Two out of three Indian users visit a site promoted in a YouTube video: Survey

To see who's responsible for driving YouTube's growth in India and what that means for advertisers, Google conducted an online survey of more than 2,000 Indian YouTube users.

Google India has released new insights into India's audiences on YouTube, which, according to the company, reveal major opportunities for brand advertisers. To see who's responsible for driving YouTube's growth in India and what that means for advertisers, Google conducted an online survey of more than 2,000 Indian YouTube users. The survey resulted in categorisation of a new type of consumer which Google terms as Generation C.

According to the findings, about two out of three Indian YouTube users go on to visit a site mentioned in a YouTube video and around three out of five Indians posted a comment about the video, while seven in 10 scroll down to read comments others have written, the survey revealed.

The survey further revealed that 70 per cent of YouTube's viewers in India are under the age of 35 years, while 72 per cent have a college degree or higher. "YouTube users are deeply engaged with online video, spending hours watching, creating and uploading video on YouTube and creating opportunities for advertisers to engage with this prized demographic in the process," said the survey.

Three quarters of the surveyed users say YouTube is their first stop when looking for videos online and the same proportion claims it's one of their favourite websites. The survey further revealed that one in five Indian YouTube users create video content on a daily basis.

Generation C also constitutes an active online community, sharing videos with friends via email and social networks. "More than half of Indian YouTube users share videos on social networks, and the same proportion also shares videos from YouTube over email," added the survey report.

Danielle Tiedt, vice-president, marketing, YouTube, says, "If brands create videos that Gen C loves to share, they will. If you create communities around your brand, Gen C will join and participate. And with two in three Indian users visiting websites mentioned in the videos they watch directly, that's a major opportunity."

Recently, a lot of brands in India have promoted products on YouTube. ICICIDirect launched a campaign showcasing two animated characters, Gyano and Mobo, who educate in an interactive way how people need to plan their financial goals. Besides, the Ministry of External Affairs and YouTube had also joined hands to promote India abroad through a short film contest to uphold the country's diversity on the multimedia platform.

The survey says that India's Gen C cares about finding videos that matter to them, using subscriptions and content preferences including branded content. Gen C also switches between devices 27 times a day, and Indian users watch nearly 30 per cent of their YouTube videos on mobile. Smartphone owners spend one quarter of their YouTube time on mobile, while tablet owners spend about 20 per cent.

"Google predicts that as smartphone penetration continues to rise in India, so will the opportunities for brands to personally reach Gen C. That's good news for advertisers, because greater connectivity across multiple screens create more opportunities for brands to communicate with this crucial audience," the survey concludes.