10 YouTube Stats Every Marketer Should Know in 2021 [Infographic]

It’s safe to say that YouTube is the most popular video platform out there. 

The simplicity of YouTube is one of the many reasons why it has exploded in popularity over the years. YouTube makes it so easy for content creators to share their content with a large audience. And as a result, there’s a wide range of content to choose from. So whether it’s endless beauty tutorials, product reviews, gaming channels, or hours of unboxing videos — YouTube has it all. In the millions of YouTube channels out there, you’re guaranteed to find at least a few that strike you as interesting. Let’s just say, on YouTube there’s something for everyone. 

The first ever video uploaded to YouTube was on April 23rd 2005, showing one of the founders at the zoo, unambiguously titled “me at the zoo”. Since then, YouTube has come a long, long way. It went from 0 to 1 billion viewers in a decade…that’s quite a journey. But it isn’t just fun and games. There’s more to YouTube. This amazing platform can help you grow your ecommerce business in 2021.  

By the way, our Youtube guide here helps you build your Youtube channel from scratch, give your audience the content they want to see, AND make money from it. And check this resource out for even more tips on how to make money on YouTube.

Here are the top 10 YouTube statistics that you need to know about in 2020, in order to stay ahead of your competition.

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1. Monthly Active YouTube Users

According to the latest YouTube statistics, the video-sharing platform has 2.3 billion users worldwide as of 2021 (Statista, 2021). It’s ranked as the second-most popular social network, and the only platform that has more active users than YouTube is Facebook. 

These 2.3 billion users are defined as viewers who log into the site at least once per month. Considering YouTube videos can also be viewed without using Google accounts, such as via the autoplay feature in WhatsApp, YouTube’s reach is actually higher. 

This YouTube user statistic can be of huge value to marketers in 2021. When more than two billion users are logging in every month to watch videos on YouTube, there’s a massive and active market that marketers have the potential to tap into. And with an even wider reach, YouTube will certainly prove to be a great platform for your digital marketing efforts.

2. YouTube – The Second Most Popular Social Media Platform

If the first YouTube statistic we shared didn’t get your attention, this one surely will. 79 percent of internet users say they have a YouTube account (Datareportal, 2019).

Created in 2005 by three former Paypal employees, YouTube has grown exponentially over the years. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for US$1.65 billion, and now YouTube operates as one of Google’s subsidiaries. Since the creation of YouTube, its mission has been to provide fast and easy video access to users, and the ability to share videos frequently. And since then, it has grown beyond expectation. It’s no secret that YouTube is a continuously growing social media platform, but there are many reasons that have contributed to its success today. One of the main reasons YouTube manages to hold its dominant place in the industry is because of how accessible it is. YouTube makes it so easy to get started and share your content with a large audience. The simplicity with which people can get started on YouTube has contributed immensely to attracting millions of content creators around the world. 

3. YouTube Is the Second-Most Popular Search Engine After Google

Not only is YouTube the second-most popular social media platform, but it also holds the same title for search engines.

YouTube is the second-most popular search engine right after Google. In fact, it receives more searches per month than the likes of Microsoft Bing, Yahoo, AOL, and Ask.com combined.

As mentioned earlier, more than two billion of its users—equivalent to nearly one-third of all internet users—log in each month. But that’s not all. YouTube viewers watch over one billion hours of videos on its platform every single day and are responsible for generating billions and billions of views (YouTube, 2021).

The popularity of the platform grants it a wide audience reach, which is especially true on mobile devices. The company says it reaches more US mobile consumers than any other television network currently does. 

The mobile-friendliness of the YouTube app is one of its most appealing factors and certainly something to take advantage of when advertising on YouTube.

4. YouTube Statistics: YouTube in Numbers

How is YouTube so popular and how is it able to generate billions of views every single day?

To understand that, we need to take a deeper look at its numbers. YouTube is not only available but also localized (YouTube, 2021) in over 100 countries. This means that the platform adapts to the different languages of the different markets it is in.

This makes it inviting and attractive for its users, which increases engagement and usage. Plus, it can be accessed in 80 different languages. This ranges from the world’s most spoken languages like English, Spanish, and Mandarin to more obscure ones like Azerbaijani, Khmer, and Laotian.

In fact, the majority of videos published on YouTube aren’t even in English. According to a survey, two-thirds (67 percent) of the videos posted by popular YouTube channels are in other languages. Of the rest, just 28 percent are in English, while the remaining five percent are in English and other languages. 

The same survey also found that even though there were significantly fewer videos in English, English-language videos tend to receive around four times more views than videos in other languages.

5. People Enjoy Watching Videos on YouTube Everyday

Everyday people watch one billion hours of videos on YouTube and generate billions of views (YouTube, 2019). Let’s do the math. If every single person on earth watched a video, that’s around 8.4 minutes per day per person. That’s a mindblowing number that just adds to the credibility of video as a content source for people. Another interesting fact is that searches related to the term “how to” are growing 70 percent year over year, according to searchengineland.com. This means that when users are searching for ways to learn something, they rely on video content.

Marketers should be leveraging the power of video and cater their content according to the growing preference of video content. There are endless ways that you can start creating video content on YouTube. Maybe you can create a YouTube channel where you can share updates with your audience, or interact with them and solve their queries or concerns. Or let’s say you have an online store and would like to share videos of your products on YouTube with your audience. You can even add a link to your YouTube profile on your ecommerce store, so your audience knows that they can find you there. And when it comes to posting videos on YouTube daily, it doesn’t hurt to know the best time to post on YouTube, so you can make sure that your audience is active, and more likely to view your content.

6. Importance of YouTube for Businesses

As the importance of video content becomes increasingly evident, more and more businesses are turning to video. Statistics show that 62 percent of businesses use YouTube as a channel to post video content (Buffer, 2019). It’s the second most popular channel for businesses to share their video content, with Facebook securing first place.

YouTube may have gained a lot of popularity as a platform for personal video viewing, but it has also been a valuable tool for businesses. Recently, more and more businesses have started to use YouTube as a channel to communicate with their existing customers and expose themselves to potential customers. And with the massive reach it has, it’s no shocker that businesses are turning to YouTube to expand their marketing efforts.

Sharing has been made easy through the use of YouTube, and it goes both ways. Not only can businesses easily share their news with their audience, or improve their brand’s visibility, but at the same time, they can use YouTube as a channel to communicate with their market and receive feedback from them. This can be done through engagement with the audience in the YouTube comments.

YouTube also gives brands the possibility to customize how their channel looks. To take full advantage of this, businesses should update their YouTube channel to reflect their brand identity, in order to stand out among the competition. Although it can be really easy to set up a YouTube channel, the hard part is to keep working on it and posting regularly to increase subscribers and keep your audience engaged.

Given its multi-faceted benefits and potential, there’s much that businesses can gain with YouTube. However, just nine percent of all small businesses in the US use YouTube (Brandwatch, 2020). Producing videos may seem tedious and expensive for small businesses, but there are many stock video websites and video editing software that are free. Plus, smartphone cameras today are capable of shooting sufficiently high-quality videos that professional cameras are no longer needed.

7. YouTube Users Prefer Mobile over Desktop

Mobile is first everywhere. We’re spending more time on our mobile phones than ever before. That’s why this next YouTube stat comes as no big surprise. More than 70 percent of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices (YouTube, 2019).

You and your business simply can’t afford to ignore the huge potential that mobile has to offer to your brand’s visibility. It’s evident that mobile views have increased much faster than desktop consumption, and because of this it’s important to stay up to date with mobile video trends so that your audience is presented with the content that they want to see. Now while YouTube content is optimized for mobile by default, the important thing to understand is how you can improve the mobile experience for your audience. Content creators need to keep an eye on their YouTube stats and data for mobile viewers through third party analytics providers, such as comscore. Comscore provides enhanced mobile video reporting for YouTube and its Partner Channels across its core audience measurement services.

8. People Discover New Products on YouTube

Video is a powerful marketing tool. 90 percent of people say they discover new brands or products on YouTube (Thinkwithgoogle, 2019). Now while it doesn’t necessarily convince people to buy your products or services, it does get the message across. Consumers rely on video content during every step of the journey. And this piece of information is extremely valuable to marketers.

YouTube can help popularize your product. If you’re trying to get into a new market, or increase exposure of a product, you can make a video of that product showcasing its benefits. With video content becoming increasingly competitive, the key to remember is creativity. The more creative your content is, the higher the chances that you’ll get your audience hooked to your style, and curious for more. If your business is trying to make the most out of its video content, you should make sure that your video content empowers people to take action. You can keep a few things in mind such as positioning your brand as an expert in your category or niche, by engaging with your audience, answering their questions and concerns, and sharing your brand’s ethos and ideas

9. 720,000 Hours of Video Uploaded to YouTube Daily 

500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute worldwide (Tubefilter, 2019). That’s 30,000 hours of video uploaded every hour. And 720,000 hours of video uploaded every day to YouTube. Wow. To put this into perspective, it would take you close to 82 years to watch the amount of videos uploaded to YouTube in only an hour. That’s a lifetime of watching YouTube videos. 

And while these numbers are staggering, it’s nothing compared to the watchtime on YouTube. With the amount of new content uploaded to YouTube every minute, it’s no wonder that YouTube is growing its reach as a channel. And that’s why businesses can’t afford to ignore YouTube. Businesses can benefit from the use of YouTube by building a community and interacting with their customers, by showing their products, or by advertising on the platform.

10. Most Popular Channel Among US Digital Video Viewers

When it comes to the consumption of digital video content in the US, social media sites outperform the country’s biggest news sites as the most popular channels through which consumers do so. 

Of them, YouTube is the dominant force by a far stretch, with nine out of ten digital video viewers in the US using the platform to consume digital video content (eMarketer, 2019).

That puts YouTube way ahead of its closest competitor, Facebook, which just 60 percent of US digital video viewers use. This is followed by Instagram at 35 percent and Twitter and Snapchat at 21 percent and 18 percent respectively.

These social networks are particularly popular among Millennials and Generation Z, who experts say are not only spending increasingly more time on social media by watching digital videos but also sharing them, which helps to disseminate brand messages.

Comparatively, the most popular news channel for digital video consumption, CNN, is watched only by 17 percent of US digital content viewers.

Conclusion

YouTube is the future of entertainment. It has been for a few years now. And that’s why you and your business should be aware of these important YouTube statistics, so you don’t overlook YouTube when it comes to your marketing strategy. We’re hoping that these 10 YouTube statistics for 2021 have helped explain why your brand should be investing in YouTube and how you can make sure you’re making use of your resources wisely.

Summary: YouTube Statistics

Here’s a summary of the YouTube statistics you need to know in 2021:

1. YouTube has 2.3 billion users worldwide.
2. 79 percent of Internet users have their own YouTube account.
3. YouTube viewers watch over a billion hours of video on the platform every day and generate billions of views. (YouTube, 2021)
4. YouTube is localized in more than 100 countries and is available in 80 languages. (YouTube, 2021)
5. Everyday people watch one billion hours of video on YouTube.
6. 62 percent of businesses use YouTube as a channel to post video content.
7. More than 70 percent of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices.
8.  90 percent of people say they discover new brands or products on YouTube.
9. 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute worldwide.
10. 90 percent of US digital video viewers use YouTube, the most popular channel for digital video consumption.

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Is there anything else you’d like to know about YouTube statistics and wish was included in this article? Let us know in the comments below!