Video websites now more popular than travel sites

Visits to video websites have overtaken travel and sports websites, according to the latest UK figures from Experian Hitwise.

In a report out this week, Experian Hitwise said the UK Internet population made over 785 million visits to online video websites during September, an increase of 36% year-on-year.

"There are now more visits to video websites every month than to email providers, travel or sports sites, which represents a huge opportunity to the savvy marketer," said James Murray, marketing research analyst.

"The average Internet user will make 18 visits to video sites a month and almost half will visit at least three different sites.

He said the majority of growth has been driven by YouTube, which dominates with 70% of all visits to online video sites.

Every month, UK internet users spend 184 million hours watching YouTube content, with an average session time of 20 minutes.

"As people consume more video content online, brands should increasingly be looking to use video as a core part of their digital strategy," added Murray.

"Online video is a very diverse media that can be used to build brand awareness, to bring traffic to a website, as an educational tool to demonstrate a product or service, as a customer service channel, or as a way to attract a completely new online audience."

He said British Airways was an excellent example of how brands can use YouTube as a customer service channel.

By Bev Fearis

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

• PRINT
• SEND TO A FRIEND