When your ad sales representative says "advertise with us to reach new users", they're bullshitting you.
On average, people use almost 7 social media platforms per month.
Forget about unique reach.
Reality is, you could reach almost everyone in your target audience by advertising solely on YouTube.
But would you?
Probably not, and here's why:
People use different platforms in different ways and at different moments.
The very same person might watch a long form video on YouTube and an hour later scroll on TikTok.
On YouTube, they are more focused and possibly more sensitive to your expensive branding ad.
On TikTok, they are more impulsive and possibly click on a product ad and purchase straight after.
In the age of AI, wide reach across platforms is essential.
But it's not about "unique reach".
It's about reaching the same users in different stages of their journeys.
