According to the latest Compete PRO data, social media giant Facebook.com had 167,345,887 unique visitors in July 2014, putting the site just slightly ahead of YouTube.com, which had 166,427,373 unique visitors that month.
This means that Facebook is – once again – the largest social media site in the U.S. But the horse race is far from over and Facebook’s lead over YouTube still puts them neck and neck. So, what does this mean those of us in the online video and internet marketing industries?
Websites With the Most Unique Visitors in July 2014
The only two sites which got more unique U.S. visitors in July were Google.com, with 177,032,229, and Yahoo.com, with 171,974,434. Bing.com got only 160,078,172 that month, making it smaller than either Facebook or YouTube.
- Google: 177,032,229 Unique Visitors
- Yahoo: 171,974,434 Unique Visitors
- Facebook: 167,345,887 Unique Visitors
- YouTube: 166, 427, 373 Unique Visitors
- Twitter: 51,135,592 Unique Visitors
- LinkedIn: 46,992,943 Unique Visitors
- Myspace: 45,389,182 Unique Visitors
- Pinterest: 41,636,607 Unique Visitors
- Instagram: 34,334,791 Unique Visitors
If you only look at social media sites, Facebook and YouTube got approximately three to five times more unique visitors in July than Twitter.com with 51,135,592, LinkedIn.com with 46,992,943, Myspace.com with 45,389,182, Pinterest.com with 41,636,607, or Instagram.com with 34,334,791.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t Myspace dead? Well, as Miracle Max (Billy Crystal) says in The Princess Bride (1987), “Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.”
What Do The Numbers Mean For Video/Internet Marketers?
Well, I realize that this is “an inconvenient truth,” but use Google Trends to compare the web search interest in social media marketing with video marketing. Yep, interest in social media marketing passed video marketing back in December 2009. As of July 2014, interest in social media marketing indexed at 83 while interest in video marketing indexed at 36. And interest in social media marketing is forecast to hit 94 in July 2015 while interest in video marketing is forecast to bump along at 36.
Forget Video Marketing, Social Media Attracts the Budgets
Now, I’m spitballing here, but maybe online video marketers and video content producers would get a seat at the table and bigger budgets if they positioned YouTube as the second largest social media site instead of the largest video sharing site.
Let’s face it. YouTube has been the red-headed stepchild since it crushed the leading video search engines in early 2006. It only started to get serious attention again when it passed Yahoo! in October 2008 to become the second largest search engine. Maybe it’s time to promote YouTube as the second largest social media site, too.
Heaven knows we’ve only made incremental progress comparing YouTube to television. According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. But we may have to wait until most of the Baby Boomers in executive marketing jobs have been replaced by Millennials before we see most organizations develop content strategies that resonate with 21st-century consumers.
Is Content Marketing More Budget-worthy Than Video Marketing?
Speaking of content, here’s another inconvenient truth: Use Google Trends to compare the web search interest in content marketing with video marketing. Yep, interest in content marketing passed video marketing in May 2013. As of July 2014, interest in content marketing indexed at 97 while interest in video marketing indexed at 60.
Now, you don’t have to tell me that video content can provoke much stronger responses than articles on your website, eNewsletters, and blogs. As an executive education instructor at the Rutgers Business School, that’s what I teach in the module on “Content Marketing Strategies and Tactics” in the Mini-MBA: Digital Marketing program. And as the Content Marketing faculty chair at Market Motive, that’s also what I teach in the Content Marketing Certification Course.
I’m just saying that I talk about YouTube and video marketing in the context of content marketing. I do the same thing when teaching a module in the Rutgers Mini-MBA: Social Media Marketing program. I don’t put YouTube in one bucket and social media sites in another. As I mentioned last month, it’s well worth remembering that:
- 500 years of YouTube videos are watched on Facebook a day.
- 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter a minute.
And in addition to sharing YouTube videos on Facebook and Twitter, users can also share YouTube videos on Google+, Blogger, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, LiveJournal, and Digg. So, I don’t know about you, but I’d say all of these social media sites are joined at the hip.
Why Go With YouTube?
If fact, it wouldn’t hurt if YouTube called in Paula Green, the legendary copywriter who created an ad in 1962 that read: “Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So, why go with us?” More than a catchy advertising slogan, Avis adopted the phrase as the company’s manifesto. In just four years, the rent-a-car company had overhauled every facet of their business, resulting in a market share increase from 11% to 34%.
Actually, Google did call in Green in 2011 as part of Project Re: Brief, an advertising experiment that has brought back some of the most iconic ads in history. Check out how that went in the video below.
Author: Greg Jarboe
Courtesy: www.reelseo.com
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