Mary Meeker keeps PPT slides alive! The highly anticipated internet trends report was released this week. Given the depth of her knowledge and report, this Marketing in the Digital Age edition is solely dedicated to its findings.
Highlights:
- The smartphone penetration rate has slowed. (This comes as no surprise to me given the penetration rate of cell phones globally. Literally, I was in Petra, Jordan, with kiosk vendors ready to sell me items using Square or its equivalent from their smartphones.)
- Messaging services (like WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook Messenger) are growing exponentially. (I sometimes forget even that I can call a person to make plans instead of trading confusing messages over messaging platforms.)
- New content types are emerging: Twitch (where you watch people play video games) has increased hours viewed YOY by millions
- Social media is driving product discovery. Facebook 78%, Instagram 59%, Pinterest 59%, Twitter 34%, Snap 22%.
- Ad costs are increasing faster than reach on Facebook (because of the volume of advertisers on the platform, you are paying more to reach less people)
- Commerce driver went from utility to personalization of a curated product discovery
- Many are moving from buying to subscribing (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)
- Many Americans view YouTube before purchasing products
- Freelance workforce is growing 3x faster than total workforce (I am available for freelance projects 😉)
- There are 33M global lifelong learners, increasing YOY. (I am elated to see this. Continual education is important and not often emphasized in North American culture.)
- 56% of the most valued companies were founded by 1st or 2nd generation companies (Remember that when voting on immigration policies)
