According to a new Harris Poll survey, 57 percent of viewers ages 18-25 picked YouTube as their must-have app for smart TV sets. YouTube is a program that runs pre-roll digital video advertisements on most of its videos, making it a valuable internet marketing tool considering its popularity. Older age groups nominated Netflix (54 percent) and Amazon Instant Video (38 percent).
In addition, 26 percent of 18-35 year olds recommended Hulu+, which also runs video advertising before their programs, as another must-have video streamer. Also, Pandora and Twitter were very popular among the younger age groups. Pandora, a radio streaming application, allows advertisements between songs and Twitter lets companies pay for sponsored hash tags and other promotions.
"Younger adults desire a more social viewing experience," says Manny Flores, senior vice president at Harris Interactive. "With the proliferation of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, younger adults are not only more tech savvy, but are accustomed to being able to share their online experiences with their friends and family. So why not add TV viewing to the list of online experiences to share?"
The profitability of the 18-35 age group is certainly not overlooked by major corporations, as evidenced by on-demand programming company TiVo's acquisition of advertising analytics company TRA Inc. Paying $20 million for the company, TiVo intends to use this new asset as a means to gain a "new level of unique audience insights and analytics."
While so many experts are pushing the use of digital video advertisements for targeted internet marketing, small businesses that are hoping to further their voice with small business internet marketing campaigns may also want to tap into these avenues.