The Internet Trends 2017 report from Mary Meeker, a venture capitalist and partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is one of the most anticipated and comprehensive documents in the technology and media sectors. Over 350 pages long, the report delves into online global internet, online advertising, media and technology trends. It also contains sections on digital use in China, India and healthcare and interactive gaming.
Those in the online technology and media industries may wish to peruse the entire report. Meeker’s presentation at the Code Conference can be viewed here. For those wishing to save time, here are some main findings relevant to digital marketing with analysis on what they mean.
Growth in internet use is slowing. Global internet usage has increased to 46%, up from 42%. Growth of global internet usage is slowing and has reached a plateau. However, growth opportunities remain. India saw a 28% jump in internet users last year. That’s only 27 percent online penetration, which means there’s plenty of room for internet use to grow.
The takeaway: Large technology companies may increasingly look overseas for growth. Facebook’s internet.org initiative hopes to bring internet connections to the two-thirds of the world that lacks online access.
Global smartphone growth is slowing. Smartphone shipments grew 3 percent year- over- year, compared to 10% in 2015 and 28% in 2014. Mobile usage continues to climb, but people are not abandoning desktops and laptops. Time spent on mobile devices per adult, per day increased from 2.8 to 3.1 hours. Time spent using desktops and laptops remained steady at 2.2 hours.
The takeaway: Despite the hoopla over exploding mobile usage, prudent marketers will be cautious about pursuing mobile users at the expense of desktop and laptop customers.
Social media an improve customer service. When asked what two things can improve customer service, 60 percent of respondents said “easier access to online support channels” and 53 percent chose “faster agent response times.” In addition, 82% of customers said they stopped doing business with a company last year after a bad experience compared to 76% in 2014.
The takeaway: Brands that address customers’ needs though social media can retain customers and safeguard their reputations.
The right social media tactics work exceptionally well. Effective user-generated content can generate 6.9x higher engagement than brand-generated content on Facebook. Companies that reposted user-generated content the most on Instagram include Qatar Airlines, Red Bull and BMW. Brands can drastically boost reach of that content by working with influencers and developing strong communities. Meeker cites Chewy.com, Glossier, and UNTUCKit as some examples of companies winning outsized gains.
The takeaway: Case studies show how social media marketing can help generate large increases in customers and revenue. Achieving that kind of success requires properly managing a community and monitoring social media to locate the best influencers and user-generated content.
Measurement challenges. Advertisers like engagement metrics but many find measuring ROI challenging. Asked for the top metrics, over half named engagement. Less than a quarter named conversion and revenue, and relatively few picked amplification and brand awareness. Many cited measuring ROI, securing budgets and resources, and tying social campaigns to business goals.
The takeaway: Measuring the effectiveness of advertising and social media campaigns remains a challenge. Networks are introducing new features to help brands track the effectiveness of both their ads and organic posts. Pinterest now reports metric directly on Pins, and Facebook’s says its update of the Conversion Lift measurement better connects online ads and offline actions.
Bottom Line: Marketers can find nuggets of valuable information in the Internet Trends 2017 report. A synopsis and an analysis of some key findings only scratches the surface of the treasure trove of data in the Meeker report to help technology and communications professionals make better business decisions.
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William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.