Online video is one of the most powerful mediums of communication today and its popularity is growing. A leader in measuring the digital world, comScore, Inc., released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 183 million U.S. Internet users watched more than 37 billion online content videos in October 2012 alone.
Meredith Munger, the Marketing Coach, wrote about Quantcast’s demographic breakdown on who visits YouTube, Google’s site for videos.
- 46 percent of viewers are under age 25, but there are still a large number of older viewers. One-third were between the ages of 25 and 35.
- 63 percent of viewers are Caucasians, which means exceptionally large numbers of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians are watching.
- The wealthiest (over $150,000 annual salary) were likely to watching the most (29 percent) while the least wealthy (under $50,000) were watching the least (18 percent).
Munger also listed YouTube’s own statistics show how powerful video can be in reaching audiences.
- 500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and more than 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute.
- 100 million people take a social action on YouTube every week.
- More than 20 percent of global YouTube views come from mobile devices
According to a Forbes report “Video in the C-Suite,” C-level executives — including business owners — are choosing video as a critical information source.
Forbes Insights, in association with Google, surveyed more than 300 C-level and senior executives at large U.S. companies ($500 million-plus in annual revenues) to learn more about how they are approaching Web video as a source of business-related information. Over the past year, video appears to have evolved from a novelty into a mainstream method for executives to receive business information. Younger executives in particular appear more inclined not only to view video, but also to create it and share it over the business-oriented “social” Web. Their growing influence within corporate America is likely to make business-related video even more prevalent in the coming years.
The social element of online video is strong in the executive suite. More than half of senior executives share videos with colleagues at least weekly and receive work-related videos as often. Younger executives appear very willing to share and view videos using social media.
The takeaway: video has the power to capture and compel your audience in ways unmatched by other forms of media. The reason: video simply engages people in ways the written word and pictures cannot.