In the fast-paced world of internet marketing, it’s important for business owners to keep up to date with the latest research on emerging trends. At times, it may seem like more of the same, but it’s important to remember that the consumer behavior often changes slowly, and by paying attention to trends, marketers can get out in front of the next big wave. With that goal in mind, here are eight stats and trends that internet marketers need to be aware of.
Tablet usage may be growing, but smartphones still dominate mobile marketing. Nielsen reports that 70 percent of Americans have smartphones and the average American uses their phone for 38 hours per month!
According to a recent report from from comScore, app usage accounts for 52 percent of all digital engagement time. This doesn’t necessarily mean business owners should rush to have an app built. However, it does mean the company should be marketing their services on the popular apps that consumers are already using (e.g. Facebook).
The kinds of apps consumers use and the types of content they want to see can be discerned through recent trends. The Nielsen report mentioned above found that the average American watched 3 hours 47 minutes more of internet video, watched 26 more minutes of mobile video and spent 7 hours 4 minutes more using smartphone browsers and apps in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same time a year ago.
Even though older forms of print media still exist and serve a purpose, business owners can have just as much effect with internet marketing. ContentPLUS released data that showed blogs were 63 percent more likely to influence purchase decisions than magazines.
It’s important for business owners to know what their competitors are doing and the research shows they’re doing mobile. Globally, mobile advertising revenue rose 92 percent year over year in 2013, to $19.3 billion. Business owners and marketers need to get in on the mobile action.
The trend is similar for social media marketing. According to a recent study from Forrester Research, 62 percent of US retailers plan to spend more on Facebook interactive marketing efforts in 2014 than in 2013.
Business owners need to do more blogging. According to benchmark data from HubSpot, an average company will see a 45 percent growth in traffic when increasing total blog articles from 11-20 to 21-50 articles.
Video will become even more important for marketing products in the future. According to Cisco, IP video traffic will be 79 percent of all global consumer internet traffic in 2018, up from 66 percent in 2013.
The future is bright is for internet marketing. Mobile devices are becoming more prevalent, more powerful, and less expensive. It creates a lot of opportunities for business owners to reach their target audience through a wide array of marketing means. In the next few years, wearable technology will becoming a powerful force for marketing, but for now, mobile is still the next big thing. By advertising on mobile channels and creating mobile-friendly content, business owners can give their companies more reach than ever before.
For more statistics you can use, check out the other articles on this site. Here’s one with stats that can make you a better blogger and another with stats to help you with email marketing.