It’s the most wonderful tiiiime of the yeaaaar!
No, we didn’t just fall asleep on the keyboard and yes, we’re hijacking a beloved Christmas jingle because TechCrunch 2018 Internet Trends Report is here! Every year, this extensive list of what everyone is loving on the internet arrives and helps inspire marketers like us on how to best reach our customers with what they want to see and where they want to see it.
Below is a list of ten of our favorite trends from this year’s list. We thought we would save you the time of reading the 294 page report!
- Mobile ads: People are shifting their time to mobile faster than ad dollars are following, creating a $7 billion mobile ad opportunity. As of 2018, half the world’s population will be on the internet. Crazy. In addition, U.S adults are spending more time online and most of it is on mobile. Of course this directly affects mobile usage, hence more mobile ads.
- Ecommerce vs Brick & Mortar: Ecommerce growth quickens, as now 13% of all retail purchases happen online and parcel shipments are rising swiftly, signaling big opportunities for new shopping apps. We were actually surprised this percentage wasn’t higher, considering we feel like we see Amazon everywhere. Amazon will continue to grow and you’ll see huge online pushes from other large retailers to gain online shoppers, like Target and Walmart.
- Subscription services: They’re seeing massive adoption, with Netflix up 25%, The New York Times up 43%, and Spotify up 48% year-over-year in 2017. It’s been proven that a free tier accelerates conversion rates. The biggest issue most users are running into is music subscriptions. You are likely wondering, “Is it worth switching to a subscription service like Spotify or Apple Music?”…Well it’s time to make the jump if you haven’t already. Most services are moving in this direction, so the subscription decision will basically be made for you.
- Pervasive apps: Messaging (ex. Telegram, WeChat), Commerce (ex. Square), Media (ex. Spotify). These apps interact with where the users are and what they regularly do, adapting to their needs and providing an increasingly personalized experience. In today’s world of technological convenience, these types of apps are not only highly used but also expected by most mobile users.
- Local offline connections driven by online networks – A great example of this trend is Nextdoor, which now has over 10 million registered users. The idea behind it? Giving neighbors a place to communicate about what’s going on in their neck of the woods and grow their community with each other. In an age where “social media friends” are not much more than a profile pic and a followers tally mark, this type of online/offline connection hybrid is refreshing!
- Data gathering can be an important driver of customer satisfaction. Personalization through queries drives engagement and customer satisfaction. We know that recent events with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica have made “data gathering” a new curse word, but there is a way to do this ethically and use what you learn to benefit you and your customers. How would your marketing improve if you knew exactly what your customers wanted to hear?
- Consumers need clear benefits before sharing personal data. This is a perfect follow-up to the previous trend! If you want your customers to give, you need to be prepared to give, too. Make it crystal clear what you will be using your customer’s personal data for and make sure it’s something that is at least somewhat beneficial to them.
- Big focus on artificial intelligence. There are some amazing tools coming out that will bring this into the business world sooner the you think. We are actually playing with some currently that can offer some fun and unique creative ideas for our clients, so let us know if you’re curious!
- Importance of ease of use (good design). There’s a reason productivity apps and services like Dropbox and Slack are so popular. Why make more work for yourself with something that’s supposed to make your life easier? No one wants that. Do you have a product or service that has been designed to make lives easier? Make it known!
- Daily usage: Revenue gains for services like Facebook are tightly coupled with daily user growth, showing how profitable it is to become a regular habit. These gains make it that much more important for you to understand exactly where your customers are, so you know exactly where your messaging needs to be.
Did these trends get the hamster wheel spinning in your head? We’d love to brainstorm with you! Reach out to the Marbury team today at group@marburycreativegroup.com and let’s see which trends we can put to work for you.
