YouTube is the second most used search engine on the web. It hosts the majority of online video. We’ve already looked at how to market your video but now we’ll focus on YouTube itself.
How YouTube Began
It’s difficult to imagine a world without YouTube.This was the case almost 13 years ago. In 2005 three former PayPal employees had the vision of a place where you can share videos with ease thus YouTube was born.Its popularity shot up which lead to Google buying YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. At the time, it was 4 times more popular than their own ‘Google Video’.
According to former CEO of YouTube, Chad Hurley:
“[they] started YouTube to democratise video distribution. Now [they] are democratising video creation.”
This outlines the success that is YouTube. It didn’t let everybody share videos, instead, it’s the place where videos are created. This was the beginning of a new video streaming world.
YouTube now gets 3 million visitors each day. As of June 2017, they’re dominating the web with 1.5 billion users visiting every month. This is equal to every person who lives in China and the United Kingdom put together as of 2017.As shocking as it is, it’s quite understandable as 6/10 people prefer online video streaming to TV. Traditional TV is becoming less dominant. It’s estimated that by 2025, half of the under 32-year-old population won’t pay for a TV license or service.
YouTube’s Vast Availability
YouTubes availability across the globe could be one reason why their site is so popular. YouTube is in 76 different languages ensures that they are covering 95% of users. Many developing countries are seeing large growth in internet usage like India. So, it makes sense for YouTube to capitalise on this.
Live Video Streaming
Levels of engagement increase with Live Video Streaming. It creates a sense of urgency or emulates an event as it could be the only chance to watch the video.Live Streams are much more technical to set up. There’s a constant flow of new data broadcasted. Constant stopping and buffering can have the adverse effect on engagement and views.
You must take into consideration your viewers accessibility and world time zones. Streams are not regionally locked. They will reach many different countries so you have to plan ahead. Make arrangements for people who may be missing out on Live Streams due to time zones. There are a lot of pros and cons for Live Streaming.A huge positive is it can target an engaged audience. There is potential for your channel to grow even more with new subscribers.
On-Site Comments
There is an argument that Youtube should be a social media platform. The community inside Youtube is very active. This is seen in the lively (often volatile) comments section
A great feature on YouTube is the ability to share videos while still being on the site. Its easier sharing videos without leaving the site or dedicated app. A true competitor to YouTube is Facebook. Facebook users already watch 3 billion videos every day. With YouTube offering more versatility and a specified place to watch videos. Facebook doesn’t seem to be much of a threat.
There seems to be no end to YouTube in the foreseeable future. It’s exciting to think about what potential updates could happen in times to come. Video marketing is our bread and butter, come and have a chat.