5 Takeaways from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report 2019
Cover Image Source: AdAge
Mary Meeker released her annual Internet Trends Report last week, and, as always, we can all agree on one constant in this fractious world: technology and internet use is growing. In that sense, nothing was “groundbreaking,” but there were some definite recurring themes, like growing internet and device use, privacy, the gig economy and China’s general dominance in internet and retail. Also, Fortnite made it in. Below, we round up our Top 5 Takeaways from the 333 slide deck.
1. The Mobile Advertising Spend Gap is Now Closed
Everyone listened up: there was no glaring $7 billion mobile advertising spending opportunity in this year’s Report. In 2018, the percentage of advertising spend in desktop and mobile channels was even with the percentage of time consumers spent in those channels-18% for desktop and 33% for mobile.
Overall Internet ad spend was up 22% (only 1% higher than 2017). Platforms that gain ad share are doing so with better targeting, new creative, commerce and high relevance. (Sooooo, Native and Content Marketing?)
2. Multi-Channel Approach…With TV…Leads to Success
Ever wondered how often people look up stuff on their phone what they are watching? Meeker measured it. 88% used a second digital device while watching TV and 71% look up content related to the content they are watching. Combine that with these statistics from Cell Phone Deal which say that more demographics are increasingly using their phones to purchase and what you have may be a unique opportunity for marketing.
3. Data and Personalization Make for Happy Customers
Despite your friends groaning about being “followed” by ads, Meeker found that, in fact, users do prefer it. In a survey of retail customers, 91% said they prefer brands that provide personalized offers and recommendations; 83% said they are willing to passively share data for personalized experiences, and 74% said they are willing to actively share data for personalized experiences.
Read more: How To Drive Awareness and Sales: E-Commerce + Native Best Practices
4. Adults Are Spending an Unprecedented Amount of Time in Digital…Which is Great for Advertisers.
E-commerce contributed to 15 percent of all retail sales (slide 20), meaning advertisers have a captive audience ready to click ‘buy.’ It is important for e-commerce websites to keep this going by appealing to their audience, using digital marketing techniques as well as look into things such as Search Engine Optimization Services so they are able to produce the results needed for their business. They want to appeal to their customer base in the best way possible to hopefully bring in more foot traffic and have returning customers, that is why designing their website to suit their needs is an essential component of being noticed as well as being able to sell their products. They will also look at how they can best ship their products using shipment resources like AfterShip and others within a similar line, to help their customers keep tabs on their orders which can promote brand loyalty.
5. China Dominated
The number of internet and retail users in China continues to soar, despite restrictions in China. This is an interesting thing to see in the key internet statistics that are put out around this time of year While the government in China blocks Netflix, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, they’ve built their own versions like iflix, Baidu, WeChat, and the population consumes them. And seven Chinese companies in the top-30 spots for internet market cap leaders, namely Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan Dianping, JD.com, Baidu, NetEase and Xiaomi.
Of note…
Also noted was the importance of Free Trials as the leading way services gained subscribers. The “free trial” model helped companies like Spotify and Zoom account for 60% of paid subscribers. In a similar vein, the “freemium” model of offering free use with extra cost add-ons (as Fortnite does) has proven successful, especially in gaming (slide 102).
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