Although Facebook is still the best platform for digital marketing strategies, YouTube is a fundamental tool to strengthen your social oriented strategy. YouTube suffers because people think of it as a big platform for video and entertainment: however thanks to its latest updates, it has increased interaction and has now become an invaluable element in digital marketing strategies to advertise services and products.
Facebook has 28 million active users only in Italy, but Youtube has similar numbers: 27 million total users, and over one billion worldwide. In short, Facebook and Youtube compete for the top spot and both deserve special attention.
Thanks to Google+ implementation, YouTube has now increased the chances of interaction between users and it seems now that the project to turn the world’s best video platform into a real social network is now underway. Google’s goal would restore its interactive approach, by offering the possibility to submit posts, share polls, links, and of course videos.
Targeting YouTube for business success is a smart strategic decision right now, in view of what might happen soon. Google has announced its desire to transform YouTube into a social network (named Backstage) in the first half of 2016, which would guarantee an epochal change in relatively short time.
YouTube analytics: who’s using the platform?
YouTube has surpassed television, counting on an incredible daily crowd: 10% of users access the platform more than 5 times a day, while 23% affirms that they prefer and use YouTube more than TV.
But who are the YouTube fans? Both men and women mostly between 24 and 44 years old (42%) who like the platform for its content quality, the possibility to learn something new and to find out about new potential purchases.
The most successful categories are music (58%), cooking (27%) and DIY (21%). According to Google’s own reports, 45% of users purchase a product only after looking for a YouTube video that would testify the pros and cons.
It’s easy to guess why YouTube should be included into your digital marketing strategy right away: this is a platform with a surprisingly large and ever changing user base. Structuring a campaign that provides genuine interactions with customers and potential customers is a fundamental step when encouraging the growth of your brand. We all know that video content in this social era is known for its immediacy and ability to explain a lot in little time.
YouTube can offer a decisive momentum to any industry, especially in the fields of beauty, travel, technology, cars and retail.
To invest in YouTube’s popularity now, means to be prepared for the platform’s turning point, when it will become an authentic social network. When that happens you should rely on an existing, active, loyal fan base ready to buy your products, which will determine your company’s success in advertising exclusive products and services. In short: brands should take advantage of the high level of engagement offered by YouTube, and start the creation of their own channel from today, to fill in with useful and easy-to-share content, for both regular
