With video content overtaking other forms of media for both marketing and entertainment, YouTube is becoming an increasingly important platform for marketers. As the world’s second-largest search engine, YouTube attracts viewers from nearly all demographics and across many countries in the world. It’s a rich source for strategic marketing campaigns, but it’s not as easy as just uploading a video. 

To make YouTube work for your marketing strategy, it’s crucial to understand how the platform works and how you can make the most of it. To help, we’ve compiled 17 key statistics about YouTube viewers, creators, and advertisers to push your strategy forward in 2020. 

Who Watches YouTube? Viewer Statistics

Before we dive into advertising statistics for YouTube, let’s take a look at the people and content that make up YouTube. 

1. YouTube has more than 2 billion users—that’s more than a quarter of the world’s total population. Each day, there are more than 30 million visitors to YouTube. This is more users than reached by network television. 
2. These visitors span age ranges, as more than 50% of Americans in every age demographic use YouTube. 81% of 15 to 25-year-olds and 71% of 26 to 35-year-olds use the platform, making it ideal for marketers trying to reach younger consumers.
3. 62% of YouTube viewers are male and 38% are female. 
4. YouTube is available in some versions in 100 different countries and 80 languages. The countries contributing the most YouTube traffic are the United States, India, and Japan. 

There’s a strong chance that your target demographic is watching videos on YouTube. Understanding who watches YouTube and how much they watch can help you plan your YouTube strategy and get buy-in from your team and superiors on investing in a YouTube content marketing campaign. 

YouTube Content Statistics

What are these two billion YouTube viewers watching? A LOT of video content. These statistics help flesh out the YouTube content landscape so you can better understand where your video strategy will fall. Remember, you’re not just competing against your business competitors: you’re competing against every cat video and trending YouTube influencer on the platform. 

5. While the average American spends 24 hours per week online, more than 1 billion hours of video are watched every day. 
6. Every minute, 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. However, 79% of views go to just the top 10% of videos, so it’s crucial to make your content stand out among the thousands of hours of video uploaded daily. 
7. There are over 31 million unique YouTube channels with over 10 subscribers. 
8. About 16,000 YouTube channels had more than 1 million subscribers in 2019, and this number is growing like crazy—in 2016, just 2,000 channels had over 1 million subscribers. Just 500 YouTube channels have reached the 10 million subscriber threshold. 
9. YouTube’s top content creators can make thousands of dollars per video through AdSense ads, affiliate links, and sponsorships. Ads are the most common tactic for monetizing YouTube channels, and the average payout is $5 per 1,000 views. 

With these statistics on hand, you can better plan how you’ll approach your YouTube marketing strategy. Are you confident in your ability to narrow in on the specific interests of your target audience? Do you have the resources to create useful and high-quality videos to entice and convert viewers? The answers to these questions can help determine whether you should go all in on creating new content, or whether your marketing dollars would be better spent sponsoring established YouTubers or placing ads on existing videos.

YouTube Marketing Statistics

Now that we understand YouTube viewers and have a birds-eye view of the content landscape, let’s dive into the real meat of marketing statistics: conversions, ad spend, and return on investment for YouTube marketing. 

10. Brands who advertise on YouTube using TrueView (the ads that play before selected videos) can see views on old videos increase by up to 500% after posting new content. 
11. Viewers who watch TrueView ads are up to 23 times as likely to follow and engage with the brand’s channel, depending on if they view a full ad. 
12. Ads on YouTube typically cost between $0.10-$0.30 per view or action, but this is dependent on several factors, similar to using Google AdWords. 
13. Because YouTube marketing is more high-funnel content marketing than low-funnel, direct conversion marketing, exact conversion rates can be difficult to determine. However, Google claims that brands who run both YouTube ads and Google search ads see 3% higher conversion rates in search and 4% lower acquisition costs than brands who don’t run YouTube ads. 
14. Over 90% of people say they learn about new brands and products on YouTube, and more than half of online shoppers have used video to decide on a specific purchase. 

The numbers are clear: a YouTube strategy, when executed well, will increase brand awareness and engagement. YouTube is a place where people are open to discovering new products and brands, so positioning your brand on this platform can pay off greatly. 

YouTube Statistics to Inspire Your Video Content

By now, you’re convinced: creating content for YouTube is a perfect step forward for your content marketing strategy. But where to begin? How will you stand out among the top content creators and viral YouTube channels? Check out these statistics on the kinds of content viewers are looking for to inspire your first videos. 

15. Searcher interest in “how to” content is increasing by 70% year over year. 
16. Video quality and pizazz is important, but videos that relate to a viewer’s interests or passions are 1.6x more important. Don’t get so carried away with production value that you forget to make something your audience actually wants to see. 
17. 20% of viewers will give up on a video in 10 seconds if it doesn’t pique their interest, so make sure your openings are snappy and intriguing. 

Conclusion

YouTube is a behemoth of a marketing platform, but if you don’t start your YouTube strategy with a solid plan that pinpoints the specific needs of your target demographic, your video content may get lost in the void of thousands of hours of video content. But if you execute this strategy smartly, more and more people will discover your brand and be drawn back to it time and time again. 

Samantha Rupp holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She is the managing editor for 365businesstips.com as well as runs a personal blog, Mixed Bits Media. She lives in San Diego, California and enjoys spending time on the beach, reading up on current industry trends, and traveling.