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The first of the current YouTube trends may not be obvious to those not involved in YouTube marketing on a daily basis, but it is very important. The platform is giving creators more and more data and better insights. They are now testing a few features that will soon be introduced for all users:

1. Search Insights: This feature in YouTube Analytics provides insight into specific search behavior on YouTube that can be used to produce SEO-optimized video content.
2. Most viewed sections: This feature shows which sections of all videos are most viewed in the progress bar. Very useful for inspiration for target group and competition analysis.
3. Media Kit: this feature makes it easy for creators to give insight into their audience and to collaborate with brands. Very good news for brands that want to engage with the most relevant influencers.

In addition, YouTube has greatly improved Analytics over the past year with content benchmarks and insights into your audience. And they will continue to do so in 2022. So you’ll be better able to improve your performance based on these data and insights.

The time we spend on linear TV has been decreasing steadily for years. Apart from a short-lived revival due to the COVID breakout in 2020. At the same time, spending on TV ads has risen a lot in the past year, we recently read here on Adformatie. Never before were net media expenditures so high, while viewing time was never so low. Never before did advertisers pay so much for a GRP and never before did the viewing figures for news and current affairs drop so much.

What is increasing, however, is the use of YouTube, especially on the large TV screen in the Dutch living room and bedroom. With the rise of Connected TV, YouTube videos can be watched on TV more easily. YouTube already reaches almost four million Dutch people per month on Connected TVs. Last year, YouTube made its definitive breakthrough on TV and this year its share will only increase further.

An analysis of our customer data (dataset includes dozens of channels with more than two billion views) shows that 23.5% of YouTube views are currently generated on TV screens. Only mobile phones are a more popular playback location with 51% of all views. Due to this enormous reach on TV, YouTube is increasingly becoming a full alternative to TV advertising campaigns, especially with the rising GRP prices.

The fact that YouTube is used on TV more often, does not mean that there are no developments on the mobile screen. In 2021 YouTube introduced a new feature in the Netherlands: Shorts. These are short vertical videos of up to 60 seconds which now have their own prominent place on the platform. In a short time, these short videos have grown enormously in popularity and generate more than 4 billion views per day.

Looking at the Shorts figures, it can be seen that demand currently exceeds supply. This offers opportunities for creators, brands and media companies. For the time being, it is mainly the individual creators who have thrown themselves into the development of Shorts, and thus have an advantage over brands and media companies that jump in later. Shorts are also making huge strides in the Netherlands. Shorts from Dutch channels were viewed almost 100 million times last month. Want to know how you can use Shorts effectively for your brand? Then watch the YouTube Shorts webinar that we recently organized together with Google.

One of YouTube’s spearheads in the new year is the further integration of video, livestreams and commerce: Video Commerce. With this, they are not the only ones, because Meta and TikTok are also fully committed to making their content ‘shoppable’. In an interview with Modern Retail the new recruited responsible persons within Youtube announced that in 2022 they will focus even more on Video Commerce. YouTube believes that with shoppable video they can reduce the gap between discovery and purchase. In the coming year, they will be interweaving video and e-commerce more and more, making it easier to buy the products shown right away. As top woman Bridget Dolan puts it: “We already have a tremendous amount of shopping content. How we make that shoppable over time is our next foray.”

Last year, they already tested this in the United States, India and Brazil in collaboration with some major brands (Walmart, Target and Sephora) and well-known influencers such as Mr Beast and Gordon Ramsey. Don’t be surprised (and prepared) if this year these new features will also become available in our country.

Now that 2022 is coming to an end, Peter starts to look ahead. What key YouTube trends should brands be aware of in 2023? In his latest blog, Peter zooms in on 2023’s three biggest YouTube trends. He gives your brand clear tips and tricks on how to utilise them. Read about the biggest YouTube trends for 2023 here.