Top Five Video Content Millennials are Consuming

Videos watched by Millennials

Millennials have numerous characteristics, some quite admirable and others which often tend to have the older generations grumbling a lot about. They’re known to consume a lot of content online and this being mostly in video format. It’s said that 55% of people pay close attention when consuming videos —  much more than all other types of content. It’s interesting to explore what kind of video content millennials are drawn to and why. Once you understand the link between the lifestyle they lead and the kind of content they consume, it’s easier to create videos which will draw their attention. But, the core of this is understanding them as people, how they lead their lives, their economic situation, what appeals to them and what doesn’t. These videos aren’t only viewed because of interest in the subject manner, many millennials depend on these videos for cost effective solutions, reviews, strategies and to simply learn something new.

Food Videos

Millennials of the ages 18 to 33 view the most food content, they’re watching 30% more food content on Youtube, on average, compared to other demographics. In fact, 75% of the growth in Youtube food viewership comes from mobile devices as millennials are almost always on the move. Being a foodie-generation, millennials are addicted to foodstagrams, cooking videos that are always accompanied by the recipe of the respective dish and of course, restaurant reviews. Even organic food sales have tripled in the past decade as millennials are becoming more health conscious and are developing a preference for farm-to-plate food. 

One of the main reasons for this fascination with food videos comes from a sense of community, not only in regard to cooking together, but also sharing these videos and bonding over what food appeals to them and what doesn’t. These videos, which usually consist of demonstrations on how to make a large variety of food, are convenient for a working crowd that might only return from their workplace late at night and need to be able to make something simple and quick rather than ordering in every day. To take a fantastic example, Tasty, a buzzfeed brand that has one of the biggest accounts on Instagram has a follower count coming up to 17.3 million, with 6,929,656 subscribers on Youtube and the community having 95 million followers on Facebook.

Their videos are garnering this much attention because they’re concise, they showcase a wide variety of food, along with unique recipes. The length of their videos also alter depending on which platform they’re uploading it on, some of their videos on Youtube are quite long, going up to almost 11 minutes, but still gaining an extremely high viewer count.

News Videos

When it comes to news, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular news sources for millennials to access. 64% of millennials find different ways of keeping up with what’s happening around the world by mostly finding their news online. Concerning a subject that hasn’t been covered in the mainstream, millennials have found ways to get information on this through community sharing more than traditional ways. In fact, topics that aren’t mainstream are actually gaining a lot of attention. The way millennials get news is heavily influenced by topic and this is why news accounts on these social media platforms are so popular amongst them. News commentary laced with humour has become extremely popular, not only because it allows for a better understanding about the topic at hand, especially politics, but also helps them remember these events much better when there’s a funny joke or pun attached to it. News videos on social media platforms are actually empowering millennials to go beyond reading and sharing news to creating their own content and expressing their opinions on these news stories for the world to see.    

The BBC news Instagram account has almost 5 million followers,  their Facebook page having 46 million followers and their Youtube account having around 2,361,690 subscribers.  While their videos cover world news, some of it is also based on rather quirky topics, like a town being overrun by tumbleweed and a man building a four storey castle out of plastic bottles. This makes their videos a lot more entertaining and interesting too. 

The Daily show, which often ads a lot of humour to their news commentary, has 1.1 million followers on Instagram and  3,056,925 subscribers on Youtube. The Daily Show host, Trevor Noah uses the latest songs, puns and sometimes even his own experience to add humour to the news stories he’s presenting. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver which also operates in a similar fashion, has 6,114,552 subscribers on youtube.

Though these videos tend to be quite long, this is necessary because John Oliver also has quite a fascinating way of breaking down difficult topics and explaining its impact and consequences on particular communities.

Life-hack Videos

Life hack videos usually refer to tricks, shortcuts and skills that help increase efficiency and productivity in all walks of life. Most millennials move out from their parent’s home and start living independently either during college or right after they finish. They mostly live in paying guest accomodations, rented places or even hostels. Living on an extremely low budget while perhaps looking for a job, these life hack videos are very helpful. 

Most of them demonstrate faster, simpler and cost effective ways of getting things done. Using these skills not only helps save up on money, but on time and effort too. In fact, searches related to “how to” on YouTube have grown by 70% in the last year. Millennials are also one of the most stressed demographics and with these life hack videos which are just a touch away, they can get solutions to their problems easily. These videos also help as most millennials are on the brink of adulthood and are expected to do adult-things though they may not even be aware of how to go about doing this. Life hacks put these processes across in a much more understandable way. When it comes to rather strange, quirky topics, videos like this exist too. 

The ‘life_hacks’  Instagram account has 6.1 million followers. These videos are attracting so much attention because, once again, they’re concise and quite resourceful. Videos on how to make a proper meal with just two ingredients or an easy way to fix a car dent is not only resourceful but saves a lot of money too and this is just what millennials need. There’s also the excitement that comes with discovering something new and demonstrating it yourself or even sharing this with friends, mainly because it’s also just so simple to do.

Travel Videos

The millennial generation is known for placing a high emphasis on being unique, and a major part of that growth comes from culturally rich experiences and exploration of the unknown, both opportunities which travel can provide. When it comes to travel experiences, millennials have a need for more adventure. Millennials are also seeking highly specialized trips that can cater to a variety of interests like photography, white water rafting, trekking, diving,etc . They want tour operators or travel agents who understand their interests and can provide recommendations on destinations that create authentic and memorable experiences. Millennials are the generation driving growth in the travel industry. As brands are forced to promote their ideas and services on social media platforms, while also ensuring that their sites and forms of communication are all mobile-friendly, it’s likely that this will impact travel by encouraging travel and tourism brands to communicate in ways that are tailored to various millennial groups.

It is said that 47 % of young people between the ages of 18 and 34 would rather spend their money on traveling than buying a house. Lately, solo travel is becoming increasingly attractive, safe and easy when planned properly. Traveling solo gives millennials the freedom to be independent and explore new areas. Millennials are currently the fastest-growing age segment in terms of money spent on travel, so it’s no surprise that they also make up 70 % of hostel guests. Recently, high concentrations of young travelers are often staying in affordable accomodations like hostels, as they’re typically low in cost, placed in locations that are easily accessible and provide more social opportunities for travelers. 

The travel and leisure account on Instagram has 3.3 million followers, and around 3 million followers on Facebook. Their videos are mostly sky shots of different exotic travel locations. The followmeto account has also become extremely popular among millennials, not only because their videos show the monuments and scenic locations you can visit in different places, but also because their videos have a romantic element and a personal touch to it. Most videos are accompanied by stories from the couple’s own experiences and sometimes even questions on how others travel and the places they’ve enjoyed visiting the most.

Technology Videos

It’s no surprise that millennials are the tech-savvy generation, they’re adept to using various kinds of technology, aware of new gadgets out in the market and are constantly upgrading their devices. Millennials are happy to embrace technology,in fact, 77 % of those surveyed were concerned they’d be less employable if they didn’t keep up with the advances in technology. By contrast, 9 out of 10 millennials believe technology, and specifically the internet, gives them access to the kinds of jobs they’re suited for.

The main way they find out about new technology is through videos, these videos don’t just demonstrate various features, but they also explore the pros and cons of a wide variety of devices. Recently, unboxing videos have become exceptionally popular. This is mainly because there’s a certain sense of excitement that comes from knowing that you’ve also become a part of this experience of obtaining and opening up something new. While technology videos are gaining this much attention because millennials are interested, a lot of them also solely depend on these videos for reviews on latest gadgets, just so they can be certain whether to go ahead and buy it or not. Product Explainer videos also help immensely when viewers are trying to understand how to use a device they may not have owned before. Millennials often hope that some of these technology videos also provide cost effective solutions for problems they find in their devices. 

One of the most prominent reviewers of technology is Marques Brownlee, of just 20 years old. A lot of research goes into all his videos and his explanations leave no stone unturned. He discusses prices, features, design, even a little history about the product and things that normally might seem a bit irrelevant, like the story behind the naming of a particular device. Due to the content he produces, Marques Brownlee has gained 1.4 million followers on Instagram, 6,048,797 followers on Youtube and 122,370 followers on Facebook. The ‘technology’ Instagram account has gained quite a lot of followers, coming up to 4.3 million as they also showcase cool emerging technologies and do-it-yourself hacks.

According to Cisco, by 2020, there will be almost a million minutes of video per second crossing the internet and 82% of all consumer web traffic will be video. Yet, in two years the kind of video content millennials consume is bound to change because millennials themselves are constantly evolving. As their lifestyles change, they’ll be attracted to new things, inspired by different people and look for solutions in other kinds of videos. Perhaps it’s comforting to know that what will remain stable is the format from which millennials are obtaining their information.