The YouTube Statistics: Why Is YouTube the Best Platform for Video Marketing?

YouTube isn’t just a great social media platform – it’s a killer marketing tool. This online video hub, which allows individuals and businesses to upload their video content for free, helps you connect with a huge portion of the world’s population – and the YouTube statistics show just how powerful it can be.

Thanks to the sheer number of YouTube users and the fact that so many kinds of videos are uploaded to the platform, with people seeking so many different things, you can use this platform to advertise virtually any kind of product or service. No matter your industry, you can bet that YouTube video production will prove a valuable marketing tool for your brand.

#1. YouTube Monthly Active Users Statistics

So, how many users does YouTube have? The answer may surprise you.

Official YouTube statistics and data show that this video platform now has more than 2.24 billion users as of 2021. The platform hosts regular video content as well as live-streamed content, YouTube “shorts” (which are effectively just very short snippets), and more.

694,000 hours of content is streamed on YouTube every single minute, and ad revenue for the platform has exceeded $28.84 billion. The fact that so much revenue is generated from ads alone is a testament to the staying power of the platform and the dedication of its users.

With so many people waiting to watch your content, YouTube is the first place you should probably consider uploading your marketing content, compared to other video marketing platforms.

#2. YouTube Is a 2nd Biggest Social Platform

YouTube is more than just a video platform these days – it’s a social media app. As the app has evolved, users have turned to YouTube for more than just videos. While that remains the primary focus of the site, users also engage with other people in the comment sections on the videos, watch “Shorts” that are published by their favorite content creators, and even sign up for memberships of different channels.

YouTube active users do more than ever on the platform, meaning users are likely to watch more than one video when they visit the website. And thanks to the YouTube algorithm, your video may be recommended as the next clip for a user to watch.

This is one of the reasons why YouTube user statistics show such a large and growing base.

#3. YouTube Is a 2nd Biggest Search Engine

Believe it or not, YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world.

If you’re searching for instruction, for information on a historical topic, or for reviews of a product you’re interested in buying, you can search for those things on Google…or you can search on YouTube. Either way, you’ll probably be presented with a YouTube video on that exact topic!

This is one of the reasons why commercial brands publish helpful and informative videos on their YouTube channels to boost engagement and make their website more valuable to potential customers.

So, how popular is YouTube? It’s so popular that it’s beating every other search engine that isn’t operated by Google!

#4. YouTube Users Prefer Mobile Over Desktop

Cell phones are more than just phones these days. They’re our personal communication devices, they’re work tools, they’re gaming machines, and they are our window to the internet. That means anybody looking for a YouTube video is likely to do it on their phone, rather than taking out their computer and searching there.

In fact, mobile use of YouTube has only increased in recent years as cell phone screens have gotten much bigger. There really is no benefit to using a laptop or a computer, unless you intend to watch those videos like a movie!
Over 70% of YouTube’s traffic now comes from mobile devices.

The YouTube user stats show so much potential for our business. The next step is ensuring that you have a high-quality video to share on your YouTube account – and that the video you share offers something valuable to your viewers!

YouTube Marketing Fun Facts

Marketing on YouTube is huge. All the big brands do it, and so do the smaller brands – and sometimes, the smaller brands do better. If your video taps into a need that customers and viewers have, and if that video is well-produced and informative, more people may watch it than a video produced by a big company like Nike or Microsoft.

That’s the great thing about social media and YouTube.

Not only that, but you can make money from your videos. According to the YouTube Partner Program, ad revenue exceeds many tens of billions of dollars per year and keeps on rising. By 2020, YouTube became the fifth most used social media platform for marketing, and in 2019, 29% of advertisers found that pre-roll skippable ads were the most effective form of YouTube advertising.  

Make More Of Your YouTube Account

YouTube is powerful.

Really powerful.

And with better videos, you can market your business just like the big brands.

At Gillespie Productions, we produce broadcast-quality videos that tap into a public need, help you tell your story, and give people a great insight into the quality of the products you make or the services you provide.

Want to learn more about how we create amazing videos? Call the Gillespie Productions team today for a free consultation and quote!