Key Takeaways From Mary Meeker’s 2014 Internet Trends Report
Mary Meeker, former Morgan Stanley analyst turned technology analyst for venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, has developed a notable franchise around her annual Internet trends reports. These reports are highly influential to the technology industry, as well as media buyers, strategists, and markets. She released her latest report for 2014 at the Code Conference last Wednesday in California with a few power key things to note about the scope of the Internet, online marketing, and consumer habits in 2015 and beyond.
Here are some key takeaways to note from the full report:
Mobile First
Overall, Meeker mentions that mobile will be involved more and more. Businesses will notice that Internet interactions will become mobile connections. The biggest “re-imagination” of the Internet will be mobile devices with sensors that enable users to share and gather a wide range of information.
Mobile Growth
Mobile usage now accounts for 25% of all web traffic (up from 14% one year ago) with Asia and Africa representing a big proportion. This is a result from developing countries having “leapfrogged” over the laptop and PC era straight into the smartphone era.
Big Data
Since sensor use has exploded thanks to handheld and mobile devices, this provides companies with more data than they could ever wish for and provides insight to the marketer willing to mine this data. The report mentioned that we only meaningfully analyze a tiny bit of data available (one percent). Tech startups are those that are leading the way in both expanding and analyzing data.
Selective Marketing
Social interaction online is moving from broadcasting a few key messages on a big site like Facebook to networking – frequent, smaller interactions with smaller groups of people. It’ll be imperative for marketers to begin targeting the latter to see true value. Discovering ways to reach audiences on apps such as WhatsApp and Snapchat will be the challenge presented to advertisers.
Visual Communications
Nothing new you haven’t heard before, but 2015 will see an even bigger visual communications on the web. Meeker notes that the number of photos that were uploaded and shared over five platform quadrupled between 2012 and 2013. She notes that the number of photos uploaded will rise to 600m per day in 2014 from 1.2 billion to 1.6 billion.
Video Sharing
Mobile video plays are rising (now accounts for 22%). Consumers now expect watching TV to also be on demand, on their terms.
TV and Mobile/Dual Screening
A whopping 84% of Americans are on their mobile devices while watching TV. We’re seeing more content, but paying less attention to commercials.
Unbundled Apps
Multipurpose apps are turning into single purpose apps that are specialized. Meeker used the example of Facebook, which has a main app, messenger, WhatsApp, Paper, Instagram, and Moves.
User Interface
Meeker argues that bad user interface will suffer or even dissipate as new ways to present industry applications emerges. This is true on the consumer front but isn’t with enterprise yet.
China’s Mobile Development
China will be the leader in mobile commerce development. The country’s new app WeChat, which has 400 million active users, allows you to bank and invest, read books and buy groceries.
Technology’s Declining Costs
It’s been predicted that computing, storage, bandwidth, and handsets will have a slight decrease in cost, but will still remain high. The average global smartphone price is $335 (down from $363).
Internet Advertising
Internet advertising grew 16% this year and mobile advertising grew by 47%. The average revenue per user remains stable on Google, Facebook, and Twitter.