YouTube has over 2.6 billion active users per month! This basically means that nearly every third human on our planet gets engaged with video content on this platform on a regular basis. And, of course, the advertisers who manage to take advantage of that see an instant increase in their most important metrics.
So, what streaming trend should YouTube advertisers be most aware of? If you have already tried using shorts and live streams in your marketing strategy, then it might be time to optimize your ads for the TV screen. Over the last few months, YouTube has become the most popular streamer on big-screen TVs, leaving behind such giants as Netflix and Hulu.
Let’s find out more about this latest trend and how YouTube advertisers can start using it to their advantage.
What Streaming Trend Should YouTube Advertisers Be Most Aware Of?
YouTube is Popular on the TV Screen
Though YouTube is still being watched on smartphones and on the go, recently there has been a huge increase in the consumption of streaming content on connected TV devices.
At the moment, YouTube is the most popular streamer on big-screen TVs. In fact, it is the only major service that saw a viewing time increase among U.S. TV households in March–April 2023.
Though broadcast TV networks and cable still hold the largest share of time viewing, YouTube has outrun all of the other streaming platforms with an 8.1% share of time. For comparison, Netflix has 6.9%. In the near future, the numbers will, most likely, see a more significant increase as younger viewers prefer not to watch traditional broadcast TV at all.
People nowadays seem to prefer to watch streaming content on big screens. That’s why YouTube advertisers might want to focus on building a relationship with the content creators who make long, high-quality videos. These can be either 40- to 120-minute videos (which are, basically, very close to movie quality) or whole YouTube shows that get posted on a regular basis.
What Other Streaming Trends Should YouTube Advertisers Be Aware Of?
Shorts are On the Rise
When people are relaxing at home after a long day, they might not be against watching long-form content, but the content that is consumed on the go is typically short-term. Also, the attention span of modern humans has become shorter due to increased media exposure.
YouTube took all that into consideration and started Shorts in September 2020. The feature allows content creators to publish videos that are only 15–60 seconds long. At first, YouTube had to pay content creators to make Shorts, but the $100 million investment eventually paid off. Now, YouTube Shorts receives 15 billion views daily.
In February 2023, the YT Shorts fund was officially gone, which means that content creators can now start monetizing their videos and earning money from the video advertisements.
Shorts is an amazing streaming trend that should be taken into consideration by YouTube advertisers as such content is catchy and can easily go viral.
When choosing between Shorts and TikTok, marketing experts usually recommend trying to work with YT short-form videos first as 1 YouTube user is worth 25 TikTok followers.
Live Streaming is Becoming More Popular
When answering the question ‘What streaming trend should YouTube advertisers be most aware of?’, we should not forget about the good-old live streaming that was first introduced to the platform over a decade ago.
Live streams became extra popular during the pandemic, when it was one of the few ways for people to connect with one another. However, users haven’t forgotten about real-time streaming even now that the pandemic is over.
Businesses use live streams to demonstrate their new products, host live events or have Q&A sessions. In fact, over 80% of consumers would prefer to watch a live video from a brand than read a blog or a social media post. Content creators, in their turn, stream live to be able to interact with their audience in real time.
Ads that get integrated into a live stream usually feel a lot more ‘genuine’ and ‘real,’ which the audience, of course, prefers. Live video has a raw appeal, seems more authentic, and typically requires less time and money to create. However, the chances of having to deal with technical difficulties become higher, so you would have to bear that in mind when adding live streaming to your marketing strategy.
Final Thoughts
What streaming trend should YouTube advertisers be most aware of? Marketing experts should start taking into consideration the fact that a lot of consumers now prefer to view their content of choice on big screens.
That’s why focusing on the creators who make high-quality, long-form content (like whole movies or even shows) and optimizing video ads for big screens might be a great way to boost user engagement and grow sales.
