By Kimberlee Morrison on May. 20, 2015 – 3:45 PMComment

Plenty of publications have taken advantage of the digital medium to provide how-to guides for the internet. However, video is one of the best mediums this type of content.

It seems consumers understand this and according to a report from Google, more and more people are turning to YouTube to search for how-to videos. Indeed, some of the most popular channels on YouTube provide tutorials and how-tos on just about anything you can imagine.

According to the report:

[A]lthough we see these searches across age groups, it’s most pronounced among millennials. In fact, 67% of millennials agree that they can find a YouTube video on anything they want to learn.

Millennials aren’t the only drivers behind the increased demand for how-to content. In fact, the report notes that 91 percent of mobile users check YouTube for inspiration while working on a project. And brands are using this demand for how-to content to connect with consumers in useful and meaningful ways.

This is a key lesson for content marketers. While content marketers often talk about engaging customers with timely and relevant content, many miss the mark when it comes to developing content that truly serves the needs of the target audience.

The best content marketers will tell you that the way to drive sales is to nurture relationships with potential customers. And what better way to drive sales than by producing content that teaches people what they need to know?

According to the Google report, nearly three million Millennials have purchased a product after having watched a brand tutorial. Clearly, there’s a huge opportunity in feeding the need for “I want to” content, especially among the Millennial population.

The report offers these tips for brands to capitalize on the search for how-to content:

Identify what consumers want to know and how your brand fits in.
Answer questions with relevant content.
Respond to timely searches.
Use descriptive titles to make how-to videos easy to find.
Measure the impact of your content.
For more details, check out the full report.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.