That started out as a small amateur video from the zoo, in a few years has grown into the largest social network and one of the main search engines in the world.
Every hour, 30,000+ videos are uploaded to YouTube by users from more than 100 countries. YouTube has long ceased to be a marginal platform for geeks. Today, it makes “stars” here, earns money, launches and promotes new products and projects. Today, YouTube for creators is a platform for business, which can become the main source of income.
That is why it is interesting to look at the important aspects that have emerged in 2020 and will dictate the trends in this year.
Figure number one: 70% — this is the percentage of users who prefer to watch YouTube from mobile devices. Fewer and fewer people are accessing YouTube from computers or laptops. It is understandable: we watch YouTube on our way somewhere, in between school or work, listen to music or watch videos during a jog, and, of course, we take the phone to bed and fall asleep to our favorite creators. Mobile YouTube will be just as popular this year, we don’t like to change our habits. Therefore, if you are a creator, don’t forget to adapt your content to a phone or tablet.
Mobile devices and the circumstances in which users choose to watch YouTube videos dictate their own rules. 80% of all mobile users watch videos with no sound. That is, the availability of subtitles in the video increases the chance that it will be viewed. Videos without subtitles can be ignored by viewers.
YouTube has long become the most important marketing platform, brands increase their budgets for influencer marketing year by year, and creators integrate information about products and services into their videos. Unlike other social networks, YouTube viewers are pretty tolerant to hidden ads or integrations. Figures are the evidence of this: 27% of all consumers bought a product in 2020 on the advice of YouTube influencers.
This trend is directly related to the pandemic and the quarantine, which closed borders, canceled all travel plans, and forced us to stay at home. From the very beginning of the quarantine, almost all meetings, entertainment, and leisure activities were forced to go online. As a result, the demand of viewers for live videos has increased. But back in the first half of 2020, the number of streams conducted on YouTube every day increased by 45%. And, apparently, the trend for streams will stay with us this year.
Many creators rely on video quality, chasing trends in design, editing, and visual elements in the hope of becoming popular. In fact, beautiful, smooth, and fashionable visual is not a guarantee of success. According to Google research, the compliance of the video with viewers’ personal interests was 1.6 times more important for them last year than the quality of the video itself. Hence the advice for 2021 for creators: carefully study your target audience and its interests.
This figure is also related to the topic of coronavirus and quarantine, which made us pay attention to our health and self-care. Last year, the number of video views related to the topic of health increased by 180%. This includes not only medical blogs directly, but also those videos that were related to the topic of stress relief, meditation, and yoga. 2021, apparently, will also be uneasy, so the trend for self-care will continue.
In 2020, we found ourselves in a situation where most of our activities were moved online. First of all, this affected the field of education. According to UNESCO, 1.6 billion students studied online in 2020. Of course, this couldn’t but affect YouTube. Educational content has become very popular. 78% of users turned to YouTube videos in search of educational resources. In 2021, interest in online education will continue.
