Video and Photo Will Dominate Social by 2020

YouTube ConchordsSites like YouTube and Instagram are expected to overtake Twitter and Facebook as the dominant social media forces by the end of the decade, according to research by experts from the London School of Marketing (LSM).

Analysing growing trends in social media and the use of image and video sites among different demographics, researchers found that younger users were focusing on video and photo-based sites more than any other.

Among the 12-20 year old demographic, Instagram is the highest-rated social media network, ahead of both Twitter and Facebook. The researchers pointed to the prevalence of smartphones and the trend for social media to be increasingly image led as the main drivers of this shift.

YouTube remains the king of video content and sharing, with no obvious rival and around 1bn active users each month. 83 per cent of 12-20 year olds use it at least once a month, and even among consumers in their 70s, it sees 30 per cent monthly active user rates.

The Google-owned video network is being increasingly employed by advertisers and marketers looking to promote brands, but according to LSM experts, a successful YouTube presence requires relevance, engagement and consistency, which not every brand achieves.

“For a video to work well the message should be relevant to both the viewer and the brand in question,” said Jacque de Cock, faculty member at London School of Marketing. “It needs to also tell a story or assist the viewer. What is interesting when it comes to engagement is that videos dont need to be highly produced to gain the most views.

“If you look at the stats, around half of the corporate videos from the worlds top 100 brands have less that 1,000 views. Compare that to the more than 822m people who have watched Charlie bit my finger. Where most brands go wrong though is around consistency. To market successfully on YouTube a brands presence has to be regular and consistent.”

While Twitters format may limit how it deals with the transition to a photo and video focus, Facebook has already begun adjusting. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg claimed “most of Facebook will be video” within five years, and figures support this, with video posts per person up 75 per cent during 2014 on the social network.