YouTube is one of the most important social media websites for content creators. Though it’s easy to assume that buzzy platforms like X, TikTok, or Instagram are the most trafficked sites, YouTube has been a stalwart for social media web traffic numbers for years. For 2024, it even remains the second most trafficked social media site behind Facebook, with Statista reporting that the site earns more than 2,000,000 users monthly.

That’s why it’s important for brands to understand what makes a good YouTube video and how to make your content rank highly on YouTube search. Ranking on YouTube means understanding how to make good videos from a technical standpoint, researching YouTube’s user demographics, creating accessible content, optimizing for the search algorithm, and more.

We’ve compiled a list of must-know YouTube stats to inform your strategy and help you rank.

YouTube Video Statistics

First and foremost: what makes a good YouTube video? We’ve all seen mega-viral videos in a variety of formats covering a wide range of topics, so it can feel overwhelming to parse what exactly is the magic ingredient for success. Let’s take a look at some stats on YouTube videos.

1. 82% of users go to YouTube for entertainment. (10)
2. 37% of users ages 30—49 look to YouTube for news. (10)
3. Typically, videos that are between 5 and 15 minutes long perform the best. (11)
4. 80% of viewers are more likely to finish watching a video with subtitles. (12)
5. 42% of people turn subtitles on to help them focus or concentrate on a video they’re watching. (12)
6. 54% of people are more interested in watching a content creator break down a major news event, sports game, or award show than watching the event itself. (15)
7. 67% of Gen Z enjoys watching their favorite content creators create in different formats, like long-form videos, podcast-to-videos, short-form videos, etc. (15)
8. The average YouTube video length is 11.7 minutes. (17)

Data on YouTube Growth

Did you know that YouTube and the iPod Nano were released in the same year? Yet only one is not only surviving, but thriving. Let’s look at some statistics about YouTube’s growth.

9. As of 2024, YouTube has attracted 2,491,000 users monthly. (1)
10. 2 billion monthly users watch YouTube Shorts as of July 2023. (3)
11. YouTube Premium — an ad-free video and music streaming service — has officially hit 100 million users. (9)
12. Over 500 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute. (13)
13. Global YouTube users watch more than 1 billion hours of content per day. (14)
14. YouTube earns almost 9 million visits per month from organic searches. (13)

Demographics of YouTube Users

YouTube attracts a large number of people with a myriad of interests, because it is a unique platform with many (we mean many) different creators and content types. But how many people use YouTube daily, and what are they looking for most? Let’s look at some YouTube demographics stats.

15. Millennials born 1981—1996 are the biggest YouTube watchers, followed by Gen Z born 1997—2012. (5)
16. Almost 93% of teenagers aged 13—17 say their most-used social media platform is YouTube. (6)
17. 16% of teenagers who use YouTube say that they’re on the platform “almost constantly.” (6)
18. There is no big gender disparity between teens who use YouTube — 96% of teen boys and 91% of teen girls report using the site. (6)
19. 85% of city-dwellers use YouTube, 85% of suburbanites use YouTube, and 77% of those living in rural areas use it. (7)

YouTube Revenue Statistics

YouTube videos can be monetized, making it a good opportunity for content creators to bring in income on the platform. However, it can also be a lucrative avenue for advertisers and marketers, who can earn business or money by creating marketing videos. Let’s look at some revenue stats for the platform.

20. Successful YouTube content creators earn roughly $1,100 per week. (2)
21. YouTube creators earn about 55% of their channel’s generated income — basically, for every $100 an advertiser spends on a creator, they get $55 of it. (2)
22. In Q2 2023, Google reported that YouTube had brought in more than $7 billion in ad revenue. (3)
23. YouTube generated about $31.5 million in revenue in 2023. (9)
24. YouTube receives almost 600 million visits from paid social and paid search traffic. (13)
25. It’s possible for a YouTube ad to reach 30% of the world’s population. (13)

Facts About YouTube Influencers

Though people have been idolizing celebrities since the age of Roman gladiators (yes, seriously), the rise of social media influencers began on platforms like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Vlogs, gaming videos, music, comedy sketches, and more created some of the first big internet celebrities when YouTube was launched.

Let’s look at how YouTube has helped the growth of influencers.

26. Mr. Beast — the highest-paid YouTube creator — earned $82 million on the platform in 2023. (9)
27. Over 35,000 YouTube channels have earned over 1,000,000 subscribers. (9)
28. T-Series — an Indian movie studio and music label — is the most subscribed YouTube channel, with more than 241 million subscribers. (9)
29. 40% of people personally identify as video content creators. (15)
30. “People & Blogs” (aka lifestyle content and vlogging) is the most popular video topic for YouTube influencers. (18)

Unique YouTube Stats You Might Not Know

YouTube is a unique platform that brings together millions of people to watch millions of videos per day. Let’s look at some lesser-known YouTube statistics to inform your strategy when tackling such a behemoth platform.

31. The Baby Shark dance is the most viewed YouTube video of all time, followed by the music video for “Despacito.” (4)
32. Around 63% of users watch YouTube videos on their mobile phones. (8)
33. The music video for “Gangnam Style” was the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. (9)
34. 69% of viewers watch videos with the sound turned off when they’re in public. (12)
35. YouTube videos now appear on the search engine results page (SERP) for more than 791 million queries. (13)
36. There are YouTube videos from more than 100 countries and in more than 80 languages. (14)

How to Use This Data to Inform Your YouTube Strategy

Data gives many insights into what people on YouTube want: what they search for, what they enjoy in a video, what makes them click away, and what convinces them to keep watching (and sometimes even make a purchase). By looking at relevant data, you can determine how to make your videos stand out in a deep well of options.

For example, from the stats above we can glean that:

• Diversifying your format is key, as people enjoy different types of video content
• Subtitles and closed captioning are a must, as they help gain viewer interest
• Both news-centric and entertaining videos are popular, proving that just about any brand can jump in on the action
• Influencers can help build your brand, as they often have big followings and are open to brand collaboration

On the accessibility front, providing things like audio descriptions and accurate closed captions goes a long way. Not only does making accessible videos open your video up to a bigger audience and help your metrics, but it also is the right thing to do. Services like Rev can step in to help by providing transcriptions that you can upload to YouTube that will help deaf or hard-of-hearing people enjoy your content.

Make the Most of YouTube

You don’t want to invest money and time into your YouTube strategy and then exclude potential viewers, right? That’s just one of the many reasons why closed captioning is so important. Rev’s transcription services are fast and accurate, so all you have to do is shoot, edit, and upload. Learn more about Rev’s closed captioning software today.

Resources:

1. Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2024, ranked by number of monthly active users (Statista)
2. How Much do YouTubers Make? – A YouTuber’s Pocket Guide [Calculator] (Influencer Marketing Hub)
3. Google says 2 billion logged-in monthly users are watching YouTube Shorts (TechCrunch)
4. Most popular YouTube videos based on total global views as of January 2024 (Statista)
5. Gen Z leads the pack on Snapchat, TikTok (eMarketer)
6. Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023 (Pew)
7. Social Media Fact Sheet (Pew)
8. More than 3 in 5 YouTube video views occur on mobile devices (eMarketer)
9. YouTube Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024) (Business of Apps)
10. YouTube Stats: Everything You Need to Know In 2024! (WyzOwl)
11. Best Length for YouTube Videos to Boost Engagement (2024) (Viralyft)
12. 80% of People Prefer Video Subtitles. Here’s How They Affect Engagement (Kapwing)
13. The Value of YouTube in 2024 (Semrush Blog)
14. YouTube for Press (YouTube)
15. Culture & Trends Report 2023 (YouTube)
16. The State of Influencer Marketing 2024: Benchmark Report (Influencer Marketing Hub)
17. Average YouTube video length as of December 2018, by category (Statista)
18. Distribution of YouTube influencers worldwide in 2023, by category (Statista)