6 Questions for Every Brand to Consider After YouTube Brandcast

Every NewFronts season, the major players in digital content pitch their programming to advertisers. With those pitches comes a dizzying amount of new research and data. Below are six questions to help you gauge if you're making the most of your online video strategy, along with the newest YouTube data announced at the sixth annual Brandcast event.

1. Are you reaching the mobile majority?

When it comes to reaching your audience, the smallest screen offers the biggest opportunity:
On mobile alone...
YouTube reaches more 18-49 year-olds than any broadcast or cable TV network.
Google Preferred—YouTube’s premium content offering—reaches more people than all full episode players combined (like Hulu or Netflix).

2. Are you reaching your entire target audience?

You could be missing a sizeable chunk of your audience if you’re only advertising on TV. Fill the gap by pairing TV with online video:
Advertisers on primetime broadcast TV could have reached 56% more 18-49 year-olds by also advertising on YouTube.

3. How are you addressing online video viewability?

For your brand to have impact, it needs be seen and heard. On YouTube, engaged audiences mean:
91% of YouTube impressions are viewable compared to an industry average of 54%.

4. What content holds your audience’s attention?

YouTube creators have made YouTube’s influence greater than ever. This year alone:
8 of the top 10 most influential celebrities according to U.S. teens are YouTube stars. 800 more YouTube creators surpassed one million subscribers.
6 in 10 subscribers say their views of a brand or company have been changed by a creator.

5. Does your video strategy drive sales?

A lot of advertisers see online video as an awareness driver—and it certainly is. But online video also plays a critical role later in the purchase journey:
Two-thirds of Google Preferred campaigns measured drove lifts in purchase intent ...with an average lift of 14%.8

6. Are you ready for what’s next?

People are spending more time than ever on YouTube, in part because of innovations like virtual reality, 360 video, and casting to TVs. Audiences have made “over-the-top” video (OTT)—content delivered to TVs via the internet—the new normal over the last year:
52% growth in time spent using OTT devices to view online content on TV.
>100% growth in YouTube watch time on TVs.