It’s probably no surprise that we believe online video is wildly popular and critically important to any marketing strategy. But we’re not the only ones drinking the kool-aid. According to Cisco, 69 percent of all global consumer Internet traffic will be video in 2017, up from 57 percent in 2012. That statistic has been around for a while now. But two Drake University professors recently added some new numbers to the mix that show the importance of online video may be just gaining steam.
Chris Snider and Dorothy Pisarski recently gave a presentation to the Iowa chapter of the American Marketing Association. The topic was “Generation Z”, which starts with young people born after 1993. They’re the world’s next batch of consumers and apparently they love video.
As part of their research into this group, Chris Snider conducted three surveys on the social media use of teenagers and early 20-somethings. He surveyed high school students, first-year college students and college upperclassmen. In all three categories, the number one most popular social media platform was YouTube. Ahead of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Now, obviously I’m biased here. And I’m not a trained analyst in marketing statistics. But, in my opinion, these surveys are further proof that video is increasingly the way of the future.
Gotta love cute critters eating fruit!
Some other interesting take-aways from the presentation about members of Gen Z: it takes a major effort to get their attention, they exist in their own little bubbles, and if you do manage to get their attention, it takes a big effort to hold on to it. That tells me the same old, same old video isn’t going to cut it. Quality and creativity are going to be more important than ever when these consumers start to flex their buying power.
A big thanks to Chris and Dorothy for sharing their knowledge on this group. Gen Z still remains a bit of a mystery, and this was a valuable glimpse into what makes them tick. Or not tick.