YOUTUBE’s Generational DIVIDE -...

Advertisers give millennials all the love — but it’s boomers who deserve a closer look

DIVIDE

YOUTUBE’sGenerational

YouTube visitors by generation*

Each month, YouTube reaches 81% of all Americans on the internet. The platform is

particularly popular among millennials, who watch it more than any cable news network.

But YouTube isn’t just for the young. Nearly a quarter of YouTube’s monthly visitors are

baby boomers or older.

To bridge the gap between the young and old — and advertisers and boomers — this report

examines a year’s worth of YouTube data across 25 industries in the U.S. In it, you will find

insights into what resonates with each generation, what it costs to reach them, what devices

they’re the most tuned into and a whole host of tips to expand your audience.

Sources: comScore and YouTube*Generation age breakdown based on Google’s targeting tools.

39% 37% 24%Millennials (18–34) Generation X (35–54) Baby boomers (55+)

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YouTube: ubiquitous across generations

Y O U T U B E ’ S G E N E R AT I O N A L D I V I D E Y O U T U B E D ATA R E P O R T

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From young to old, who’s watching what?


While each generation is well represented on YouTube, they don’t all interact with video ads in the same

way. If you look at the audiences with the highest view rates, you will find a lot of similarities between

the topics that attract millennials and Gen Xers. That said, baby boomers are entirely different.

TOP VIEW RATES BY GENERATION AND AUDIENCE

Millennials

Audience Audience Audience

Foodies Foodies Movie lovers

Fast-food cravers Fast-food cravers Art & theater aficionados

Cooking enthusiasts Technophiles TV lovers

Comics & animation fans Gamers Nightlife enthusiasts

Gamers Comics & animation fans Social media enthusiasts

28.6% 29.4% 32.0%

28.6% 28.5% 31.7%

27.6% 27.9% 31.3%

25.6% 25.8% 27.0%

25.1% 22.2% 25.1%

Gen X Baby boomers

VR VR VR

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Boomers watch and spend more — so why are you ignoring them?


Among these three generations, the cost-per-view for YouTube advertising varies by only a

fraction of a penny, but baby boomers have a nearly 10% higher view rate than their

younger counterparts.

Why is this? Because younger audiences are targeted a whole lot more. Millennials and Gen Xers

received much more budget than baby boomers did in 2016 (156% and 137% more, respectively).

Some of this difference in ad spend can be attributed to the fact that boomers are a slightly smaller

audience. But that doesn’t account for the entire gap. In 2016, baby boomers only received a

substantial amount of targeting budget in 56% of the industry groups, even though they are much

more likely to watch an ad. As a comparison, millennials and Gen Xers were well represented in

84% of the groups during the same period.

Millennials Generation X Baby boomers and up

$0.043 $0.046 $0.04628.3% 28.5% 31.2%

CPV CPV CPVVR VR VR

COST-PER-VIEW AND VIEW RATE BY GENERATION

Baby boomers (and older) account for 48% of consumer expenses per year. In contrast, Gen X

is responsible for only 34% of consumer expenses, while millennials account for 19%, according to the

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And yet YouTube ad spend doesn’t reflect these major differences in

purchasing power at all.

In short, YouTube advertisers are targeting millennials the most, when actually this generation

spends the least amount of money and is the least likely to watch your ads.


Desktop computers have the highest view rate among all generations, but these devices are also the

most expensive to target. Gen Xers are less likely to watch an ad on a tablet, but this is also the cheapest

place to reach them. The stereotype of boomers as Luddites is debunked by their consistently higher

view rates across all devices compared to both millennials and Gen Xers. It’s also important to note that

boomers are more likely to watch YouTube ads on their phones than any other generation.

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Average Average Average

Gen X

Baby boomers

Gen X Gen X

Millennials Millennials Millennials

30.9% 27.9% 27.8%$0.044 $0.042 $0.041

$0.045 $0.041 $0.041

$0.048

$0.047

$0.046 $0.043

30.0% 27.3% 27.1%

31.2%

33.0%

27.5% 27.2%

VR VR VRCPV CPV CPV

COST-PER-VIEW AND VIEW RATE BY DEVICE & GENERATION

Baby boomers

Baby boomers$0.047 $0.04629.4% 30.2%

*Note: Data from the “unknown” demographic group is also included in averages.

Across generations, no device reigns supreme

TabletPhoneDesktop


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How to make the boomers beam


Here’s what you now know about baby boomers on YouTube:

• Yes, they are, in fact, on YouTube — accounting for 24% of the U.S. traffic.

• They will actually watch your ads — yielding a 10% higher view rate than millennials and Gen Xers.

• They’re big spenders — representing nearly half of consumer expenditures in the U.S.

With that in mind, here’s your action plan to reach baby boomers more effectively on YouTube:

1. Know the industries that perform best with boomers.

2. Target the devices where boomers engage the most.

3. Develop a customized plan to target boomers on YouTube.



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1. Know the industries that perform best with boomers

Baby boomers were only a significant target for campaigns in 56% of the 25 industry groups that

this report considered. Higher than average view rates were recorded for this generation in 13 of

these 14 industries (with government & advocacy being the exception).

IndustryBaby boomers Average

Automotive

Business & finance

Electronics

Entertainment

Food (CPG)

Government & advocacy

Health & beauty (CPG)

Healthcare & insurance

Household appliances (CPG)

Retail

Science & technology

Telecommunications

Travel

Gambling

31.0%

31.0%

28.0%

33.0%

31.0%

30.0%

26.0%

32.0%

32.0%

43.0%

26.0%

32.0%

35.0%

32.0%

27.8%

28.0%

27.4%

30.2%

27.5%

24.4%

29.6%

29.6%

31.2%

30.7%

15.7%

27.9%

31.9%

29.6%

$0.039

$0.043

$0.042

$0.030

$0.038

$0.038

$0.043

$0.047

$0.063

$0.039

$0.040

$0.049

$0.038

$0.041

$0.058

$0.048

$0.042

$0.035

$0.043

$0.062

$0.040

$0.034

$0.071

$0.047

$0.045

$0.038

$0.048

$0.047

CPV CPVVR VR



2. Target the devices where boomers engage the most

An important element to any targeting plan is the device breakdown, which can be highly dependent

on your goals and KPIs. You can spot clear differences when looking at the performance by device for

boomers. Their level of engagement changes depending on where they are seeing your ads.

For view rate, desktop comes in first, followed by tablet and then phone.

CPV remains consistent across device, with tablets being $0.001

cheaper. Still, that slightly lower cost comes at the expense of the

view rate and the video completion rate compared to computers.

Phones, while producing the lowest view rate and completion

rate, have a much higher click-through rate by view.

If your campaign is focused on awareness but not

clicks, then shift budget away from phones

to computers. But campaigns that

require conversions should target

phones heavily.

Desktop

Phone

Tablet

$0.047

$0.047

$0.046

33.0%

29.4%

30.2%

30.2%

25.9%

27.1%

0.08%

1.19%

0.32%

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Device CPV VR VCR CTR/views


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3. Develop a customized plan to target boomers on YouTube

Your YouTube targeting plan will be largely dependent on your industry, target market and

goals. Nevertheless, there is often more to your audience than meets the eye. So how

can you target smarter?

At Strike Social, we use artificial intelligence for YouTube advertising to identify other interest

groups that can help expand your reach. Below are three campaign examples that show how

we could expand our target audience beyond the norm.

Note: This is by no means a complete YouTube targeting plan. Rather, this represents one piece of what would be a much larger campaign built

using historical data and AI. Also, the results are filtered by ages 55+.


Luxury vacation Homeware sale

Travel buffs – luxury vacation Sports fans – basketball fans Home decor enthusiasts

Additional suggestions Additional suggestions Additional suggestions

Primary interest group Primary interest group Primary interest group

• Interest: auto enthusiasts

• Topic: arts & entertainment

• Interest: world news junkies

• InMarket: commercial properties

• Interest: beauty & fitness

• Interest: do-it-yourselfers

• Interest: TV lovers

• Interest: cooking enthusiasts

• InMarket: financial services

• InMarket: tax services

• Interest: do-it-yourselfers

• Topic: home & garden

• Topic: books & literature

• Keyword: smart home

• Topic: health

Basketball tickets



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Challenge stereotypes


As you can see in this report, baby boomers are a slightly smaller but significantly more engaged

audience on YouTube. Contrary to expectations, this generation not only watches YouTube

advertising more often but also accounts for nearly half of consumer expenses each year.

When it comes to YouTube advertising, the possibilities are virtually limitless. So study your

audience, challenge any preconceived notions and test different targeting options to make

sure you are not leaving money on the table.

About the data

This data report was compiled and released by Strike Social. All referenced data is based on U.S.

YouTube campaigns managed by Strike Social during 2016. Analysis of view rate and cost-per-view

was done using Strike Social’s proprietary data science tools, including the Similarity Score designed

for improved audience targeting. For questions about the data, please contact [email protected].


mailto:[email protected]

Strike Social harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to drive the best

outcomes in YouTube and social media advertising. Through media-buying

software and service, Strike Social manages 15,000+ campaigns each day for

the world’s leading agencies and brands, including Beats, Xbox, Honda, Mattel,

Lionsgate and Trunk Club. With a workforce presence in 16 major markets —

including headquarters in Chicago and offices in Kraków and Manila — Strike

Social was recently named the No. 17 fastest-growing private company in the

U.S. by Inc. Magazine. Learn more at strikesocial.com.

[email protected]

Get in touch




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