Video consumption in India increased by 5 times in 2017. Given such a significant rise, it is necessary to identify the various demographic groups that make up your consumer base – and their likes and dislikes on multiple social media platforms.

Here are the five categories of generations in reverse chronological order:

• Gen Z refers to people born on or after 1998.
• Before them come the millennials, born between 1981 and 1997.
• They are preceded by Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980.
• Gen X is preceded by the baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964.
• Finally you have the silent generation, born before 1945.

Different generations are distributed differently across social media platforms, with varying preferences for content consumption. Thus, it is imperative to know your audience to share suitable video content online.

Let’s look at their patterns of video consumption on various social media platforms:

1. Facebook

Gen X, millennials, and baby boomers most actively consume and share videos on Facebook. Men aged 18-24 years use Facebook the most, making up 18% of the audience on the platform. Thus, Facebook is a giant video consumption platform for all the generations except Gen Z.

When sharing content on Facebook, make sure you upload the video file directly; don’t link to a different video platform like YouTube. Native videos on Facebook are seen to perform better than competing video formats.

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2. Instagram

Being a visual medium with about 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is an effective market to share videos, especially given the recent launch of IGTV (a platform for vertical videos). In fact, brands have found video marketing through Instagram so appealing that more than a million of them advertise on the platform.

The most active generations on Instagram are Gen Z and millennials. 59% of 18-29- year-olds are active on Instagram, making them the primary users and video consumers. Thus, IGTV videos have also been targeted at the younger demographic, since they are the most active users of the app.

Given that consumers engage with brands the most on Instagram as compared to Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, brands should leverage video marketing to build their image on the platform.

3. YouTube

About 62% of users on this platform are males. The age groups 35+ and 55+ are the fastest growing demographics here. Even millennials prefer YouTube over traditional TV. That said; do remember to also cater to mobile users when creating videos for YouTube.

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4. Twitter 

Twitter has 330 million monthly active users. It is the go-to platform for news and everything that is trending. Millennials and Gen Xers are the most active users. Statistics for Twitter confirm that videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than photos.

93% of videos views on Twitter come from mobile users, making millennials – who are known to be the most avid smartphone users – more likely to consume videos.

Check out the kind of videos that can help you get the most out of your marketing efforts.

5. Snapchat

Snapchat is another platform that is mainly centred on sharing photos and videos. According to one study, 71% of Snapchat users are under 34, making it a popular platform for Gen Z and millennials and a less preferred platform for Gen X.

Video consumption on Snapchat takes place through Snapchat stories (individual pictures that can be seen for up to 24 hours), and the largest demographic constituting 37% of the Snapchat users is aged 18- 24.

Boost your video content with Geofilters that can help you focus on your target group within specific locations.

6. Pinterest

Pinterest is an online platform for sharing and collecting images and videos. Most ‘pinners’ are below 40 years. Statistics say that women are the primary users of Pinterest, accounting for 81% of the total number of consumers. Additionally, millennials use Pinterest as frequently as they do Instagram.

Given these statistics, the demographic that consumes most videos on Pinterest seems to be Gen Z and millennials.

Video marketing through Pinterest has developed greater scope ever since it introduced autoplay. Earlier, consumers would end up scrolling past content without clicking ‘play’. But now, videos play by themselves as soon as they enter the screen.

Brands can make the most of Pinterest’s autoplay feature by creating videos that don’t disrupt the consumers’ experience.