.
When advertising on YouTube:
- You can limit it geographically (or by topic, or a number of other factors)
- If someone skips the video after 5 seconds (which happens most of the time) you don’t pay! You only pay if someone is actually engaged in your ad. Compare that with TV, where you pay for the ad even if everyone leaves the room. Or looks at their phones. And watches a YouTube video…