36 YouTube Marketing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know
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If video is king, YouTube still wears the crown.
With over 2 billion logged-in users each month and billions of hours watched daily, YouTube is one of the most powerful platforms for brand awareness, lead generation, and community building.
But creating content blindly won’t get you far. Checking out video marketing examples and understanding the latest YouTube marketing statistics can help you craft smarter strategies, tailor your content so your audience can easily find it, and stay ahead of competitors.
Key YouTube Stats
Before diving into niche breakdowns, here are some of the most compelling YouTube video stats to understand the platform’s scale, reach, and relevance in 2025. These high-level figures highlight why YouTube should be central to any modern marketing strategy.
1. Globally, viewers watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube content daily. (YouTube)
2. Data from January 2025 indicates that YouTube's advertising reach extends to 2.53 billion users globally. (DataReportal)
3. 83% of consumers want to see more videos from brands in 2025. (Wyzowl)
4. As of November 2024, global users spent an average of over 27 hours per month on the YouTube mobile app. (Statista)
5. YouTube daily active users total 122 million, while YouTube monthly active users reach beyond 2.7 billion. (Global Media Insight)
Understanding YouTube Behavior
To market effectively on YouTube, it’s crucial to understand how many people use YouTube and how that behavior stacks up against other social media networks. Unlike short-form-focused platforms like TikTok or image-based apps like Instagram, YouTube supports deeper content consumption, longer sessions, and more intentional searches, in addition to bite-sized content via Shorts.
Many people use AI art in their content on YouTube, contributing to the amount of content produced daily, meeting users exactly where they spend their time.
6. Longer content (30+ minutes) accounted for 73% of overall viewing time on YouTube in the U.S. toward the end of 2024. (Digital i)
7. 27% of viral videos originated on YouTube, ahead of TikTok (24%), Instagram (18%), and Facebook (14%). (HubSpot)
8. Over 90% of adults under age 50 use YouTube, along with 86% of those ages 50 to 64. (Pew Research Center)
9. As of November 2024, YouTube was the second most visited website in the world, attracting over 72.8 billion monthly visits, just behind its parent company, Google. (Statista)
YouTube Advertising Numbers Speak Volumes
YouTube continues to prove itself as a high-performing ad channel, with consistent year-over-year revenue growth and an expanding global reach. Its unique ability to support both long-form storytelling and bite-sized creative gives advertisers room to engage audiences in meaningful ways.
10. In 2024, YouTube generated approximately $31.5 billion in global advertising revenue, marking an increase of nearly 8% year over year. (Statista)
11. 44% of top-performing YouTube ads in 2024 were longer than 60 seconds. (HubSpot)
12. YouTube advertising made up roughly 13.7% of Google’s total revenue from 2017 to 2024. (Statista)
13. 75% of businesses say they are happy with the ROI they receive from their YouTube ad campaigns. (WebFX)
How Businesses Grow With YouTube
If you’re wondering whether YouTube actually drives business results, the answer is: absolutely. It’s an industry so big that YouTube automation is now a very common practice — one that contributes to building communities, brand presence, and reaching new audiences. How many people watch YouTube for learning and research is a testament to its business utility.
People don’t just use YouTube for entertainment; they use it to learn, research, and make decisions. It’s where product reviews, tutorials, and behind-the-scenes content turn casual viewers into confident buyers.
The behavior speaks for itself. Consumers say YouTube videos have helped them choose what to buy, and many actively seek out brand content when researching. That’s a big signal to marketers: If your business isn’t showing up on YouTube, you’re missing a key step in the customer journey.
14. 83% of marketers leverage short-form video content, with YouTube being a primary platform for distribution. (HubSpot)
15. Nearly 90% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. (Wyzowl)
16. Nearly half of YouTube users (47%) engage with brands at least once a week, and one in three interacts daily. (Sprout Social)
17. 78% of marketers say YouTube marketing has been effective. (Wyzowl)
Who’s Tuning in to YouTube
YouTube demographics show that the platform pulls in viewers from every age group, and they’re not just watching — they’re searching, researching, and engaging. It’s the kind of reach most platforms can only hope for.
In fact, if more than 90% of U.S. adults under 50 use YouTube, and 86% of those ages 50 to 64 do, too, then that means whether your audience is 25 or 60, odds are they’re already tuning in. The opportunity? Brands that show up with relevant, helpful video content have a shot at connecting with their audience across generations.
18. In 2024, 85% of U.S. adults reported using YouTube, making it the most widely used online platform, surpassing Facebook (70%), Instagram (50%), and every other major social media app. (Pew Research Center)
19. In the U.S., Gen Z makes up 25.1% of YouTube users, followed closely by millennials at 25.5%, and Gen X at 19.9%. (EMARKETER)
20. 76% of online consumers have a YouTube account. (Sprout Social)
21. 90% of U.S. teens use YouTube, with 73% accessing it daily. (Pew Research Center)
Which Types of Videos Work on YouTube?
Not all videos perform equally. Understanding what resonates on YouTube can make the difference between a few clicks and serious traction.
While the platform supports everything from long-form storytelling to rapid-fire Shorts, tutorials, product demos, and explainer videos consistently rise to the top. That’s because people don’t just visit YouTube to be entertained; they show up with a goal: to learn how to turn ideas into videos, how to solve a problem, or figure out what to buy.
22. Short-form video delivers the highest ROI (21%), followed by images (19%) and live streams (16%). (HubSpot)
23. Explainer videos are the most common type of marketing videos, with 73% of video marketers creating them in 2025. (Wyzowl)
24. Longer videos, those over 60 seconds, are the most popular short-form type of video on YouTube. (Sprout Social)
25. 30% of B2C businesses use short-form video as part of their content strategy, and 19% leverage long-form video. (HubSpot)
The Rise of YouTube Shorts
Short-form video isn’t just a trend anymore; it’s a shift in how people consume content, and YouTube Shorts is right at the center of it. Built to compete with TikTok and Reels, Shorts has become one of the fastest-growing features on the platform, giving creators and brands a way to deliver quick, engaging content that still drives results.
26. YouTube Shorts averaged over 70 billion daily views in 2024. (YouTube)
27. YouTube Shorts has an average engagement rate of 5.91%, outperforming competitors like TikTok (5.75%) and Instagram Reels (5.53%). (Statista)
28. 95% of the top 20 U.S. YouTubers have posted Shorts, which account for over half (54%) of their recent uploads. (Adobe)
29. 44% of people prefer learning about a product or service by watching a short video. (Wyzowl)
30. 1 in 3 marketers saw a 15%-25% boost in web traffic from YouTube Shorts, while half reported gaining new subscribers. (Adobe)
The Biggest Channels on YouTube
The most-subscribed channels on YouTube reach audiences that rival major TV networks. From chart-topping music hubs to creators like MrBeast, these channels are a window into what scale looks like on the platform, and the success you can reach when you know how to make money on YouTube with AI.
31. MrBeast holds the title for the most-subscribed YouTube channel globally, boasting over 392 million subscribers. (Viewstats)
32. Between June 2024 and March 2025, MrBeast's subscriber count surged from 279 million to 380 million, marking an increase of 101 million subscribers in just nine months. (Statista)
YouTube Is the New Music Video Service
While it wasn’t built for music, YouTube has quietly become one of the world’s biggest platforms for it. From official music videos and lyric breakdowns to live performances and fan-made remixes, YouTube is where people go to experience music in all its forms. Music videos are a huge part of the industry’s blueprint and tradition.
For example, artists typically make music videos for their hit songs and singles, an aspect of the music industry that sees a lot of traffic and advertising potential.
33. Since 2010, all but one of the most-viewed videos have been music videos. (Statista)
34. Rosé and Bruno Mars’ official music video for “APT.” surpassed 100 million views in less than a week. (Soompi)
35. "Gangnam Style" by PSY held the top spot as most-viewed video for 1,689 days (4.6 years) until "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth knocked it out of first place. (Statista)
36. All the top 10 most-viewed videos on YouTube to date are music videos. (YouTube)
Use Magic Hour To Streamline Your YouTube Marketing Videos
One thing’s clear from all these YouTube marketing statistics: Brands that succeed on YouTube aren’t just showing up occasionally. They’re consistent. The creators and companies winning on the platform have a repeatable process, a clear content strategy, and the tools in place to keep publishing, even when time is tight.
You don’t need a full production team to build a presence on YouTube — you just need the right tools. Magic Hour’s AI video generator helps you turn your existing content into high-quality, on-brand videos faster. By automating the repetitive parts, you can focus on what matters and keep your audience engaged with consistent, compelling content.