Two of three entertainment users will access OTTs by 2023, says Google's Insight for Brand

Discussing what makes premium content creators go beyond YouTube and Facebook, BuzzInConent.com last week wrote how YouTube or any other social media platforms for that matter have become more of a launch pad for content creators. Once a digital publishing platform for all the major content players, YouTube is no more their first choice to put premium content as they have launched their own OTT platforms.

Content creators now put their premium content on their own OTT app or other premium VOD platforms and use YouTube or Facebook to promote their shows and attract viewers.

Google corroborated this in its annual Year in Search: Insights for Brands report and said India’s leading OTT providers are turning to YouTube to engage entertainment lovers.

The report revealed that show marketing on YouTube for Zee5 Original, Karenjit Kaur, helped drive a 69% rise in branded search queries while reducing cost per engagement by 60%. Another show, Rangbaaz, a Zee5 Original, achieved a 20x rise in daily subscription rate by following creative best practices for video.

To drive app installs in a cost-efficient way, Voot ensured it showed up on YouTube by using multiple videos in its app campaign. The campaign resulted in a 300% higher click-through rate (CTR), 60% lower cost per install, and 57% lower cost per video view compared to other video advertising platforms, the report added.

DailyHunt ran an app campaign across search, YouTube and the Display Network using a ‘burst’ approach to generate more downloads before the elections that resulted in 86% more overall app installs than standard campaigns.

Google predicted in this report that two out of three entertainment users will access OTTs by 2023.

Currently, video entertainment content accounts for the largest volume of internet usage on smartphones with over 36 minutes per day per user average video entertainment content watchtime while ‘one of three’ hours of video entertainment content in India is already consumed on digital (among internet users).

Here are some useful insights for brands related to video content consumption from the report:

*Online video audience in India is expected to grow to 500 million by 2020.

*There is growing interest in audio-visual content across verticals, as watchtime on mobile phones rises rapidly.

*About 1/3rd of all searches for online video are entertainment-related.

*Other categories like lifestyle, education and business have shown 1.5x *3x growth in the last 2 years.

*Online video is reshaping the way consumers gather information and make purchase decisions.

*It is playing a big role in the car-buying path to purchase, with 80% of car buyers using it as a research destination.

*More than 55% of shoppers say that they used online video while actually shopping in store.

*Watch time for consumer electronics videos in India doubled year over year in 2018.

*163% growth in unboxing related searches.

*Increase in 4G connectivity and access to mobile phones is driving the jump in content consumption as with 4X increase in 4G-enabled feature phone shipments.

*Watch time for cooking videos in India more than doubled year over year in 2018.

*237% growth of Hindi searches related to food.

*Watchtime for science videos in India more than tripled year over year in 2018.

*Watchtime for hobby-related videos in India tripled year over year in 2018.

*Video is becoming the new research tool for consumers as they are increasingly using videos while researching and before making a purchase.

*More than 55% of shoppers say that they used online video while actually shopping in-store.

*Video growth in auto is evident as 79% of auto buyers find answers and reviews on YouTube before purchasing, 45% of new car buyers viewed videos regarding feature highlights and 27% of new car buyers watched videos regarding vehicle performance before making a purchase.

*87% of those who watched online videos took at least one follow-up action, 52% visited a dealer’s website, 48% located a dealer and 45% scheduled a test ride.