The term “vlog” is an amalgam of the words “video” and “blog”. Vlogs are basically blogs delivered in video format, where vloggers either talk in front of a static camera or take it along with them as they go about their day.
- According to recent statistics, over 44% of Internet users watch vlogs every single month.
- The average person spends 100 minutes a day watching videos online which amounts to watching 5 billion YouTube videos per day in total.
- Vlogging is also an effective form of marketing since it’s estimated that 66% of business owners rank video as the most effective form of content marketing.
- Additionally, 85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.
- With its 800 million active users, TikTok could potentially replace YouTube as a vlogging platform in the future.
As some of you may know, YouTube officially launched in 2005. At the beginning of its development, this video-sharing platform contained mainly low-quality videos and obscure memes that contained little to no edits, so none of us was aware of the giant it would eventually become.
Throughout the years, vlogging especially has become increasingly popular. And after more and more YouTubers started to vlog with their smartphones, its relevance became higher than ever.
In this article, we will cover the most astonishing and important statistics regarding vlogging as of 2020. We will go over statistics that include other social media platforms, and elaborate on some trends that you need to look out for.
We hope you find this article informative, so without further ado, let’s get started with some vlogging statistics.
If you have the slightest interest in vlogs, then you might be wondering where it all started from.
Believe it or not, the first YouTube vlogger dates back to the beginning of YouTube. It was Andrew Baron who first produced a vlog series called Rocketboom where a host would present the news and include comedic sketches. It’s estimated that the show attracted around 300,000 viewers a day, which is certainly impressive for being the first vlog on the Internet.
As you can see, vlogs attracted large audiences ever since they were created. It’s no secret that we viewers enjoy watching vlogs, whether they’re centred around cooking, lifestyle, or gaming.
Andrew Baron’s net worth is estimated at around $1 – $5 millions, so it’s clear that vlogging was a profitable business even back then.
The Growing Impact of Vlogging Through Statistics
First off, we need to start with a couple of statistics related to YouTube’s popularity among viewers.
- It appears that YouTube has 2 million logged in monthly users and the trend seems to be increasing as the days go by.
But how does this statistic compare to other media?
- According to Hootsuite, YouTube is the second most preferred platform for watching videos between 18 to 34 year olds.
If vlogging is becoming increasingly popular, then how many people watch vlogs on a daily basis?
- Statistics show that over 44% of internet users watch vlogs every month.
- 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube per day.
- According to thinkwithgoogle.com, most vlog content on YouTube comes from YouTube creators.
- The same source shows that it’s mostly the young generation that’s interested in watching vlogs – 53% of the viewers are between ages 16 and 24.
- Statistics also show that people spend 100 minutes a day watching videos online.
- Digital marketing is one of the main reasons why vlogging has become so widespread – 87% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. Therein, 79% of customers claimed that a brand’s video has convinced them to make the final purchase.
Vlogging Salary Statistics
Let’s be honest – the thought about how much money vloggers make must have crossed your mind before. Well, we’re here to solve the mystery and lay out all the relevant statistics you need to know about this.
It’s not just businesses that profit from vlogs:
- YouTubers are being paid more than ever. For instance, Felix Kjellberg, also known as Pewdiepie, earns around $1,823,600 on average per month.
- The number of YouTube channels that are earning six figures or more has increased by 40% year on year.
- It’s hard to estimate how much exactly YouTube vloggers make per year since there are so many variables that need to be added to the equation.
Source: Sketch Art
Another way vloggers make money off YouTube is by including ads in their videos. In order to make this possible, you will need to have at least 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months and have at least 1,000 subscribers.
That being said, YouTube does take around 50% of the ad revenue, so you need to take those numbers into account if you want to estimate a vlogger’s average earnings.
Video Marketing and Vlogging Statistics
As you can clearly see from the salary statistics, being a vlogger pays off more than ever.
And business owners have certainly contributed to that fact. They have taken advantage of the increasing popularity of vlogs and incorporated them in their video marketing strategy. According to a 2019 survey, 66% of business owners rank video as the most effective form of content marketing.
The usual way companies go about video marketing is by sponsoring a certain video. For instance, if a YouTuber is famous for reviewing movies and TV-shows, then they could easily land a sponsorship with a movie streaming service.
Now let’s share some statistics you need to keep in mind in regards to video marketing in 2020. According to Wyzowl,
- An increasing number of businesses use video marketing. As of 2020, 85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.
- 87% of video marketers claim that videos have increased the traffic to their website.
- 80% of video marketers claim that video marketing has positively affected sales.
With that said, if your company is interested in a profitable marketing strategy, then video marketing is certainly the way to go.
With videos being consumers’ favourite content to see from brands, it’s no surprise that other social media apps have tried to simulate the experience from watching YouTube videos. And that’s exactly why Facebook and Instagram have incorporated the ‘Live Video’ option.
Many Facebook and Instagram users and influencers regularly use the ‘Live’ option in order to communicate with their fans or promote a certain product, but how does it compare to actual vlogs? Let’s find out.
- According to Makeawebsitehub.com, Facebook live was the most popular live-streaming platform in 2017, and Facebook users watch about three times as much live videos as they do standard uploaded videos. On top of that, live videos show more engagement than traditional content.
- Just like on YouTube, influencers get paid to put up live videos on Facebook. Here is an informative graphic from mediakix.com that demonstrates how much growth the most popular influencers have had on live videos.
- That being said, YouTube has a slightly higher watch count than Facebook.
- When it comes to Instagram live, it seems to be the least popular option. Both Facebook and YouTube have more users than Instagram,
Smartphones and Vlogging Statistics
Using mobile phones has been revolutionary for vloggers all around the world. It has enabled vloggers to have significantly more content to post. This is solely because we take our mobile phones everywhere with us, and they’re certainly a lot easier to carry than a large camera and a gorilla pod.
Smartphones have enabled YouTube creators to provide their viewers with a lot more content than before, but not at the cost of video quality! Most smartphones nowadays come with a high-quality camera, so filming high quality vlogs has never been easier.
And with almost three-quarters of videos being played on mobile devices, it’s safe to say that smartphones play a large part with the viewers’ experience as well. Not to mention, viewers are also more likely to watch videos from their mobile phones than from their computers.
Knowing this has made it easier for vloggers to adjust to these viewing preferences.
Other Vlog Platform Competitors
YouTube is by far the most popular platform for uploading vlogs, but are there any other apps that could potentially take YouTube’s place?
We’ve already compared how Facebook and Instagram live scores in comparison to standard YouTube vlogs, but what about other apps?
TikTok is a platform that allows its users to create videos that are no longer than 15 seconds, which is certainly not nearly as long as the average vlog which is around 10 minutes long.
However, with 800 million active users, it certainly has the potential of surpassing YouTube. While the format of the vlogs won’t be the same, it still allows users to bring all the appeal of vlogs (creativity, originality, personal snippets of your daily lives), into short TikTok videos.
Some sources even claim that TikTok could become the be-all and end-all of social media marketing, which shouldn’t come as a shock to us, seeing that it is the fastest-growing social media app after all.
Will vloggers switch platforms and become avid TikTok uploaders? We have yet to find out.