July 29, 2025
This One Platform Reaches 90% of $75K+ Earners (and You’re Not Using It)
If your content strategy doesn’t include YouTube Shorts, you’re already behind.
For years, marketers have thought about YouTube as a long-form video hub. It’s where the mini-documentaries, multi-part explainer series, and hour-long interviews live. If you weren’t producing 10-minute content with custom thumbnails and a hook at the 30-second mark, you didn’t consider YouTube part of your “real” social strategy.
That thinking is now completely outdated.
YouTube is no longer just a video platform. It’s a discovery engine, a content feed, and one of the most effective social tools for reaching a high-value audience. The kicker? Most marketers still aren’t using it that way.
90% of High-Income Earners Are Already Watching
If you’re looking to reach decision-makers, high earners, or simply get in front of an audience with spending power, you need to shift your focus. Because 90% of U.S. residents making over $75,000 use YouTube regularly.
Yes, ninety percent.
That’s not just a stat to glance over. That is the demographic every brand wants. And yet, a ton of brands aren’t prioritizing YouTube at all. Let alone Shorts.
Shorts Are Pulling 70 Billion Views—Every Day
YouTube Shorts is the platform’s vertical, short-form format—their version of TikTok or Reels. It’s also the most undervalued channel in the content game right now. Not because it lacks reach (it doesn’t). Not because the audience isn’t there (they are). But because most brands are still thinking of YouTube as “long-form only.”
Meanwhile, Shorts are racking up 70 billion views daily.
You read that right. Every single day, people around the world are watching 70 billion YouTube Shorts. And yet most brands are acting like Shorts are an afterthought—if they even post them at all.
The Algorithm Is Favoring Creators
This is a mistake. Because not only is the volume massive, but YouTube is also actively juicing the algorithm to push Shorts harder. According to Google’s Q1 2024 earnings call, the number of creators posting Shorts is up 50% year-over-year. The ones who are showing up consistently? They’re getting rewarded with more reach, faster growth, and better engagement than anywhere else.
Shorts also come with an average engagement rate of 5.91%—higher than TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Reels. The content is reaching more people and performing better. But most brands are missing it entirely.
You Already Have the Content, Just Post It
Here’s the kicker: you probably already have the content. If you’re posting vertical videos to TikTok or Instagram Reels, there is zero reason you shouldn’t be cross-posting that same content to YouTube Shorts. No need for a redesign. No need to re-edit. Just post it.
Even if your YouTube homepage looks empty. Even if your brand has never uploaded a long-form video. Even if you don’t consider YouTube a “priority platform” in your social mix. If you have content, post it. Shorts don’t care about your subscriber count or your legacy content. They care about engagement—and the algorithm is designed to reward it.
Viewers Can’t Even Tell What App They’re On Anymore
What’s wild is that people aren’t even realizing when they’re consuming Shorts. The short-form platforms have blended together. You scroll Reels, then hop to TikTok, then flip to Shorts—and it all feels seamless. In fact, most users wouldn’t even be able to tell you which platform they were on when they saw something unless they looked at the watermark.
That’s how similar the experience has become. Which makes it even more baffling that so many marketers still skip Shorts altogether.
YouTube Is Now a Social Platform, Not Just a Video One
YouTube is not just a place for long-form education or entertainment anymore. It’s a fully-fledged social channel—and one that happens to dominate among the most valuable audience segment: people with money.
U.S.-based users making $75K+ are on the platform daily. And it’s not just millennials and up. The 25–34 age bracket is the largest viewer demo on YouTube right now. These are the people with disposable income. They’re shopping. They’re watching. They’re engaging. And they’re spending.
So why aren’t more brands meeting them where they are?
Stop Overthinking It and Start Cross-Posting Now
It’s not a lack of content. It’s a mindset problem.
Marketers are overcomplicating YouTube. They’re stuck in the idea that “launching” a Shorts strategy means presenting a deck, securing buy-in, assigning budgets, and building a multi-month roadmap. In reality, all it takes is uploading what you’re already making.
You don’t need to reinvent your brand voice or redesign your thumbnails. You don’t even need to publish long-form videos. If all you do is post Shorts three times a week, you’re already ahead of most of your competitors.
The YouTube algorithm doesn’t require perfection—it rewards consistency.
Shorts Unlock Discoverability in a Way Other Platforms Can’t
The other major benefit here is discoverability. TikTok and Instagram are increasingly showing content to people who already follow you. But YouTube? YouTube is still built for finding new viewers. It’s not a closed loop. You can get in front of new audiences faster than on any other platform if the content hits.
And yes, content still matters. You still need to make something worth watching. But the friction to entry is lower than it’s ever been. Because your best-performing Reels and TikToks? They already translate to YouTube Shorts.
If You Want to Reach High Earners, Go Where They Actually Are
This isn’t about trends or experimenting with a “maybe.” It’s about meeting your audience where they already are.
So the next time your team is talking about short-form video, don’t stop at Instagram and TikTok. Ask the simple question: “Did we post this on Shorts?”
Because if you didn’t, you just missed out on the chance to reach 90% of high-earning Americans. And that’s not a channel most brands can afford to sleep on.