Recently, YouTube unveiled its top 10 trending video rankings for the U.S. and TikTok ran its “year in 60 secs: TikTok lists top videos, creators of 2020.” Whatever your opinion of the popular content, it has been a very good year for video and the proliferation of video creators. Google reported a particularly strong third quarter for YouTube, which saw ad growth at $5.04 billion, up 32% from a year ago. YouTube is up to 32 million channels with over 2 billion users.
TikTok has slapped its way to success in 2020, having won its initial injunction to avoid ceasing operations in the U.S. and bumped up to over 500 million users worldwide. Only 9% of US internet users have used TikTok and 49% of teens are interested in using the platform. Now, YouTube has changed its terms so it can monetize videos from creators that are not part of their partner program, and therefore not compensated. This seems to be a conscious choice to catch the potential revenue from growth in small, new video creators.
People have a real need to express themselves
Canva saw a huge increase of 33% in users between Q2 and Q3 (10 million new users) from businesses and at-home entrepreneurs trying to think and work a little more creatively without having to learn layout and design software. David Burson, the Head of Product, Growth, and Monetization at Canva said, “There has never been a more important time for simple and affordable tools that empower creativity and collaboration. The last few months, in particular, have highlighted the fact that the need for design is now more universal than ever.”
Clipchamp serves a similar niche in the video world — targeting specifically businesses and individuals that want to start making content quickly without traditional editing skills — and they have gained 5 million new users since March 2020 (for a total of 13 million users). Clipchamp has seen a 69% increase in new users and a 120% increase in video exports and a 120% increase in template usage since March 2020. Anna Ji, Director of Product at Clipchamp told me in an email, “We don’t put our users into a box, instead we provide guide rails in the form of templates, but if you want to create something from scratch, you can do so.”
Video creators
According to the State of Video Marketing report 2020, published by Wyzowl, 92% of the 650 surveyed marketers stated that they consider videos as an essential component of their marketing strategy. Similarly, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that demand for video and film editors’ employment to grow to 22% during 2019–2028.
Video has seen constant growth from 78% in 2015, 85% in 2018, to 92% in 2020. The report also states that, on average, people spend 16 hours/week watching online videos, signifying an increase of 52% in the past two years. Approximately 86% of the people stated that they would watch more videos online from brands in 2020.
Trending towards video consumption
Combined with the economic incentives for more creators to join the fray and a global increase in on-screen revenue for businesses, this trend toward more creators and more consumption, which was already in motion before COVID-19, and so far the audience has grown to support the need.
Faster connections, better displays, best DSLR camera for streaming and a greater number of video content creators making video content for targeted audiences will fuel video consumption. Advertising on online video will rise from $45 billion this year to $61 billion by 2021, growing at almost double the rate of online advertising overall. Undeniably, video marketing will be an important part of any marketing plan for many years to come.
