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YouTube Channel Growth How Native Content Strategies Will Underpin Success

Tim Mulligan
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The 20,000 Foot View

YouTube’s first decade established the video category that is still widely referred to as short form video, even though it is only music videos that any longer cling religiously to the few minutes format.  Ten years on, YouTube’s channel hierarchy is emerging not just as the key navigation interface but also the foundation of a new content creator ecosystem.  Alongside music, native YouTube creators are the fastest growing category of channels and dominate site revenue views and subscribers.

Key Findings

  • The            fastest            YouTube channels in the three            from December 2014 to February            were all YouTube native creators            music artists 
  • The YouTube            landscape is changing – music            for            of the top            YouTube            but only            of the fastest           
  • PewDiePie and            Swift grew fastest, both have            Digital Native appeal 
  • These two            added new subscribers at a            nearly double that of the            top ten channels
  • YouTube native            and artists dominate YouTube channel           
  • Despite dynamic            YouTube native creators still only            for just over a quarter            views
  •            of US consumers are YouTube channel subscribers, of whom            have been subscribed for a year or more
  • YouTube subscribers            young but are far from            Digital Natives, with penetration rising                       among under            but a third                       to            year olds also subscribe
  • Channel success            increasingly depend on using the            creator play book

Companies mentioned: YouTube, Vessel, Smile Time, Netflix, BBC, Hulu, Facebook, Twitter, twitch