Brands targeting Gen Z and Millennials need to prioritise YouTube

Navigate Video - YOUTUBE NEWS & INSIGHTS: Brands targeting Gen Z and Millennials need to prioritise YouTube

Need to reach Gen Z and Millennials with your marketing strategy?

As a parent of two children who are addicted to watching excruciating online video of YouTubers ‘Jelly’ and ‘Preston’ screaming/shouting along to Minecraft streams, I have long suspected that shared generational media experiences are a thing of the past.

Proof, if needed, was recently detailed in the IPA’s recent report ‘Making Sense’. The study showed that differences in where young and old generations of UK residents spend their commercial media time are greater than ever before. Indeed, the differences are flabbergasting – there was a 58% similarity in media channel/platform behaviours of 16-34 and 55+ year olds in 2015 whereas the similarity was just 8% during 2020’s Lockdown.

Obviously, this is a huge deal for the media world, carrying with it huge implications for planning, buying and optimisation of marketing communications.

As YouTube experts, Navigate Video are particularly interested in what the IPA Touchpoints findings mean for brands using, or thinking about using, online video. Here are the key learnings:

1. Among 16-34 year olds, 79% of commercial media time is spent with digital media.

2. The time that 16-34 year olds are spending with online video has grown a whopping 236% from 2015 to 2020.

3. For the first time, young people under the age of 35 are spending more time with online video than live/recorded TV.

4. YouTube now has 75% weekly reach of the 16-34 year old age group, making it their joint top media property (alongside Facebook) for weekly reach.

5. Consumption of online video among 16-34 year olds spikes twice throughout the day – once at lunchtime (12.30pm to 2.00pm) and to a greater extent in the evening (peaking from 8.30pm to 10.30pm).

All said, for brands targeting the young, the IPA’s Making Sense study proves that digital comms and online video are essential components of a marketing plan - updating/creating a YouTube strategy and the need to optimise, integrate and measure YouTube content is more important than ever.

Image: Credit IPA

Need help?

We are YouTube experts who will help manage, integrate, optimise, amplify and evaluate your YouTube content and channel, ensuring you reach the right audience and drive high quality engagement and action rates. Get in touch to find out how we can help with your YouTube marketing strategy: stuart@navigatevideo.com