Now in its 20th year, Mary Meeker’s Internet Report continues to be a virtual gold mine of actionable intelligence for digital marketers.
As a VC and former Wall Street analyst, Meeker has become a leading authority on consumer research and global economic patterns. Her yearly report offers the kind of insight that makes global campaigns successful, and puts ad agencies in the position to generate new business opportunities with multi-national corporations.
With that, here are the key takeaways for digital marketers from Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Report.
There are currently 2.8B internet users around the world, accounting for 39% of the population.
Takeaway: If you work with any globally relevant companies, especially those with key demographics in Asia, be sure that you are reaching high-usage audiences with digital marketing efforts. It’s an added bonus if you build an effective campaign that drives results and use it as sales collateral to bring in leads from other global brands.
Internet users have more control over content – and content discovery channels – than ever before.
Takeaway: To really move the needle with content marketing, your content promotion and social media strategies have to be on point if you are going to attract and engage different audience segments. Also, don’t be afraid to continuously showcase high performing evergreen content.
Advertising dollars are being used to create interactive experiences on social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp, LINE and Snapchat.
Takeaway: Marketers who capitalize on this now will have an advantage in the U.S. market. This kind of forward-thinking strategy is beneficial for client retention, pitching new clients and attracting new business. We recommend focusing on messaging apps since six of the top 10 most used apps fell in this category.
User-generated content and content aggregation platforms continue to grow in popularity.
Takeaway: Strategies that consistently focus on user-generated content through reviews and social media channels will increase the effectiveness of brand awareness efforts and build authority/trust with target audiences.
Visual content is the most effective way to reach millennials, especially when it is optimized for mobile usage.
Takeaway: As millennials continue to shape new advertising trends, effective marketing strategies will be defined by their adaptability and agility.
If your agency can successfully integrate even just one of the strategies mentioned above, it will serve you well. Your clients will see dramatic results. And better yet, you will have a guaranteed value proposition with supporting material to use for pitching, prospecting and lead generation.