Did you know that since YouTube was founded in 2005, the top 100 global brands have published 285,000 videos on 1,378 YouTube channels, and those videos have been viewed more than 9.5 billion times?
That’s just one of the statistics included in Pixability’s report, “The Top 100 Global Brands: Key Lessons for YouTube Success.” Pixability reports that since 2009, YouTube video publishing rates have climbed 73% annually on average, and today, only one brand in the list of the top 100 global brands does not have a YouTube channel. In fact, 56 of the brands on the list have 10 or more YouTube channels.
All of those videos and YouTube channels don’t guarantee YouTube marketing success for the top 100 global brands. Pixability’s researchers found that over half of the videos published by these brands have been viewed fewer than 1,000 times.
Four industries are far more active on YouTube than any other. These include media, B2C technology, B2B technology, and automotive. The top brands based on videos produced and total views are similar not just in the brands represented on both lists but also in the significant drop-off after the top three or four brands. Take a closer look at the top 10 brands based on number of videos produced and number of video views below.
Leading Brands on YouTube Based on Number of Videos Produced
- MTV = 23,756
- Thomson Reuters = 23,315
- Disney = 15,367
- Google = 12,467
- Samsung = 12,013
- Sony = 9,938
- Intel = 8,034
- Siemens = 7,293
- Nokia = 6,637
- Cisco = 6,612
Leading Brands on YouTube Based on Number of Video Views
- Disney = 2,502,016,234
- Google = 1,482,632,321
- Sony = 1,013,074,058
- Samsung = 522,386,484
- Nokia = 429,723,722
- Nike = 345,273,230
- MTV = 205,982,283
- Coca-Cola = 197,753,679
- Adidas = 185,520,895
- Nintendo = 174,495,568
The Pixability report offers seven YouTube marketing best practices gleaned from the team’s research, which any brand marketer can use. You can read the full report here. It’s filled with useful statistics and information that are well-worth your time. For example, the report authors write, “The top 25% of brands on YouTube had higher Facebook (330 times greater) and Twitter (89 times greater) video sharing than the bottom 25%, representing the highest disparities in this entire report.”
Following is a brief recap of some of the YouTube marketing tips provided in the report:
- Continually use targeted YouTube advertising.
- Publish a lot of videos consistently.
- Optimize your videos and channels with YouTube-specific SEO tactics, relevant tags, and numerous playlists.
- Publish more videos rather than adding more channels
- Publish a variety of video content that includes both high quality and lower quality videos as well as short and long videos.
The good news for brand marketers is that video content on YouTube has longevity. Among the top 100 global brands on YouTube, Pixability found that within the first three weeks after a video is published on YouTube, it will receive 40% of its lifetime views. Between four and 12 weeks after a video is published, it will receive another 30% of its lifetime views, and between 21 and 52 weeks, it will get another 30% of its lifetime views. Unlike other social media sites and channels where content has an extremely short shelf-life and often disappears within hours, YouTube videos have staying power that brands can leverage as part of their integrated marketing plan for a very long time.
How are you using YouTube to market your brand? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Image: Jacob Power
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
