YouTube has been a household name and dominating website for decades. A whopping 2.7 billion people use YouTube per month to watch videos. However, is YouTube a social media platform worth using? At HatchMark Studio, we help clients leverage social media platforms to reach new business goals and engage with their customers. In this article, we will discuss whether or not you should be using YouTube for your content, how it compares to other traditional social media platforms, and ways you can integrate YouTube into your ongoing marketing strategy.
Here’s a Little Background on YouTube
The good news is we’re not going to make you read the whole article just to get your answer. Yes, you should absolutely be using YouTube. It was founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. The premise of the platform was simple: give users an easy and accessible way to upload and share video content so that people could watch, interact, and share. It’s hard to imagine, but before YouTube, there was no easy way to share home videos with friends and family without using a thumb drive or physical copy. The world of video content changed forever when founder Jawed Karim uploaded the famous “Me at the zoo” video to YouTube. The video was only 19 seconds and featured Jawed on camera in front of an elephant exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. As of 2024, the video has over 329 million views and over 10 million comments. This post had all of the underpinnings of a great social media post.
YouTube’s Social Media Features
Since we’ve determined that you should be integrating YouTube into your social media strategy yesterday, let’s takea step back and look at some key features that make it social. Because we think YouTube gets overlooked when talking about social media for business. Some people might not even consider it a social media platform. Here are the basics.
- Users can make their own accounts. This is the first step for any social media platform. Users have to be able to log into their own account so that they can operate and interact with other users without being anonymous. This is what creates a sense of community on the platform.
- Any user can upload his or her own content. You don’t need to be a paid user to be a content creator on YouTube. As long as you have an account, you can upload your own video content to the platform to share with other users.
- You can like and comment. One of the hallmarks of a social media platform is the ability to like and comment on other people’s content. As with other traditional social media platforms, the more likes and comments a video receives, the better it ranks in the suggested searches.
- It’s easily accessible. Whether you’re on a desktop computer or a smartphone, YouTube is easily accessible anywhere you have an internet connection. In fact, that average user spends 19 minutes a day on the platform.
How Does YouTube Compare to Other Social Media Platforms?
At this point, you can’t argue that YouTube isn’t a true social media platform. However, you might be able to argue that it isn’t the most effective way to reach your customers. To that, we’d say…it really depends on what your goals are. YouTube might be the best social media platform for you. For others, it might be a “nice to have” one day. Here are some ways YouTube stacks up against the competition.
- YouTube is owned by Google. We’re not saying there’s anything fishy going on here, but when the most-used search engine in the world is involved, you can imagine there are organic search implications as it pertains to YouTube. Yes, YouTube videos often rank very well on Google. Something to think about!
- You Can Post Photos on YouTube. Yes! Recently, YouTube made it so that content creators can post photos to their feed. Although video content is still the overwhelming majority, this gave YouTube content creators another way to interact with their subscribers. However, Instagram is still the dominating platform for photo content.
- The Average User Age for YouTube is Growing. The average age group for YouTube users is 25-34. This means that the young people who grew up with it remain the largest user group. That is bad news if your target market is on the younger side. Consequently, platforms like TikTok would be better suited.
- Long-form content reigns supreme. The average duration of a YouTube video is 11.7 minutes. This means that YouTube’s viewers still prefer long-from video content. If you are spending more time doing short-form video content, your efforts would be better directed toward Instagram’s reels and TikTok.
Best Ways to Add YouTube to Your Marketing Efforts
We speak with a lot of clients who don’t think YouTube is part of their game. While that might be true, you can’t ignore that YouTube is getting some serious traffic. If you are making any video content or plan to, you might want to set up a YouTube account. Below are some ways you can use YouTube to support your marketing mix.
- Host your website videos on YouTube. Most businesses these days have a website. It’s rare to not have one. On that website, you probably have a video or two. Consider hosting it on YouTube and using the embed code. This gives potential customers another on ramp to your content and provides reliable, free hosting.
- Post reels and TikToks to Shorts. YouTube’s answer to Instagram and TikTok’s short-form content was Shorts. Even if you aren’t putting any long-form video content out there, go ahead and put your reels and TikToks on Shorts. You already have the content, so why not have it get more views?
- Get into YouTube ads. YouTube is a great place to target potential customers with pre-roll ads while they watch their favorite content creators. If your outbound strategy is leaning heavily toward video, YouTube might be the place to try your luck.
Final Thoughts on Whether YouTube a Social Media Platform Worth Using
YouTube is a social media platform that often gets overlooked by marketers and business owners. The truth is, YouTube can play a key role in both your inbound and outbound marketing strategy. If you’re creating video content for your business and not posting it on YouTube, you might be missing out on thousands of views and potential sales. It’s free to make an account. What are you waiting for?
Let Us Handle Your Social Media & Digital Marketing
Social media management and digital marketing can be time consuming. Even seasoned marketing professionals need an extra set of hands from time to time to get the tasks finished on time. That’s why partnering with an agency like HatchMark Studio can be the difference maker. We offer everything from full social media support to handling all of your marketing needs. Get in touch with us today to set up a free discovery session to learn more about how we can help!
