M RahmanStakeholders of YouTube (Stakeholder Analysis)
This article aims to explore the key stakeholders of YouTube. YouTube has become an integral part of the global modern culture. It is a platform where users upload videos of anything they like and get people to watch them. These videos are labeled as ‘YouTube videos’ and are accessible via Google search, mobile apps, PC apps, gaming consoles, and many more.
YouTube is owned by Google. It is the second most popular search engine in the world after Google. In fact, YouTube owns the largest video-sharing platform on the Internet. It is also the 2nd most popular social media platform after Facebook in terms of number of monthly active users (Dixon, 2022). So, who are behind this enormous success? This article sheds lights on some of the key Stakeholders of YouTube, without whom the platform would not have been able to come where it is today.
List of key stakeholders of YouTube with detailed analysis
Content creators
The Internet has made it easy for anyone to create and publish content. Now anyone with a smart phone, laptop, or a camcorder can make a living by making videos. YouTube has made it possible for millions of people to make a living by creating online content.
YouTube is filled with all kinds of content. Some of the most popular categories are gaming, education, beauty, and food. While making videos, creators often receive millions of views and thousands of subscribers. Both the views and subscribers play a crucial role for the success of a content creator. The more views and subscribers, the more potential earnings for a creator.
Many of the content creators are branded as ‘YouTube influencers’ who impact on the lives of many viewers. According to Geyser (2022) PewDiePie, Kids Diana Show, Like Nastya, Vlad and Niki, KondZilla, MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Fernanfloo, JuegaGerman, and Whinderssonnunes are the top 10 YouTube influencers in the world.
Most of the content creators are publishers as well i.e. advertisers run ads on the videos uploaded on their channels. Advertisers pay fees to YouTube/Google which then passes part of the revenues to the publishers. This shows that YouTube must depend on the content creators/publishers to generate revenues.
Viewers and subscribers
Viewers and subscribers are two important stakeholders of YouTube. Content creators would like the viewers to watch their videos. However, why will the viewers watch a video? The answer lies in the viewers’ curiosity, interest, and engagement with the content. If a video is interesting and contains useful information, the viewers are likely to watch and share it with others. It is worth mentioning that not all viewers are subscribers. A viewer may watch a video and them simply leave the channel without subscribing to it.
There is no doubt that without viewers/users, YouTube videos would mean nothing. According to McLachlan (2022) YouTube has 1.7 billion monthly unique visitors. In total, it gets around 14.3 billion visits per month. This is absolutely mind blowing! In the United States, over 62% of users access YouTube daily.
Google as a YouTube stakeholder
YouTube is owned by Google. Google’s purpose behind the purchase of YouTube from its original developers (Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim) was to promote online video contents. YouTube is now one of the key subsidiaries of Google.
Advertisers
As the name suggests, advertisers are those who spend money to promote their products, and services on YouTube. They are also very important stakeholders of YouTube. Their ads are designed to get viewers’ attention and encourage them to buy their products/services.
Apple Inc., Disney, Hulu, Procter & Gamble, Expedia, Burger King, Target, Verizon, Samsung, and Unilever are some of top advertisers on YouTube. If YouTube was a stand-alone business entity, it would certainly have been the fourth largest seller of digital ads in the world, after Alphabet (Google’s parent company) Facebook, and Amazon (Pressman, 2021).
Employees of YouTube
YouTube has a good number of employees who are creative and work with cutting-edge technologies. It is an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. It does not only also accept diversity, but also celebrates it (YouTube, 2022).
YouTube’s main employees write programs and create new features. Other employees are marketing specialists. They work with advertisers to help them get the most from their ads. There are also employees who oversee content creators and monitor the site for any violations of YouTube’s terms of service.
Summary of stakeholders of YouTube (Stakeholder Analysis)
The above analysis demonstrates that the key stakeholders of YouTube are the content creators/publishers, viewers/users and subscribers, Google, advertisers, and employees. It is interesting that YouTube benefits from all its stakeholders. It helps content creators to make videos and earn money. However, it also collects a cut from the profits earned by the publishers from the ads.
YouTube also helps advertisers to reach more customers. Viewers watch videos to quench their thirst for information. In fact, YouTube benefits from all of its stakeholders. In other words, its interests are aligned with the interests of most of the stakeholders.
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Last update: 05 August 2022
References:
Dixon, S. (2022) Global social networks ranked by number of users 2022, available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ (accessed 04 August 2022)
Geyser, W. (2022) The Top 40 YouTube influencers who have established personal empires, available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/youtube-influencers/ (accessed 04 August 2022)
McLachlan, S. (2022) 23 YouTube Stats that matter to marketers in 2022, available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/#YouTube_for_business_statistics (accessed 02 August 2022)
Pressman, A. (2021) Inside the ad, ad, ad, ad world of YouTube, available at: https://fortune.com/longform/youtube-advertising-ads-revenues/ (accessed 04 August 2022)
YouTube (2022) Work at YouTube, available at: https://www.youtube.com/jobs/ (accessed 04 August 2022)
Author: M Rahman
M Rahman writes extensively online and offline with an emphasis on business management, marketing, and tourism. He is a lecturer in Management and Marketing. He holds an MSc in Tourism & Hospitality from the University of Sunderland. Also, graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Business & Management Studies and completed a DTLLS (Diploma in Teaching in the Life-Long Learning Sector) from London South Bank University.
