by Rena – Biteable social media marketer
Consider this: users view more than 500 million hours of video each day on YouTube. After Google, YouTube is the second most trafficked site on the internet. With that amount of traffic generating that many millions of hours, it can be tricky to discern who is paying attention to your online video content.
There are lots of factors to consider when crafting your online video content for the right audience. Age, social media platform, and location are all obvious indicators that can help direct your video content. A less obvious element? Gender.
Online video consumption trends between genders vary widely. Here’s some background on gender differences in video consumption — and some things to consider when creating content for a specific audience.
Women Vs. Men: Who’s Watching?
Historically, women have shown more engagement in online social networks than men. A study by comScore in 2010 discovered that social networking sites reach a higher percentage of women than men: 76% of women visit a social network, versus 70% of men.
More significantly, women spend an average of 5.5 hours each month on social media, compared to 4 hours by men. This suggests that women are more engaged with the content being shown on social media — and more often than not, the content is video.
A more recent study verifies this trend. In 2014, another study measured gendered differences in Facebook engagement. This time, the trend was even more clear: 54% of women view photos and videos on Facebook, compared to just 39% of men; in fact, women consume entertainment posts at a rate of 43%, almost 10 points higher than men.
Online Video Consumption Trends
Overall, video consumption is on the rise in a major way. One estimate anticipated that 74% of all Internet traffic in 2017 will be video. Driven by mobile marketing, video is king. The takeaway here is that these statistics seem to suggest that more women engage with online video content than men. And this is true, but there are underlying trends that content creators should note.
Women and men have different preferences in the kinds of content they seek out. One study found that women generally prefer visual platforms, like Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram — platforms where video is king. Men, on the other hand, are more dominant on text-based sites like Reddit or Digg. Some sociologists believe this difference is rooted in traditional gender roles: mothers have been historically responsible for taking family photos, and visual content online is the next evolution of that trend.
When it comes to marketing, however, the trends shift. Video advertising sees more traction with men than women: in fact, in one study, 50% more men than women interacted with video ads. What this suggests is that women consume content for personal and social reasons, while men look to videos for knowledge, and to learn about products and brands.
Check out this infographic for deeper trends in video consumption.
How to Craft Your Video Content
Your content should be true to you and your audience, rather than crafted for a specific gender.
Generally speaking, content that is inclusive, rather than exclusive, will always perform better. Certain video best practices will always reign supreme: clear visuals, an engaging narrative, and keeping your video short and to the point will lead to better views.
There are different types of video you can make for your business as a lead magnet. With this background, an explainer video or promo might do better with men than with women. Conversely, a behind-the-scenes or review video is going to score better with women.
Most importantly, where you post your video often matters more than what you put in your video. Social networks like Facebook and Instagram are video-friendly platforms that are sure to reach lots of women. If you want men to view your video, prioritize YouTube and LinkedIn.
With these platforms guiding your content strategy, you’ll be able to storyboard your video to reach the right hearts, minds, and eyeballs.
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Rena, Biteable social media marketer
Rena is a social media scientist in the Biteable Lab. Out of the office, Rena likes late nights and good coffee.
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