YouTube UK 18-24 Content Opportunity Breakdown™ Q1 2022

Key Takeaways

Top content opportunities in Q1 2022 for the EPC audience on YouTube include:

Hip Hop Music Videos: The Hottest New Music Videos — Music videos from UK urban artists such as Russ Millions, Nemzzz, Tion Wayne and Buni featuring Grime, Brit-hop, and Afroswing genres. 

Freestyle Rap: Daily Duppy Freestyles — A series by GRM Daily featuring UK urban artists performing freestyle raps with animated subtitles and visuals of the lyrics. Artists featured in Q1 2022 included Potter Payper, Ghetts, Mercston, R.A, Yungen, Ambush and Blade Brown x K-Trap.

Fortnite Content: Fortnite News, Updates, Gameplay and More — Videos discuss the latest Fortnite news and updates and other Fortnite related content like Fortnite Wordle and the Fortnite subreddit.

Match Highlights: Rugby & Football Highlight Clips — Top videos feature highlight clips from the Champions League, Europa League, and Guinness Six Nations Championship matches. 

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The top* videos from Q1 2022 published by the following UK EPC identified creators were analyzed:

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YouTube Content Bucket Definitions

• Hip Hop Music Video | Music & Dance: Hip Hop music videos featuring popular British rappers. 
• Freestyle Raps | Music: Videos featuring various rappers freestyle rapping. 
• Fortnite Content | Gaming: Fortnite news, updates, gameplay, tips, discussions and games. 
• Match Highlights | Rugby & Football: Highlight clips from Rugby or Football games. 
• Sports Moments | Rugby & Football: Videos sharing clips from various epic sports moments.
• POV Action | Biking & Climbing: Videos capture the action using point-of-view footage.  
• Celeb Interviews | Music: These interviews allow viewers to get to know the celebrity featured better.
• Trick Shorts | Biking: YouTube shorts featuring athletes performing epic tricks and stunts. 
• Celeb Reactions | Music: Videos of various celebrities reacting to something. 
• Multiplayer Gameplay | Gaming: Videos of creators playing a multiplayer game with others. 
• Athlete Interview | Rugby, Football, Motosport & Surfing: Postgame or pre-game interviews of athletes.
• Official Audio | Music: Premiers or exclusives of full songs or albums on YouTube. 
• Clip Compilation | Climbing & Surfing: Compilation of various clips from various sports synced with music.
• Artist Feature | Music: Videos featuring the artist behind certain bodies of work. 

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Content buckets that had the highest views & engagement rate for the UK EPC audience include:

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Good performing content opportunities for the UK EPC audience on YouTube include:

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Substandard performing content opportunities for the UK EPC audience on YouTube include:

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Low performing content opportunities for the UK EPC audience on YouTube include:

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Viral Callout:

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#1. Hip Hop Music Video

GRM Daily shared two music videos (shown on the left) by Russ Millions x Buni x YV which generated 14M and 8M views. 

Tactics to Implement:

• British Talent: According to BPI, British talent accounted for over a third of Rap/Hip Hop UK singles consumption in 2020. The majority of the content GRM Daily publishes features British hip hop artists.
• Hip Hop: Gen Zs favourite genre of music is Hip Hop (Source). Amongst the UK audience, rap and hip-hop music popularity have experienced a huge growth in recent years, with titles classified as “Rap” and “Hip Hop” accounting for 22% of all singles consumption in 2020 (Source). 

14M Views

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8M Views

Content Opportunities:

#1. Hip Hop Music Video

The Hottest New Music Videos. Music videos from UK urban artists such as Russ Millions, Nemzzz, Tion Wayne and Buni and more.

Tactics to Implement:

• Grime, Brit-hop, and Afroswing: GRM Daily, “the most visited website in the UK” focuses on sharing content from Brit-hop, and Afroswing artists. 
• Brackets and Parentheses: YouTube videos with additional details in brackets or parentheses can increase click-through rates by 38% by making it easier for viewers to identify the search term they are looking for (the video on the left used “[Music Video]" in its title).

Top Format:

• Videos range from 1:45-8:15 mins in length with the average length being 3:58 mins long.
• 100% of videos in this category are traditional YouTube posts over Shorts. 

3M  Views

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2M Views

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#2. Freestyle Raps

Daily Duppy Freestyles: “Daily Duppy” is a GRM Daily series which feature UK urban artists performing freestyle raps. Artists featured in Q1 2022 included Potter Payper, Ghetts, Mercston, R.A, Yungen, Ambush and Blade Brown x K-Trap.

Tactics to Implement:

• Lyrics: Videos are edited to be entertaining. Daily Duppy videos feature the lyrics on-screen synchronized with visuals to provide the viewer with a visual representation of the lyrics.  
• Support Independent Music: GRM Daily has been instrumental in the UK for the resurgence of independent artists by offering artists the ability to record, release, and promote their music without the need of support of traditional media or the music industry (Source). 

Top Format:

• Videos range from 2:00-4:00 minutes in length.
• 100% of videos in this category are traditional YouTube posts over Shorts.

2M  Views

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1M Views

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#3. Fortnite Content

Fortnite News, Updates, Gameplay and More: Ali-A, a British YouTuber, shares informative videos discussing the latest Fortnite news and updates and other Fortnite related content such as playing the Fortnite themed Wordle puzzle or discussing comments in Fortnite’s subreddit. 

Tactics to Implement:

• Fortnite: Fortnite is a wildly popular amongst 18-24 years olds, with 63% of their +80M MAU coming from this demographic. The UK is the 4th highest contributor to players in the game - making up 5% of the total players (Source). 
• Wordle: Ali-A shared two videos of him attempting to solve a Fortnite themed Wordle puzzle and both of them generated over 1.5M views (see other video here). 

Top Format:

• Videos range from 0:34-11:00 min in length.
• 18% of videos in this category are YouTube Shorts. 

1M  Views

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2M Views

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#4. Match Highlights

Rugby & Football Highlight Clips: Top videos feature highlight clips from the matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Guinness Six Nations Championship on BT Sport and Guinness Six Nations’ YouTube channels. 

Tactics to Implement:

• Timeliness: BT Sport and Guinness Six Nations publish highlight videos on YouTube within 24 hours of the match.
• Video Title: BT Sport’s match highlight videos all use the the following title format: Team name vs Team name (Game Score) | Something exciting that happened in the game| Name of the league. 

Top Format:

• Top videos range from 5:00-16:00 minutes in length.
• 100% of videos in this category are traditional YouTube posts over Shorts. 

3M Views

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2M Views