Top Three Takeaways From #VidCon 2017 Industry Track

I figured that video marketers would be more interested in the three most significant things that I learned at VidCon’s industry track. She said, “A question I get all the time is ‘How many people actually watch YouTube?’ Today, I’m pleased to announce that we crossed a big threshold: 1.5 billion logged in viewers visit YouTube every single month. On average, our viewers spend over an hour a day watching YouTube on mobile devices alone.” Now, the first number – 1.5 billion logged in viewers – is a significant milestone. And, to give you an idea of how big a deal this number is, consider this: Four years ago, when YouTube announced it had hit a billion monthly users, it said, “If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.” Well, today YouTube Nation would be the largest in the world – ahead of China (1.4 billion) and India (1.3 billion). And the other number that Wojcicki shared – viewers spend over an hour a day watching YouTube on mobile devices alone – is just as significant. Facebook Announces New Creators App Also on Friday morning, rumors swirled around VidCon that Facebook would be announcing something new for creators. Yes, maybe, that will change someday – and Facebook will start sharing a standard percentage of that ad revenue with more than a small number of creators who’ve been cherry-picked from the YouTube Partner Program. So, maybe, it’s worth building an audience on Facebook now and waiting for the dog to bark in the night. Did I learn more than these top three things at VidCon’s industry track? In the meantime, let us know what you think of these strategic insights, critical data, tactical advice, and trends in the social video marketing business.

Author: Greg Jarboe / Source: Tubular Insights

I just flew back to Boston, MA, from Anaheim, CA, so I had a lot of time to think about all of the things that I learned by attending (and speaking) at two-days of back-to-back sessions in VidCon’s industry track. Now, I toyed briefly with creating one of those BuzzFeed-style listicles: “The 29 nuggets of news that you missed by not attending VidCon 2017.” But, I decided to go in a different direction. I figured that video marketers would be more interested in the three most significant things that I learned at VidCon’s industry track. I know, three is as arbitrary a number as 29, but it indicates that these are the most strategic insights, critical data, tactical advice, and trends in the social video marketing business. So, without further ado, here are “The Top Three” stories that are worth hearing and then retelling to your colleagues in the industry:

#1 1.5 Billion Logged-in Viewers Visit YouTube Every Single Month

On Thursday afternoon, Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube, kicked off her keynote conversation at VidCon by sharing some critical data with Rhett & Link on a set that looked kinda, sorta like the one used for Good Mythical Morning (except the desk was bigger). She said, “A question I get all the time is ‘How many people actually watch YouTube?’ Today, I’m pleased to announce that we crossed a big threshold: 1.5 billion logged in viewers visit YouTube every single month. That’s the equivalent of one in every five people around the world! And how much do those people watch? On average, our viewers spend over an hour a day watching YouTube on mobile devices alone.”

Now, the first number – 1.5 billion logged in viewers – is a significant milestone. Heck, the YouTube statistics page, which hasn’t been updated yet, still says, “YouTube has over a billion users,” which the YouTube team announced back in March 2013. So, YouTube updates these numbers about as infrequently as the FIFA World Cup is held. And, to give you an idea of how big a deal this number is, consider this: Four years ago, when YouTube announced it had hit a billion monthly users, it said, “If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.” Well, today YouTube Nation would be the largest in the world – ahead of China (1.4 billion) and India (1.3 billion). Yes, I know Facebook had 1.94 billion monthly active users (MAUs) as of March 31, 2017. But, only 500 million of these MAUs are watching Facebook videos. And I think it’s also significant that YouTube is only counting “logged-in viewers.” This means their actual number of viewers is larger.

And the other number that Wojcicki shared – viewers spend over an hour a day watching YouTube on mobile devices alone – is just as significant. It means that watch time has grown way beyond an average of just 1 minute per day watching video on tablets, and 2 minutes per day watching video on smartphones back in 2011. Why use a number from six years ago as a benchmark? Well, back in 2011, only 6% of YouTube views came from mobile devices. Today, 70% of YouTube views are now coming from mobile devices. This means YouTube has successfully made the transition from desktop to mobile viewing – which was a difficult hurdle all by itself – and managed to increase its total number of viewers AND increase its watch time to boot! Two years ago, Wojcicki said her top three priorities were “Mobile. Mobile. Mobile.” Well, she’s won the trifecta, scored a hat trick, or gone three-for-three. So, that a significant accomplishment, wouldn’t you agree?

What does this mean to video marketers? Well, your relationship with YouTube may be “complex.” But, this social video platform has managed to navigate the most significant paradigm shift that we’ve seen in the past six years and still come through with a much bigger audience that is watching videos for a much longer time.