Why a Strategic
Approach to
YouTube Matters
In 2014
YouTube surpassed the
popularity of live television.
Source: Mashable
YouTube is a force of massive
strength in today’s social space.
100 80
countries different languages
YouTube is a force of massive
strength in today’s social space.
500 5B 30M
hours of video are videos are watched on visitors go to YouTube
uploaded to YouTube YouTube every single every day.
every minute. day.
Source: Mashable
YouTube isn’t
just a space for
viral videos and
influencers.
>1300 Over 1300 participants report using
YouTube or wanting to use it.
Source: HubSpot Academy Survey
500 500 respondents said they were
using YouTube as a library and
repository for video that they use
elsewhere.
Source: HubSpot Academy Survey
Only 9% of
U.S. small
businesses
use YouTube.
YouTube is the
second biggest
search engine,
next to Google.
87% 87% of marketers said they planned
on placing video ads on Facebook,
compared to 81.5% on YouTube.
Source: Vidyard
87% 81.5%
of marketers plan on placing of marketers plan on placing
video ads on Facebook video ads on YouTube
Source: Vidyard
Facebook videos
autoplay. Three
seconds of watching a
video is considered a
view.
YouTube focuses on
audience retention.
YouTube
dominates the
videos featured
on Google’s Rich
Snippets and
Organic Results.
YouTube videos
show up on the
“Videos” and
“Images” search
tabs on Google
result pages.
YouTube helps
potential
customers make
purchasing
decisions and
build trust.
YouTube is more
favorably rated
by older age
groups than
millennials.
Source: YouTube
51% 51% of people in the U.S. over the
age of 75 are using the channel.
Source: Cast from Clay
Start offline –
with buyer
personas.
Understanding
the YouTube
Algorithm
The goals of YouTube’s search and
discovery system are twofold:
1. Help viewers find the videos they
want to watch.
2. Maximize long-term viewer
engagement and satisfaction.
The YouTube algorithm takes into
account:
1. Which videos each user watches
2. What they don’t watch
3. How much time they spend watching each video
4. Their likes and dislikes
5. When they mark a video “not
interested” in
YouTube rewards
engagement
YouTube incentivizes creators to
produce videos that their
audience actually enjoys
watching, discouraging them
from trying to game the system.
It’s NOT about the
views
YouTube videos with the most
watch time are ranked higher on
the algorithm.
WATCH TIME
The amount of time in aggregate that viewers are
watching your videos
The Watch Time algorithm includes:
• Audience retention
The Watch Time algorithm includes:
• Audience retention
• Estimated minutes watched
The Watch Time algorithm includes:
• Audience retention
• Estimated minutes watched
• Watch Time per user session
Watch Time
YouTube rewards videos
based on the number of
minutes a video was
watched.
One underperforming
video can decrease
the visibility of your
entire channel.
The 5 places in YouTube where videos
appear:
1. In search results
The 5 places in YouTube where videos
appear:
1. In search results
2. Stories on YouTube mobile
The 5 places in YouTube where videos
appear:
1. In search results
2. Stories on YouTube mobile
3. On the homepage and in the mobile feed
The 5 places in YouTube where videos
appear:
1. In search results
2. Stories on YouTube mobile
3. On the homepage and in the mobile feed
4. Explore and Trending streams
The 5 places in YouTube where videos
appear:
1. In search results
2. Stories on YouTube mobile
3. On the homepage and in the mobile feed
4. Explore and Trending streams
5. In the suggested videos stream
The two biggest factors that affect
your videos’ search rankings:
Keywords Relevance
Optimize keywords in these areas for SEO
• Titles
• Tags
• Thumbnails
• Descriptions
• Content
Keywords
Relevance also affects search rankings:
• How many videos users
have watched from your
channel
• The last time a user
watched other videos on
the same topic as your
video
Relevance
If a video on your brand’s channel
drives a viewer to watch more
videos, the channel earns some
watch time credits for the
cumulative minutes accrued.
Your homepage is entirely unique and personalized to you. What it shows you is based on
your activity history and what videos you have previously engaged with or watched.
Trending videos
People also care about
what’s trending, so there’s a
section specifically for the
most popular videos.
Subscriptions
Viewers can see all the new
videos from channels they
subscribe to.
View velocity
measures the
number of
subscribers who
watch your
video right after
it's published.
Notifications
Remind viewers to turn
channel notifications on.
YouTube rewards channels when people watch multiple videos from the same channel,
especially if they show up in in the "Suggested Videos" section.
