This year, thousands of the world’s top video marketers came together in California for an event called VidCon. This is where the best of the best reveal what has been working in the world of online video, the big platforms reveal the numbers behind their businesses, and new features for video creators are unveiled. With that in mind, I want to share six stats that should get you in gear to develop more video for your business.

#1: YouTube Now Has 1.5 Billion Logged In Users Every Month

The CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki revealed at VidCon that while Facebook is getting a lot of headlines about video, they are still the king on the block. Susan started her keynote by revealing that every single month 1.5 billion people log into YouTube and watch videos.

First, this is only logged in users. That means more people are watching videos that are not logged into the platform. Second, if YouTube were a country, it would now be the largest in the world.  Third, and I think most important to ThoughtLeaders® like you and me is that with 1.5 billion users on YouTube, it means that people young and old, of every different race and language, are watching videos. It is not a platform strictly for young people with too much time on their hands.

Your clients and your prospects are finding, discovering and watching videos on YouTube, which means that right now is the time to start developing a strategy to start putting content on the platform.

#2: Logged In Users Spend An Average Of 1-Hour Per Day Watching Videos On Their Phone!

This stat is incredible. It also shows you where the world is consuming content right now – not on their computers, but on their phones. They are watching while in line at the bank or grocery store, at lunch, on the subway and on the couch while the TV plays in the background.

What this also points out is the average watch time. One hour per day.  Here’s why that is important (beyond the fact that we all need more and better hobbies): If you only have one video on YouTube, they can only watch that one video. If, on the other hand, you have a back catalog of videos, users will watch them all.

This is why we develop 13 episodes for clients in a day; to give them an entire body of work, not just one episode to post online. We want folks to binge watch our episodes. We want them to engage with us and build a virtual relationship with us. That is why you need a strategy to continue creating new video content regularly.

#3: 500 Million People Watch At Least One Video On Facebook Every Singe Day

Now we need to talk about the other 500-lb gorilla when it comes to online video – Facebook. Make no mistake about it, Facebook and YouTube are major rivals, trying to win the attention of everyone on the planet.

The biggest mistake ThoughtLeaders® make when it comes to video is only uploading their video to YouTube and then posting the link on their Facebook page. Facebook does not like this. They want you to upload your videos directly to Facebook.  This makes sense. If your video is directly uploaded to Facebook, the viewer stays on Facebook and thus can be shown more ads, thus making more money for Facebook.

And just like YouTube, you need to publish video content on a regular basis on Facebook. Don’t think you can post one video one time and ride the wave. The top ThoughtLeaders® are posting videos weekly. We are currently posting two new episodes of The Ambitious® Life every week, along with short highlight clips and promotional videos. We always have something new for the 500 million people to watch.

#4: 1/3 Of All Online Activity Is Spent Watching Video

This might come as a shocker, but it’s likely your employees are watching online videos while at work. They (and you) are watching them nearly all the time. If think about it. You might spend time checking email, doing research, or doing anything else online and then you go right back to watching videos.

If people (like your clients) are spending 1/3 of their time watching videos online, shouldn’t you be making content for them to watch? Stop consuming video content and start creating it. It’s the creators who are winning, making money and growing their business.

#5: 59{cd266c1509fca34f59dc93da7daf12a6ee52c6401aabb2126e757d9de7c223fc} Of Executives Would Rather Watch A Video

I love this stat. All the time I hear from people who say, “But Greg, my client is too busy to watch video” or “there’s no way my market would sit and watch a webinar or sales video.”

This stat from Google shows that 59{cd266c1509fca34f59dc93da7daf12a6ee52c6401aabb2126e757d9de7c223fc} of executives (those people with purchasing and buying power) would rather get the exact same information sent to them via video than text.  It’s one of the reasons I have stopped sending proposals using MicroSoft Word and only send them via video. People want to learn more about brands, products and services via a video that connects with them emotionally.

What are some ways that you can showcase your message via video that will get the attention of the people you want to do business with?

#6: 6 In 10 YouTube Users Would Rather Be Influenced By A YouTube Star Than A Movie Star

We wrap things off with this incredible stat that shows a big changing of the guard. Traditionally we loved to get product recommendations from celebrities.

Today we connect with people that we follow on a more intimate basis, be that a favorite YouTube star, an Instagram influencer or someone who livestreams their life on Facebook Live. These new stars are becoming a big part of our lives, and when someone becomes a part of your life they can persuade you to make buying decisions.

This means that the more videos you create, the more people that watch and engage with them, the more influence you have over their purchasing decisions. It’s one of the reasons we help our clients create weekly video content. To build a long-term relationship with the audience so we can ultimately impact their future buying decisions.

The more content you create, the more opportunities will fall onto your lap. The mega ThoughtLeaders® of today treat themselves like a media company first, they get their message out and build an audience that wants to buy from them.

My only question now is: what video are you going to create next?