Trying to stand out on YouTube without turning it into a full-time job? These five beginner-friendly strategies use smart tools and content repurposing to help you build traction and grow your audience efficiently.
Key Takeaways
Discover beginner-friendly YouTube strategies that help entrepreneurs grow their audience without needing to go viral.
YouTube is full of opportunity, but also a lot of noise. For entrepreneurs looking to grow their brand, attract leads or build trust at scale, YouTube can be an invaluable asset. But getting started can feel overwhelming when subscriber counts and views don’t come quickly.
The good news? You don’t need to go viral or become a full-time creator to see meaningful results. With the right strategy, consistent execution and a willingness to learn as you go, YouTube can become a powerful tool for your business.
Here are five beginner-friendly ways to build traction — without spending all your time editing videos.
1. Develop a consistent content calendar
Consistency is one of the most important drivers of YouTube growth. While top creators often post several times a week, even beginners should aim for at least one video per week.
Start by planning a content calendar that aligns with your production capacity and your audience’s interests. Use keyword research tools to identify long-tail topics your audience is already searching for. This will help guide your video ideas and ensure you’re creating content that drives discovery.
A clear content calendar helps avoid gaps in publishing and keeps your viewers engaged.
2. Use tools to optimize titles, SEO and thumbnails
Small details — like titles, tags and thumbnails — can make or break your video’s visibility. YouTube’s algorithm prioritizes content that gets clicks and watch time, so optimization matters.
Fortunately, there are tools out there that can help automate this process. They let you test different titles, analyse thumbnails and suggest keywords based on performance data.
Creators who use these tools tend to grow faster. The right tools save time and help your videos perform better from the start.
3. Make the most of end screens
End screens are clickable elements you can add to the last 5 to 20 seconds of your video. They’re a powerful yet underused tool for boosting engagement and guiding viewers to your next piece of content.
By linking to other videos or adding a subscribe button, you increase watch time and encourage channel growth. YouTube rewards longer viewer sessions, so strategically linking your own content creates a positive feedback loop.
Always include end screens in your videos — it’s a simple, low-effort way to keep viewers on your channel longer.
4. Use YouTube Shorts to increase visibility
Shorts are YouTube’s answer to TikTok — and they’re one of the fastest ways to get discovered by new viewers.
A smart way to use Shorts is by repurposing clips from your long-form videos. Shorts that get more than 10,000 views typically generate 12 to 18 new subscribers. With their short runtime and high completion rate, they’re a low-cost way to grow your channel and introduce viewers to your brand.
5. Share your content across other platforms
Your Shorts and long-form videos can do double duty. By posting clips to Instagram, X and TikTok, you expand your reach and attract viewers who may not find you on YouTube alone.
Sharing repurposed video content across platforms builds brand awareness and funnels new followers back to your YouTube channel. This cross-platform traffic can also help your channel perform better in YouTube’s own algorithm.
And since the content is already created, it doesn’t require much additional effort—just smart repurposing.
Unlock growth without chasing virality
Growing a YouTube channel takes time, but it doesn’t require going viral or grinding out endless edits. With consistent effort, optimized content and strategic distribution, you can build a loyal audience and position your business as a trusted voice in your niche.
Andres Tovar is the co-founder and managing partner of Noetic Marketer, a digital marketing agency specializing in the higher education, ecommerce and professional services industries. He is a growth consultant and fractional CMO for companies, small and big.
In 2025, creator platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are expected to surpass traditional media, including TV networks, news companies, and radio, in ad revenue for the very first time, capturing more than half of the market.
According to WPP Media’s 2025 Mid-Year Global Advertising Forecast, these platforms are projected to generate $189.9 billion in ad revenue in 2025, up 20% from 2024. This figure is expected to nearly double in the years ahead, topping $376.6 billion by 2030.
Why It’s Happening
This is an inflection point for the advertising industry. As audiences spend more time on digital platforms, brands are moving their budgets accordingly. More dollars are flowing to platforms where creators build deep connections with their communities on the devices people engage with the most: their phones.
The accessibility of content plays a role, but creators are leading the shift. Through storytelling, commentary, and personal perspective, creators and their content engage people in ways traditional media struggles to match.
Many consumers now place more trust in creators than in legacy media. That is why brands and advertisers are flocking to creators, whether it is launching their creator programs, putting creators on payroll, or even acting more like creators themselves.
Technology is speeding up this shift. AI and personalization tools help advertisers target their ideal customers with greater precision, from serving the right creative to the right audiences at the right time.
Meanwhile, creator-focused advertising products are becoming more advanced. Brands have been amplifying creator content for some time, but creator platforms are now investing in more ways for brands to run ads adjacent to creators. They’re also making it easier to quickly identify user-generated content that mentions them, obtain permission, and turn it into high-performing ads.
Lines Between Creator and Traditional Media Are Blurring
The gap between creator content and traditional media is shrinking. YouTube creators are producing content at studio quality, often more efficiently than traditional production houses, and even building their own studios, like Dhar Mann.
Creator content is getting so good that streaming platforms like Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu are expanding their libraries with digital creators, including exclusives like MrBeast’s Beast Games and compilations of existing IP like Ms Rachel.
On TikTok and Instagram, creators build serialized content that mimics TV shows. Gymnasium’s Boy Room is a strong example.
With the rise of AI tools, creators will be able to combine these technologies with dedicated teams to act as their own mini studios, pushing content boundaries even further.
What This Means for Everyone
As creator platforms surge past traditional media in ad revenue, everyone in the ecosystem must adapt.
Traditional media companies will need to modernize by integrating creators into their talent pool, as Yahoo and The Washington Post are trying to do. They also need to bring their content where attention is going, like social platforms and Substack. Just as important is exploring new revenue models beyond ads and subscriptions.
Brands must become more creator-first in everything they do. That includes launching always-on creator programs, hiring creators full-time, and integrating creator content across all touchpoints.
Agencies will need to build more services around creators, supporting influencer campaigns, but also building creator-centric production studios focused on platform-native content. They should still maintain traditional offerings, but the momentum is shifting toward creator-led formats.
Creator and user-generated platforms are well-positioned. As ad dollars follow attention, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more, they will continue to invest in more sophisticated ad solutions powered by creators and communities. These products will not just be about targeting but about helping brands tap into cultural moments quickly.
And for creators, monetization opportunities will continue to grow from sponsored content and user-generated assets to licensing and platform incentives. But with more creators (both human and AI-generated) entering the space, competition will rise. Creators will need to sharpen their strategies and demonstrate value to brands beyond just reach or aesthetics.
All that said, this is not a choice between creator platforms or traditional media. There is value in both. Right now, creator-led content is winning the attention war, but the lines will become even murkier down the road.
If you’re regularly on YouTube, you may already be shopping your favourite content creators’ YouTube channels. YouTube Shopping was launched in mid-2023, marking a new chapter in the evolution of YouTube. Content creators who qualify for the YouTube Partner Program have traditionally been able to monetize with Adsense. And YouTube creators have traditionally provided product links in the description boxes of their videos. With YouTube Shopping, creators can now monetize their videos without asking their audiences to leave YouTube.
With 250,000 creators now enrolled in the YouTube Shopping program and thousands of brands, including Sephora, Target, Walmart, and Home Depot, available to tag, YouTube is officially in the social commerce game.
What Is YouTube Shopping?
At its core, YouTube Shopping enables creators to tag products directly in their videos. Viewers can then click the product links in the video, whether they’re watching Shorts, long-form videos, or even YouTube on TV, and purchase the products.
“This is an evolution of something that has always been there,” said Tara McNulty, a lead on YouTube’s creator partnerships team. “We’re just finally giving viewers a native, visual experience that meets the true experience YouTube is known for.”
How YouTube Shopping Works
The YouTube Shopping Viewer Journey
YouTube Shop Team
From a creator’s perspective, YouTube shopping tools can be accessed in YouTube Studio. Creators can add tags manually or use the Chrome extension to quickly link products. Auto-tagging is also being rolled out, making it even easier to monetize shopping content.
The tools are available on both short-form and long-form video:
Shorts: Viewers can see tappable product tags directly in the video.
Long-form: Tags can be added with or without Timestamps—a feature similar to video chapters, where product tags appear at the exact moment they’re referenced.
Who Qualifies For YouTube Shopping?
YouTube Shopping is currently available to creators who:
Are in the YouTube Partner Program
Have at least 10,000 subscribers.
As of August 2024, over 250,000 creators are monetizing through Shopping, as shared by the YouTube Shop team. The program has expanded beyond the U.S. into Southeast Asia, including Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, with more markets to come soon.
Why Should Content Creators Join The YouTube Partner Program?
With over 70 billion views per day on YouTube Shorts, as reported by YouTube, the platform has the opportunity to lead the next wave of shoppable content. YouTube is already one of the most trusted social commerce platforms in the U.S. for finding and purchasing products. According to Pews Research, YouTube is also the most used platform for adults in the United States.
For creators, this means:
Earning commissions directly from trusted product recommendations
Streamlining the audience experience
Connecting more authentically with audiences who already treat creators as their go-to for product advice
YouTube has been an established platform where creators build communities. Now, it’s becoming a place where they can also build storefronts. Whether you’re a beauty guru, tech reviewer, or an interior designer, YouTube Shopping gives you tools to turn authentic content into income.
YouTube Shorts are YouTube’s answer to short-form content. The vertical video format. If you want to get your head around YouTube Shorts and possibly incorporate it into your strategy, then this article is for you.
Vertical, short-form, mobile — these three words describe the video format popularized by TikTok that every social platform is looking to co-opt, and YouTube is no different. Although the platform is known for its longer-form video content, it added a new feature in September 2020: YouTube Shorts.
This addition should come as no surprise, as YouTube is all about video, and increasingly, users prefer short videos to any other format when consuming content. This report shows that 73 percent of people prefer to watch a short video when learning about a new product or service. The same report also shows that people watch about 19 hours of online video per week. Essentially, the more content you can fit into that time span, the more you can communicate to your audience.
If you want to get your head around YouTube Shorts and possibly incorporate it into your strategy, then this article is for you.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are a new vertical video format optimized for mobile – YouTube’s answer to short-form content. If you already create short-form video content on TikTok and Instagram, then getting started with Shorts should be easy. It’s a great place to get started, as you can repurpose existing content and crosspost across platforms you’re already active on.
While YouTube Shorts may seem like yet another platform on your full plate, but it has its perks. Some benefits of creating on the platform include:
A new channel for your audience to discover your content
If you’re looking to become a creator on the platform, it can ease you into YouTube and help build an audience while you figure out your strategy for long-form video
It’s another place to distribute video content you may have created elsewhere (TikTok, Reels)
Does this sound appealing (and relevant) for you or your brand? Jump in and upload your first Short using the steps outlined below.
How to make and upload YouTube Shorts
There is no separate app for YouTube Shorts — it lives in your existing account. You can either create a new video within the YouTube app or upload an existing or edited video. The latter is especially ideal if you’re repurposing TikToks, Instagram Reels, or longer YouTube videos. To create new Shorts natively in YouTube:
Step 1: Open the YouTube mobile app, select the plus sign at the bottom of the screen and click ‘Create a Short’ from the list of options.
Step 2: Start recording by tapping (not holding) the red button. You can choose the length of time you want to record for between 15 or 60 seconds at the top right side of your screen. To record different video sections, click the record button to pause recording, then again to resume recording for your next section.
Step 3: If you’re satisfied with your video, tap the checkmark in the bottom right of the screen. You can preview, edit, add music, voiceover, text, and filters to your video. Once you’re done, tap Next in the top right.
Step 4: Add a caption, set visibility, schedule, select an audience, then tap Upload Short. Treat this step like you would a regular YouTube video by optimizing the caption so it’s visible for the right search terms.
Alternatively, if you want to upload an existing video, you can follow these steps:
Step 1: Click the plus sign.
Step 2: Select Upload a video which will take you to your camera roll.
Step 3: Select a video under 60 seconds.
Step 4: Fill in the relevant details and hit publish.
Finally, you can also upload a Short from your desktop. YouTube can tell what type of video you’re uploading by its length and orientation, so if you’re uploading a square or vertical video that is less than 60 seconds, it is identified as a Short. To upload a Short from your desktop:
Step 2: Click Create in the top right side of the page.
Step 3: Upload your YouTube Short.
Step 4: Fill in the relevant details and publish.
How to monetize YouTube Shorts
YouTube launched the Shorts Fund in August 2021, which is dedicated to paying out creators that generate large audiences for their Shorts. To qualify, creators must fit the following criteria:
Uploaded an eligible video within the last 180 days
Creators don’t have to apply – YouTube will notify you if you’re qualified during the first week of each month via email and your account that you will be receiving money from the Fund.
7 tips for making the most of YouTube Shorts
Before you start publishing, here are some best practices that will help you achieve good results off the beat from this new channel.
Don’t treat it like an afterthought: Develop a proper strategy to start uploading by creating relevant content, posting consistently and seeking audience feedback to make improvements.
Repurpose existing content: If you’re having difficulty figuring out what to post, adopt a repurposing strategy where you take the content you create for other short video formats and upload it as a Short. You can then tweak and make improvements to your videos based on reception.
Use a great hook: Much like other social video platforms, user attention is highly valuable. State the value proposition of your video upfront “Come along a day in my life as X” or “Let me teach you how to do Y” so people know why they should stick around.
Keep an eye on top trends, sounds and hashtags: If you want to reach more people, you need to stay ahead of the trends. Monitor popular sounds, hashtags, and topics to see what’s hot right now. But remember that trends should only inform your strategy and not influence it.
Engage with viewers: Use the comment section and YouTube’s Community feature to engage with viewers beyond uploads and build a loyal following. You can also use it to get their feedback on your content and improve.
Analyse your performance: It’s essential to track what’s working and what isn’t so you can make better decisions for future content. Keep a watchful eye on these metrics and use them to inform your strategy moving forward.
YouTube Shorts is a great channel to adopt into your content creation process
With Shorts, you can dip your toes in the YouTube pool and start growing equity on the platform without having to create long-form content. Consider adopting it into your existing content creation to take advantage of the new audience on the growing channel.
YouTube Shorts are YouTube’s answer to short-form content. The vertical video format. If you want to get your head around YouTube Shorts and possibly incorporate it into your strategy, then this article is for you.
Vertical, short-form, mobile — these three words describe the video format popularized by TikTok that every social platform is looking to co-opt, and YouTube is no different. Although the platform is known for its longer-form video content, it added a new feature in September 2020: YouTube Shorts.
This addition should come as no surprise, as YouTube is all about video, and increasingly, users prefer short videos to any other format when consuming content. This report shows that 73 percent of people prefer to watch a short video when learning about a new product or service. The same report also shows that people watch about 19 hours of online video per week. Essentially, the more content you can fit into that time span, the more you can communicate to your audience.
If you want to get your head around YouTube Shorts and possibly incorporate it into your strategy, then this article is for you.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are a new vertical video format optimized for mobile – YouTube’s answer to short-form content. If you already create short-form video content on TikTok and Instagram, then getting started with Shorts should be easy. It’s a great place to get started, as you can repurpose existing content and crosspost across platforms you’re already active on.
While YouTube Shorts may seem like yet another platform on your full plate, but it has its perks. Some benefits of creating on the platform include:
A new channel for your audience to discover your content
If you’re looking to become a creator on the platform, it can ease you into YouTube and help build an audience while you figure out your strategy for long-form video
It’s another place to distribute video content you may have created elsewhere (TikTok, Reels)
Does this sound appealing (and relevant) for you or your brand? Jump in and upload your first Short using the steps outlined below.
How to make and upload YouTube Shorts
There is no separate app for YouTube Shorts — it lives in your existing account. You can either create a new video within the YouTube app or upload an existing or edited video. The latter is especially ideal if you’re repurposing TikToks, Instagram Reels, or longer YouTube videos. To create new Shorts natively in YouTube:
Step 1: Open the YouTube mobile app, select the plus sign at the bottom of the screen and click ‘Create a Short’ from the list of options.
Step 2: Start recording by tapping (not holding) the red button. You can choose the length of time you want to record for between 15 or 60 seconds at the top right side of your screen. To record different video sections, click the record button to pause recording, then again to resume recording for your next section.
Step 3: If you’re satisfied with your video, tap the checkmark in the bottom right of the screen. You can preview, edit, add music, voiceover, text, and filters to your video. Once you’re done, tap Next in the top right.
Step 4: Add a caption, set visibility, schedule, select an audience, then tap Upload Short. Treat this step like you would a regular YouTube video by optimizing the caption so it’s visible for the right search terms.
Alternatively, if you want to upload an existing video, you can follow these steps:
Step 1: Click the plus sign.
Step 2: Select Upload a video which will take you to your camera roll.
Step 3: Select a video under 60 seconds.
Step 4: Fill in the relevant details and hit publish.
Finally, you can also upload a Short from your desktop. YouTube can tell what type of video you’re uploading by its length and orientation, so if you’re uploading a square or vertical video that is less than 60 seconds, it is identified as a Short. To upload a Short from your desktop:
Step 2: Click Create in the top right side of the page.
Step 3: Upload your YouTube Short.
Step 4: Fill in the relevant details and publish.
How to monetize YouTube Shorts
YouTube launched the Shorts Fund in August 2021, which is dedicated to paying out creators that generate large audiences for their Shorts. To qualify, creators must fit the following criteria:
Uploaded an eligible video within the last 180 days
Creators don’t have to apply – YouTube will notify you if you’re qualified during the first week of each month via email and your account that you will be receiving money from the Fund.
7 tips for making the most of YouTube Shorts
Before you start publishing, here are some best practices that will help you achieve good results off the beat from this new channel.
Don’t treat it like an afterthought: Develop a proper strategy to start uploading by creating relevant content, posting consistently and seeking audience feedback to make improvements.
Repurpose existing content: If you’re having difficulty figuring out what to post, adopt a repurposing strategy where you take the content you create for other short video formats and upload it as a Short. You can then tweak and make improvements to your videos based on reception.
Use a great hook: Much like other social video platforms, user attention is highly valuable. State the value proposition of your video upfront “Come along a day in my life as X” or “Let me teach you how to do Y” so people know why they should stick around.
Keep an eye on top trends, sounds and hashtags: If you want to reach more people, you need to stay ahead of the trends. Monitor popular sounds, hashtags, and topics to see what’s hot right now. But remember that trends should only inform your strategy and not influence it.
Engage with viewers: Use the comment section and YouTube’s Community feature to engage with viewers beyond uploads and build a loyal following. You can also use it to get their feedback on your content and improve.
Analyse your performance: It’s essential to track what’s working and what isn’t so you can make better decisions for future content. Keep a watchful eye on these metrics and use them to inform your strategy moving forward.
YouTube Shorts is a great channel to adopt into your content creation process
With Shorts, you can dip your toes in the YouTube pool and start growing equity on the platform without having to create long-form content. Consider adopting it into your existing content creation to take advantage of the new audience on the growing channel.
YouTube sparked a digital revolution, but what comes next in an age dominated by AI and short-form content?
Did you go to the zoo 20 years ago? Over 364 million people did.
On April 23, 2005, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim stood in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo, recorded some light commentary, and posted it to YouTube. It was the first ever video uploaded to the platform. Originally conceived as a dating site, YouTube instead ushered in a new digital world: one of abundant content, influencers and creators, algorithmic obsession, the viral spread of disinformation, and a society increasingly shaped by metrics — likes, shares, and views.
Its impact is so vast that it’s difficult to measure. Last year alone, the video-sharing platform brought in $36.15 billion in ad revenue, according to Variety. At VidCon 2025, YouTube’s VP of Creator Products, Amjad Hanif, shared that roughly 20 million videos are uploaded to the platform every day.
YouTube wasn’t the first social media site. Platforms like GeoCities, Classmates.com, SixDegrees.com, Friendster, and MySpace all predate it. But those sites functioned like static digital places for users to present personal information or to find people they already knew in real life. There was no algorithm, and certainly no “content” in the way we understand it today. YouTube, in its early days, was similar. Yet somehow it not only endured but flourished, shifted the fabric of our communication, and democratized the ability for documentary filmmakers, comedians, and artists to make their work. What was once a place designed for dating has become a mass of monetization and the home of the $250 billion creator economy.
How did we get here? And, 20 years later, what comes next?
The first creator economy
YouTube didn’t just host videos; it created the first true creator economy, giving rise to a generation of influencers who could actually make a living from their work. Yes, people were making videos before YouTube, but traditional media had high walls. Hollywood gatekeepers controlled who got to be seen, heard, and paid. YouTube blew that model wide open.
“The reason YouTube has outlasted almost every other platform, or stayed the distance, is that when it comes to longform video, it’s very simple — it’s not just a content platform, it’s a creator economy backbone,” Matt Navarra, a social media expert, told Mashable. “While other platforms were following trends, YouTube built infrastructure.”
Google acquired YouTube in 2006, and, once YouTube became part of the largest and most powerful search engine in the world, it had a pretty spectacular amount of resources, traffic, and money at its disposal — and it gave some of those resources, traffic, and money to its users.
In 2007, YouTube launched the YouTube Partner Program, introducing creator pay outs, which Mark Bergen, a journalist and author of Like, Comment, Subscribe: How YouTube Drives Google’s Dominance and Controls Our Culture, argues effectively invented the idea of the content creator as a profession. Users began relying on the platform to make an income, and that financial incentive made creators loyal; few were eager to abandon a platform that paid them, especially when rivals couldn’t offer the same. More than that, new creators began flooding the YouTube system, hoping to experience the same freedom and fame available to them only on the platform.
But long before the pay checks and polished production came the passion. Early creators like John and Hank Green weren’t chasing clout or a pay check — because neither really existed yet. “When we started, there was no way to make money and there was also no status tied to it,” Hank Green later recalled during VidCon 2025’s “YouTube Legends” panel. That was part of the appeal. “Nobody [was] getting paid well, but everybody’s together, loving it, and community, it turns out, is more important for happiness than money. I miss those days when I was making $20,000 a year with a bunch of nerds who didn’t expect that it would ever become a cultural force or phenomenon,” he said. “But I’m also very happy that there is an opportunity for really talented people who would never be able to have creative careers, to have those careers now.”
YouTube has “figured out the creator economy and has had a lock on that for nearly 20 years. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, everyone’s tried and failed to come anywhere close to that,” Bergen told Mashable. He said none of the other platforms “have built out just this size and scale of an actual digital economy and a workforce.”
Navarra pointed out that the early YouTubers — creators like John and Hank Green, Rhett & Link, Grace Helbig, and Tyler Oakley, many of whom were inducted into the inaugural VidCon Hall of Fame this year — didn’t only create content, but they built empires, aided by YouTube’s global reach and monetization tools. Navarra said it set the “gold standard” for creator sustainability.
Videos don’t just trend, they rank — and that’s a superpower that no one else has quite matched in the same way.
A big part of this success is due to discoverability, which didn’t happen independently.
“That’s a major reason why you have all these incentives for people to keep posting, to keep upping the production value, to keep trying to become an influencer and creator, because you can make a living or aspire to make a living. And you can’t discount the fact that it’s been part of Google,” Bergen said.
That integration gave YouTube a unique edge. As Navarra put it, “Videos don’t just trend, they rank — and that’s a superpower that no one else has quite matched in the same way.”
Of course, being the first had its drawbacks. YouTube had to confront the growing pains of content creation before anyone else, especially when it came to moderation. Its policies evolved over time, and other platforms often followed its lead, though not without controversy.
“YouTube has been the canary in the coal mine for content moderation at scale because it faced existential threats earlier than most platforms,” Navarra said. And it’s true. In the early days, YouTube focused on removing videos that violated its guidelines related to nudity, graphic violence, and hate speech. But as the platform matured, so did its approach. It had to make room for content with educational, documentary, or artistic value, and later, make calls on videos in the public interest, like campaign content from electoral candidates that violated its own policies.
“YouTube has become one of the most brand-safe video or social platforms, which is why advertisers still spend big there despite their size and complexity,” Navarra said, adding that while they “haven’t been without their failures,” they have still fared “better than most platforms across the longer time frame.”
What’s next? Short-form vs. long-form, AI, and TV
YouTube was a pioneer in online video, but it seemed caught off guard when TikTok made short-form vertical video the dominant format. TikTok entered the U.S. market in 2018, prompting YouTube to respond with Shorts in 2019. Instagram quickly followed with Reels in 2020.
YouTube Shorts now averages over 200 billion daily views, Hanif said during a YouTube Keynote at VidCon 2025, intended to celebrate its 20th anniversary. That’s a huge number, but it isn’t necessarily representative culturally. It’s more of a “functional tool that hasn’t found its soul or character or purpose as much as other platforms have in terms of short-form video,” Navarra said.
“It works on paper: the views are huge, the monetization has improved, but culturally, TikTok owns the vibe. The issue is more perception… YouTube’s DNA is in storytelling and depth… If YouTube can crack cultural relevance with Shorts and not just scale, then it becomes fairly unbeatable,” Navarra said.
And while plenty of people watch YouTube Shorts, viewers are leaning more towards long-form video on YouTube — and they’re watching it on their TVs.
“More and more when people say they’re watching TV, they’re watching YouTube,” Hanif said at VidCon.
Gwen Miller, the senior director of growth at Mythical Entertainment, noted during a VidCon panel that this trend bodes well for creators. Longer watch times on TVs mean viewers are more likely to sit through ads, which leads to greater earnings for creators.
Content isn’t the only thing changing on YouTube, and AI is quickly becoming a driving force behind where the platform is headed next.
“In terms of AI and YouTube’s future, if you look where YouTube is heading, AI is central,” Navarra said. “It’s not a gimmick but as a growth engine. The platform’s big advantage isn’t just the size and age, it’s the way it quietly builds the most advanced tools for creators anywhere else on the internet.”
And YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced last week at the Cannes Lions 2025 Festival of Creativity that Veo 3, the latest model of Google DeepMind’s video generation model, which allows you to create AI-generated backgrounds and video clips, is coming to YouTube Shorts later this summer.
Autodubbing, an AI tool that allows creators to dub their videos in other languages, is currently available in nine languages and will soon be available in 20 languages, Hanif said. Kevin Allocca, YouTube’s global director of culture and trends, said at VidCon that 52 percent of 14 to 24-year-olds in the U.S. have watched content or creators that have been translated from another language. For instance, MrBeast dubs his videos in 16 different languages, including Japanese, French, Hindi, and Spanish, which have garnered him massive followings internationally.
The idea that AI is central to the future of creation isn’t something YouTube is alone in predicting. In 2023, Ollie Forsyth, the founder of New Economies, found that 33 percent of creators used AI. That number has jumped to 80 percent in 2025, in large part due to the importance of language dubbing. During Forsyth’s talk “Mapping the Modern Creator Economy: Trends, Tensions, and What Comes Next” at VidCon this year, he argued that every creator is going to have to be AI-focused because AI agents will be able to allow creators to be truly flexible and more efficient. It’ll help them free up the time they spend on admin, finances, brand partnerships, marketing, and more as startups use AI to solve these problems.
If history is any indication of the future, it might be more helpful to look at this from a different perspective — it isn’t necessarily guessing what the future of YouTube will look like, but more knowing that whatever future is chosen will be mirrored across every other social media platform.
Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature ofonline creationunder capitalism.
Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.
As of 2025, there are more than 207 million global content creators who build digital influence through platforms like YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram. Creators are more than content makers; they’re economic engines. But while the creator economy is booming, the bridge between influence and infrastructure remains fragile.
According to Goldman Sachs via MBO Partners, the U.S. creator economy alone contributes over $250 billion to GDP. Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, shared in Business Insider: “We believe creators are becoming more and more relevant over time. We are just seeing more and more power shift from institutions to individuals across the industry.”
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates there are 34.8 million small businesses nationwide, yet few policies formally recognize creators as part of that group. This is the untapped gap: Creators don’t always see themselves as entrepreneurs, and as a result, they often miss out on resources specifically designed to support business growth.
Influencers produce content daily, yet miss out on tools that could help them monetize, scale and build long-term wealth. To prevent what I call “Creator-to-CEO Failure to Launch,” here’s how creators can start using existing free partnerships right now to turn their visibility into viable ventures.
7 Essential Partnerships And Resources To Help You Build A Business In 2025
1. SCORE (Service Corps Of Retired Executives)
Why It Matters: With 10,000+ volunteer mentors, SCORE offers free one-on-one guidance to entrepreneurs across industries.
Action Step: Book a mentor at SCORE.org who understands digital marketing, pricing or scaling to review your business model, even if you’re just starting out.
2. Small Business Digital Alliance (SBDA)
Why It Matters: Backed by the SBA and Business Forward, this organization curates digital tools, templates and educational materials.
Action Step: Use their free business planning and legal resources to turn your content operation into a structured, scale-ready venture.
3. Local Chambers Of Commerce + Women’s Business Centres
Why It Matters: These groups provide hands-on workshops and funding guidance often overlooked by online-first creators.
Action Step: Attend a local business centre event. Even a one-time mixer can connect you to a lawyer, lender or advisor who can help formalize your brand.
4. University Innovation Centres (U Of H, Community Colleges, HBCUs)
Why It Matters: Community colleges and HBCUs now house innovation labs where non-enrolledcreators can join pitch competitions, incubators or workshops.
Action Step: Search your city + “University Innovation Centre” and inquire about available small business or entrepreneurship resources.
5. Google Reviews + Business Tools
Why It Matters: A buyer’s decision is often driven by trust and validation, but many creators still lack visibility because they haven’t claimed or optimized a Google Business Profile.
Action Step: Create your Google Business Profile and start collecting reviews from collaborators, clients or brand deals.
6. Hello Alice
Why It Matters: With over $40 million in grants distributed, Hello Alice supports early-stage founders and women, veterans and creators of colour.
Action Step: Apply for funding, access business education and join their creator cohorts if you’re ready to scale beyond brand deals.
7. Verizon Small Business Digital Ready
Why It Matters: With over 1 million users, this platform offers courses, mentorship and $10,000 grant competitions.
Action Step: Enrol in courses and track your progress. Creators who complete modules qualify for mentorship and funding.
Real Voices, Real Impact
Gone are the days when we only viewed creators as entertainment. They’re digital founders. With the right partnerships, they won’t just gain influence. They’ll gain infrastructure.
Powerhouse Thought: Creators Don’t Just Need Platforms; They Need Partnerships
Entrepreneurs aren’t made when you hit six figures. They’re made when you set up your backend like it matters. If you’re already creating content, building an audience or selling a service, you’re not an influencer. You’re a business.
Political advertising was a big driver behind the surge
In a nutshell: YouTube achieved record-breaking ad revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, raking in a staggering $10.4 billion from advertisements alone. This astronomical figure, representing a 13.8 percent increase from the previous year, comes amid mounting user dissatisfaction with the platform’s aggressive ad strategy.
YouTube‘s advertising model has long been a source of frustration for its vast user base. The platform’s approach to monetization, which often involves interrupting videos with unskippable ads, is seen by many as intrusive and detrimental to the viewing experience.
Despite the discontent, the numbers tell a different story. The platform’s ability to generate revenue seems unaffected by user grumbling. That is largely due to its vast content library, much of which is unique to the platform, and thus the lack of comparable alternatives. This captive audience provides a steady stream of ad viewers, even if they are reluctant ones.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai attributed much of the revenue jump to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Combined spending on YouTube ads by the Democratic and Republican parties was almost double what they spent in the 2020 election, he said. This political advertising bonanza contributed significantly to YouTube’s coffers, with over 45 million people watching election-related content on the platform on election day alone.
YouTube offers an escape from its ad-laden experience through its Premium subscription service, priced at $14 per month or $140 per year. However, many users balk at the cost, viewing it as an expensive solution to a problem of YouTube’s own making.
Despite user reluctance, YouTube’s subscription revenues – bundled under Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices in its earnings statement – increased from $10.8 billion in Q4 2023 to $11.6 billion in Q4 2024. According to Anat Ashkenazi, Alphabet’s CFO, subscription products are growing primarily due to increased paid subscribers across YouTube TV, YouTube Music Premium, and Google One.
Now, YouTube is betting big on AI to turbocharge its advertising strategies. Philipp Schindler, chief business officer at Alphabet, highlighted the potential of AI in marketing, citing a case study where Petco utilized AI-powered campaigns on YouTube. The company achieved a 275 percent higher return on ad spend and a 74 percent higher click-through rate than its social benchmarks, Schindler reported.
He also noted that Google AI-powered video campaigns on YouTube deliver a 17 percent higher return on advertising spend than manual campaigns, according to Nielsen analysis.
While this may be music to advertisers’ ears, for users, it could mean even more precisely targeted – and potentially more irritating – ad experiences in the future.
Size matters – but only if you know what to do with it. And a strategic, sustainable approach is crucial. Leaders from Little Dot Studios, NBCUniversal and Virgin weigh up the scale of the growing YouTube opportunity for today’s marketers.
To build YouTube success, marketers need to realize that YouTube is now “more comparable to a streaming platform like Netflix than it is to a traditional social media platform,” says Holly Graham, chief commercial officer at Little Dot Studios.
YouTube is no longer the home of funny cat videos and 2-3 minute video content by rote. It’s the world’s second biggest search engine. It pulls in 2.49 billion users – that’s 48% of all social media users. And its content formats have changed in recent years.
The platform’s eyeball-grabbing, 60 second YouTube Shorts are wildly popular. Meanwhile, 10-30 minutes ‘mid-form’ content is also on the rise, giving marketers the chance to deepen audience engagement. And then there’s the inevitable counter trend to the short-form boom, with a growing love of richer, more immersive, 30 minutes plus long form content. So, which should marketers opt for? And when?
Graham was exploring how marketers can squeeze more value out of this ever-evolving, brand-building and revenue-raising machine, in an exclusive webinar with The Drum, alongside Nick Savage, senior vice-president, digital monetization & strategy, NBCUniversal and Greg Rose, digital, content and communications director at Virgin. Some of their key rules included:
1. Strategize – and play a long game
A sense of purpose should be the lodestar for any YouTube content creation, the experts agree. Rose advises marketers to ask themselves: “Is it for quick awareness? Do you want to grab people’s attention and then move them on? Or do you want to use it as an education tool to drive that deeper connection? Essentially, what’s the point of it? The audience is smart and will only engage with something if it has that purpose.”
That strategic starting point will then act as a guide for when and which content formats to pick up. Short term content is “a lower barrier to entry. It’s a chance to say things more directly, potentially market more directly, and have a little bit more fun or be more lo-fi with what you produce,” Graham says.
Meanwhile, Rose highlights how leaning into YouTube’s unique ultra long-form engagement capabilities deepened brand engagement for Virgin America. The brand’s famous, six hour BLAH Airlines spoof launched on YouTube as the longest pre-roll video ever produced and became a cult hit worldwide.
And when it comes to measuring those strategic KPIs, go long haul. Even if marketers dip their toes in with a Shorts campaign, they should be underpinning that with a mid- to long-term strategy of what YouTube could deliver over a year or more, Graham advises, reminding us that it’s a “long tail” platform with audiences still eating up content that was uploaded three or four years ago.
2. Get to know the platform
Creating something that feels authentic to the space is just as important as being purposeful and strategic, when it comes to generating engagement. The experts advise marketers to spend time understanding engagement data, watching successful creators or checking out competitors’ content. That will also help guide whether you need to create new content or create something new with old content – extracting as much value as possible out of existing assets.
Savage goes further in recommending: “If you haven’t done anything in the social or the YouTube space, then look to partner with experts that have and know that space.”
3. Remember – creation is only half the job
Driving eyeballs to your content should take up as much headspace as its content, the experts agree. As marketers have less than a minute to get viewers to click onto their content, “You have to think about how people are going to find that video and how they’re going to engage with it…. What are your thumbnails? What are your titles? How do they speak to one another? Are they compelling? How do you think about SEO? How do you think about tagging?” Graham says.
And, investing in a paid strategy should also be aligned with an organic seeding strategy – driving earned and organic engagement, she adds. All of which leads us neatly to…
4. Build a community, own your audience
Marketers do well when they spend time analysing the engagement peaks and troughs of their own channel, to be able to create a community of fans and advocates around that content. That’s when “you don’t just rent an audience for 30 seconds. You own them,” Graham says.
Savage thinks of it as a snowball effect, with a community growing over time. And that’s a community that can be influenced to try similar content, inspired to create their own user-generated, brand-building content or be drawn into a value-exchange where they shape future brand content.
He says: “For example, we would poll fans about their favourite moments from one of our shows, and then produce a video of those moments.” Ultimately, these deeply engaged followers are then more likely to share content and click through to monetized versions on other platforms.
For lots more actionable advice and best practice insights into how marketers can unlock brand success with YouTube content strategies, watch the full webinar now.
YouTube Pause ads are now rolling out widely, displaying ads when users pause videos, in addition to multiple unskippable ads during playback.
The expansion has been driven by a positive response from advertisers. YouTube calls these ads “non-interruptive.”
The push for more ads seems aimed at encouraging more users to subscribe to YouTube Premium.
YouTube has confirmed that it’s now rolling out Pause ads widely on the platform. Yes, that means not only do you have to live with multiple unskippable ads, but you’ll also start seeing ads on the free version of YouTube when you pause a video.
In a statement to The Verge, YouTube’s Communication Manager, Oluwa Falodun, said that the company has seen a strong response to Pause ads on YouTube from both advertisers and viewers. “We’ve since widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers,” the executive confirmed.
YouTube has been testing Pause ads for some time now. In April, Google’s Philipp Schindler shared positive results from the experiment, calling Pause ads a new “non-interruptive” format that appears when users pause what they are watching. It remains unclear whether the widespread rollout of Pause ads will result in fewer regular ad breaks during video playback — though, frankly, that seems unlikely.
YouTube users are already seeing more frequent Pause ads on smart TVs. Some have even reported seeing them on YouTube’s mobile app. With the company’s confirmation coming in, it’s just a matter of time before Pause ads become a new normal for YouTube users.
Of course, you can always subscribe to YouTube Premium if you want to get rid of ads on the platform. That’s the whole intent here — to get users to pay for content one way or the other.
