Underlining the growing significance of online material in general media consumption, a new study conducted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) to be published at the CES 2022, has revealed that US consumers now spend almost as much time streaming user-generated video content on social media as they do watching conventional television.
Social media covers 39% of weekly media consumption
According to a new study shared by Variety, user-generated content on social media platforms now accounts for 39% of weekly media hours consumed in the United States, compared to 61% for traditional media.
The following is a breakdown of media usage, with traditional television taking up 18% of overall media consumption time, as opposed to 16% for user-generated content online.
Variety notes that:
“Teens 13-17 spend 56% of their media time with user-created content compared with just 22% among consumers 55 and older.”
The findings underscore the growing trend away from traditional media and towards more democratized social media platforms as the primary source of entertainment. Traditional TV and subscription-based video, however, presently account for the majority of media consumption time, this should be an important thing to keep in mind for the brands.
While there is a lot of value in user generated content, and significant advantages for exposure and audience development in social applications, editorially-defined material still has its place.
Young consumers tend to watch user-generated content instead of TV
Young people are far more aligned with individual creators that they discover and subscribe to, which is a significant daily consumption trend to keep an eye on.
In other words, keep up with the latest consumption trends, which are expected to be disrupted again over the next decade as we will witness a new generation of a content scene as metaverse develops.
The study further discovered that around 20 million creators in the United States are monetizing their work online, with an average monthly income of $768.
“Of revenue earned by creators, 28% is from merchandise or fan experiences; 27% is from content subscriptions; 27% is from a la carte payment for content; 16% is from tips; and 2% is from other sources.”
Merch and subscriptions continue to be the top earners, with tips a distant second, despite efforts by platforms to offer more monetization alternatives for creators in order to keep their best celebrities.
This makes perfect sense. While people may like and even adore certain creators, they are not likely to pay for anything that they can get for free. For content producers, it means that you should focus on improving your added value offer and maximizing your revenue streams by developing products or services that you can provide in addition to your regular material.
Study: Social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat may increase the risk of depression
This study is a fascinating look at the present state of the media world, as well as how changes in distribution have transformed it. With this in mind, if you want to optimize your brand messaging in 2022, you might want to utilize user-generated content in order to target the proper audience. It’s possible that this approach may be even more successful than TV advertisements, which have long been recognized as the ideal ad location choice.
