I am becoming increasingly convinced that YouTube may be the greatest opportunity that’s staring just about every brand in the face. I am also fully aware that this take would have felt a lot more original in 2014, but hear me out.

Today, YouTube is the biggest, and most streamed service in the world not only for mobile devices, but for TV screens.

In a recent interview, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan shared:

Our opportunity as brands on YouTube now extends far beyond social scrolling — it’s literally how people watch TV today — but not everyone has the creativity or resources required to publish high quality, long-form videos on a regular basis. That’s why Shorts are so exciting.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, Shorts look a bit like Reels or TikToks, and right now they’re getting roughly 70 Billion views per day. Most of us are already creating vertical video content for Instagram or other channels, so we already have that muscle available to use.

The massive bonus that YouTube has over those other channels is the way people use it for search. One of the most common ways that YouTube users find content is by searching a question they have, and Shorts are also included in those results.

So, why do I think that YouTube is such an incredibly under-appreciated channels for brands right now?

  1. It’s the largest streaming provider in the world
  2. The volume of search demand is second only to Google
  3. It has a super easy-to-use content format
  4. Most brands are so focused on filling their Facebook & Instagram feeds, and they tend to overlook YouTube

Plus, what do you have to lose? You are probably already creating some form of video content semi-regularly. Why not spend an extra few minutes to format those views for YouTube, upload them, and see what happens?