What The Latest Internet Trends Mean For Your Business

Jun 15, 2016

What The Latest Internet Trends Mean For Your Business

by Jun 15, 2016

In the world of Internet and venture capitalism, few names magnetize respect the way that Mary Meeker’s does.

Meeker joined the prestigious venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, Byers (KPCB) around Christmas of 2010, where she works today.

She began her career in financial circles in the 1980s, but pivoted to marketing soothsayer in the mid-1990s where she helped pen the defining books on a burgeoning media called “the internet” – The Internet Report, The Internet Advertising Report, and The Internet Retailing Report.

She has led KPBC’s investment teams in shepherding companies you and I interact with everyday, from Facebook and Groupon to Houzz and LegalZoom.

She knows her stuff.

Fortunately, she’s generous about sharing her knowledge. In fact, every year she publishes an annual Internet Trends Report (it averages about 200 PowerPoint slides… this year’s is 213).

The quality and depth of the report is unquestioned, largely because the Internet Trends Report is within the context of global economic and sociological trends. Meaning, it’s not just about what’s hot on Facebook. The report covers how people are changing, and how those changes drive Internet usage.

The 2016 report reveals a bunch of good stuff to know for anyone trying to share the messages of their business with their target audience.

Here are a few bits of information from the report that are worth remembering:

  • Globally, the birth rate has declined while life expectancy has risen; from a marketing perspective, this means older generations are going to matter more for marketers.
  • However, Millennials are 27 percent of the U.S. population right now, which means they are the largest generation – their spending power will increase in the next 10-20 years, and they favor experiences over “things.”
  • Digital advertising is still a growing means of marketing (because, in part, that’s where the people are). In fact, mobile advertising grew 66 percent since last year, and desktop advertising is still growing, too, up five percent from last year.
  • According to a recent audience penetration study, Facebook has nearly 100 percent penetration in the adults 18-34 market – wow.

If you remember one trend from the report, this is it – improving your efforts and investments in mobile marketing is a good idea.

Keep in mind, however, that mobile is most impactful for your business if you are already effective in reaching your audience via traditional marketing and other digital means like search and social.

Marketing creates the most success when you are reaching your audience in multiple ways. Mobile is only the most recent. It’s promising, but it can’t be isolated in your strategy. No marketing basket is big enough for all of the eggs.

Now, a word of caution on trends.

These trending reports are often useful. But, if you’re looking for something to apply tomorrow in your business, a trending report is not what you want. I’ll cover items that are more immediately actionable next week.

For now, use these trends to inform your strategic planning. It’s always wise to have an eye on the future, and it’s up to you how quickly this information impacts your business.

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