Consumers love engaging with YouTube. In fact, YouTube is the most-used social media platform, according to the market research firm Datassential.1
Seventy-six percent of consumers gravitate to YouTube as their top social media channel1 — and the younger they are, the more robust the appetite for the platform’s ever-growing video content. Gen Z is the platform’s hungriest generational demographic (87%), followed by millennials (84%).1
With 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide, 122 million users per day and 92% of U.S.-based internet users accessing it every week,2 YouTube piles on the possibilities for food and beverage brands.
Here are 4 key ways YouTube is bringing more to the table to help feed your business.
Va-Va Video
Consumers eat it up3
- #1 for memorable brand content.
- 87% say video quality impacts their trust in a brand.
- 83% want more video content from brands.
1. E-commerce Eyeful: Dishing on Integrations
With 90% of video marketers using YouTube videos for marketing purposes,4 it should come as no surprise that the platform is increasingly blurring the lines between content and commerce, enabling food and beverage brands to sell products directly.
No-Brainer
Seeing is selling3
- 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
- Our brains process visual info in as little as 13 milliseconds — 7x faster than an eye blink.
- Approximately 65% of people are visual learners.
Given that up to 85% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it,5 food and beverage brands are constantly cooking up fresh batches of content to feed business. From livestream events to step-by-step videos for recipes, brands are experimenting with an ever-growing menu of e-commerce integrations.
Instacart delivers shoppable ads for CPG brands on YouTube. CPG advertisers use Instacart’s first-party data to identify and reach consumers with high purchase intent on YouTube. Viewers who click on the ads go to an Instacart product page, and brands can measure the results of their campaigns. Danone and Nestle USA were among the first to pilot Instacart’s shoppable ad program when it originated on Google with promising results.6
Knorr® opened up a world of possibilities with its global “Love at First Taste” YouTube campaign. The brand leveraged the platform’s vast reach to distribute content about singles sharing Knorr® flavors across 10 countries and in 25 languages simultaneously through closed captioning. The campaign generated 54M views in two weeks and a 6,000% boost in search interest in some markets.7
By the Buy: ROI
Video marketing stats4
- 41% of marketers see a high return on investment.
- 32% say it has the strongest ROI compared with other content types.
- 66% cite higher ROI from product videos than any other kind of video.
2. Up Close and Personalized: YouTube’s Focus on You
As YouTube algorithms become increasingly sophisticated and the platform serves up more personalized experiences, the platform will help food and beverage brands connect with their target audiences on a deeper level. Research shows that smart personalization engines used to recognize customer intent will enable digital businesses to increase their profits by up to 15%.8
“Thanks to AI, YouTube is becoming more and more sophisticated in tailoring video recommendations based on the user’s viewing patterns and preferences,” said Megan Kelashian, vice president of digital marketing for The Food Group. “The platform’s advanced AI uses deep learning algorithms to analyze the user’s likes, dislikes, and watch times. A great example is the ‘For You’ feed, which delivers highly personalized content that reflects viewers’ watch history.”
Consumers Take Content Personally8
- 77% have chosen, recommended or paid more for personalized brand offerings.
- 81% want brands to get to know them and understand when to approach them.
- 87% say personally relevant content positively influences brand perception.
Based on the viewer’s permissions, YouTube may dig into data from their Google Account activity to provide recommendations, search results, in-app notifications and curated videos.
Food brands on YouTube can also serve targeted, unskippable advertising known as pre-roll ads before, in the middle of or after a video. Uber Eats targeted its Uber Eats Pass ad to viewers who use food delivery apps. Expect AI advances to expand the reach and precision of target marketing on YouTube.
Short-Form Video Stands Tall9
- 2.5 times more engagement than long-form videos.
- 50% viewer retention rate when under 90 seconds.
- 30% have an average watch rate of over 80%.
3. Insatiable AI-ppetite: AI Powers Platefuls of Content
AI-powered campaigns “generate double-digit increases for us in consumer engagement, leading to more increased purchases.” 10
–Joe Park, Chief Digital and Technology Officer Yum Brands
While the hunger for visual content has made it difficult for food and beverage brands to keep up with demand, AI tools are accelerating content creation and distribution. Now brands can use AI to quickly generate videos from scripts or user-generated content, making it easier to scale their content production. The technology is especially useful for companies like Yum with multiple brands to promote.
YouTube has introduced a new AI video creation tool called “Veo” that enables creators to input text prompts and create AI images that form six-second clips, like this demo featuring pancakes and coffee.
AI-driven insights are not only helping brands understand what types of content are currently most engaging for their audience but what to offer next.
“YouTube Analytics can forecast trends in food, flavor and dietary preferences, which brands can use to stay ahead of the curve,” said Nicole Bland, digital strategist at The Food Group. “Predictive analytics gives brands insight into their audience and foresight into what content they should offer next, so they can optimize their content strategy and make data-driven decisions to grow their channel.”
By analyzing user data like viewing history, search queries, demographics and engagement metrics, brands can predict which videos a user is most likely to watch next and personalize their video content accordingly to drive engagement.
4. Increasing Interactivity: From View It to Do It
Technological advances are putting interactivity at the center of the plate piled high with new ways to engage YouTube users. Interactive elements designed to boost engagement include polls, Q&As, live chats and clickable/tappable cards — all of which whet the viewer’s appetite to keep watching and keep them craving more content.
Interactive Video Increases Click-Through Rates By 4 Times3
The Coca-Cola Co. has been satisfying the user’s thirst for interactive engagement with its trailblazing use of augmented reality.
Promoted heavily on YouTube, the brand’s first large-scale AR experience involved specially marked cans and bottles that could be scanned for immersive arctic scenes featuring its beloved holiday polar bear. Since then, Coca-Cola has used the platform as an intersection for its AR-driven, cross-channel “Real Magic” campaign.
Similar to Coke’s use of AR-activating QR codes on packaging, AR experiences can be accessed on YouTube through QR codes displayed on screen. Watch for them in the year ahead.
5. Positive Influences: Collabs with Influencers Serve Up KPIs
YouTube is in the midst of an ever-growing feeding frenzy for influencers. The platform helped propel the influencer market to a valuation of $21.1 billion in 2023.12 What’s more, influencer marketing usage has surged from 64.5% in 2020 to 86% in 2025.12
Influencer marketing continues to grow on YouTube, with a shift toward more authentic, long-term partnerships. Co-branding with influencers is on the rise. Mr. Beast, YouTube’s top earner who pulled in an estimated $82 million in 2023,13 has partnered with Zaxby’s, Feastables, PepsiCo and Safeway.
YouTube Creators Steal the Show12
Compared with celebrities, they get:
- 3x as many views.
- 2x as many actions.
- 12x as many comments.
But micro- and nano-influencers are also a big deal, especially in niche food categories like vegan cooking and gluten-free baking. Food brands are seeking out smaller, highly engaged influencers to promote their products in a more authentic and relatable way.
Small Is a Big Thing12
Nano-influencers (with 1,000-5,000 followers) have a 2.19% engagement rate, beating out even mega-influencers with over 1 million followers.
As the second-largest search engine,14 YouTube is a hub for influencers and a hive of consumer activity, filled with buzz and sweet spots for food and beverage marketers. For more insights into this and other social media powerhouses, be sure to check out our posts “How to Maximize Influencers for Food and Beverage Brands” and “How Visual Storytelling Powers Gen Z Sales.”
1 Datassential, Like-Worthy Insights: Social Media Sensations, December 2024
2 Shepherd, Jack, “23 Essential YouTube Statistics You Need to Know in 2025,” Social Shepherd, January 1, 2025
3 Idomoo, “52 Surprising Statistics About Video Engagement,” 2025
4 Shopify, “47 Video Marketing Statistics for Ecommerce Business Owners,”February 7, 2025
5 Patel, Neil, “YouTube for E-Commerce: The Art of Selling Without Selling,” 2024
6 Inklebrager, Timothy, “Instacart ads on YouTube now clickable,” Supermarket News, June 17, 2024
7 Think With Google, “Global Audiences Get a Taste of Knorr With a Flavorful YouTube Ad,” 2016
8 Vrontas, Ted, “68 Personalization Statistics Every Digital Advertiser Must Keep in Mind,” Instapage, 2022
9 Easdon-Smith, Celeine, “40+ Short Form Video Statistics: The Jaw-Dropping Numbers You Must Know in 2024,” Firework, 2023
10 Graham, Megan, “Taco Bell and KFC’s Owner Says AI-Driven Marketing Is Boosting Purchases,” The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2024
11 Miller, Leslie, “AI & Creators: The Future of Tech and Creativity,” YouTube Blog, September 24, 2024
12 Shepherd, Jack, “28 Essential Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2025,” Social Shepherd, January 1, 2025
13 Spangler, Todd, “MrBeast Annual Earnings Hit Whopping $82 Million, More Than Double Any Other Digital Creator,” Variety, September 26, 2023
14 Gavitt, Allie, “YouTube as a search engine,” True Anthem, March 8, 2024