It's that time of year again. No, not the "unofficial" start of summer, the end of school or the start of summer travel. It's the annual release of venture capitalist Mary Meeker's Internet Trends report, a wildly in-depth (294 pages) assessment of technology at all levels. It's worth scanning through the whole report, but to save you time, we've plucked out a few exciting stats and how they might apply to your business.
1. Mobile is driving more time online---and the chances of reaching your audience on this channel are greater than ever before. Even though smartphone shipments are slowing (in fact, this is the first year that they didn't grow), there is currently a $7 billion mobile ad opportunity because consumers are flocking to mobile so quickly. But they want their ads to be good---90 percent of users' time on mobile is spent in-app, but they find nearly half of mobile formats to be disruptive according to eMarketer. Consider formats like opt-in video, also known as rewarded video, which provide something like a game token or access to a new level in exchange for watching an ad.
2. Social media is driving more product discovery. People are finding more products on social media, and a lot of it is driven bt Facebook. These consumers are going a step further and actually buying these products. eCommerce referrals from social media have grown to 6 percent versus 2 percent three years ago. With social so connected to mobile and mobile so connected to video, there is a chance to run omnichannel campaigns that tell cohesive stories of your brands and products across channels that will reach consumers where they are.
3. Most sales are still happening in-store, but e-commerce is on the rise. Today, e-commerce is behind 13 percent of all retail sales, a growth of 5 percent from 10 years ago. This is a slow but steady gain, and opens up the door for app-based shopping and the ability to push offers to consumers while they are in your physical store. Also, 60 percent of all payment transactions are now conducted digitally, thanks to payment pain points decreasing and blockchain providing more secure ways to transact, resulting in a growing mobile app targeting opportunity.
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