Fun Friday: Insane YouTube Facts

Together, people all over the world watch six billion hours of video on YouTube each month. That’s almost an hour for every person on Earth. As ads run before almost every video, that’s pretty great news for brands. But do you think YouTube commercials have an influence on people? Yes, even if 75% of YouTube in-stream ads are skippable, the answer still yes. In fact, the facts prove that they help to redirect traffic to websites and improve brand awareness.

Every minute, 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, which now has more than a million creators from over 30 countries around the world, and yet those same users who make the videos have to sit through adverts at the start or midway through their own and others users’ videos. Sometimes users are forced to watch a 30-second commercial to watch a video that is no longer than two minutes. These ads can get pretty annoying to sit through sometimes, especially if the video is short or if viewers are watching from mobile devices (which they are 40% of the time).

Ads, however, are what makes YouTube go round. So for users who enjoy the free website, it’s extremely necessary. More than a million businesses use Google ad platforms, the majority of which are small businesses. Google and Compete partnered up to run over 300 studies to determine the impact of YouTube homepage ads. According to an eMarketer report, spending on online video advertising will reach $5.75 billion by the end of 2014.

Before creating the content and investing in the ad space, brands have many things to consider. First of all, brands need to have a clear goal, like to drive traffic to a website, to increase brand awareness or to generate sales and conversions. Then brands can match the ad format with its goal. After that, details like the search intent and the right thumbnail come into play. Brands must keep in mind that the first five second of a YouTube ad are crucial, and it has to have a clear call-to-action.

This Fun Friday, let’s take a look at some of the most watched ads on YouTube during 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANhmS6QLd5Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfxB5ut-KTs

Cover Photo Source: Bloom Design / Shutterstock.com

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://wpmaster.sjadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Our-Space-Carlos-Gomez.png[/author_image] [author_info]Carlos is a Junior Executive at SJG. He earned a BS in Business and Management systems and a minor in Marketing from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He is originally from Madrid Spain; outside of the office he can be found running on Lake Shore Drive or exercising outside. [/author_info] [/author]