Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report 2019Marketing professionals, rejoice! Mary Meeker presented her annual Internet Trends Report yesterday at Code Conference 2019. If you’re not sure why that’s a big deal, let me fill you in. Meeker’s report is pretty much the most in-depth, nuanced, and downright delicious assessment of the state of digital marketing and, well, the entirety of the Internet itself. Her report is one of the most thorough and conclusive reports of the year, making it a vital resource for marketers, techies, and numbers nerds alike.
I’m not a fan of listicles, so I’ll forgo the numerical ordering, but I wanted to share a few of the metrics that stuck out to me the most from the 333 page presentation. You can view the report in its entirety here, and I highly recommend you follow Recode on Vox for all things tech, marketing, and digital trends.
If you’re like most people, buying stuff from the Internet has replaced brick-and-mortars for at least a portion of your household expenditures. And the trend is still growing. E-commerce now represents 15% of all retail sales, growing at 12.4% annually. In comparison, traditional retail sales were up just 2% in a super strong economy.
Digital ad spend is growing as a direct result of increasing online sales. Digital ad spend was up by 22% in 2018, with the majority of this spending still taking place on Google and Facebook.
As marketers, it’s crucial we exist in the mediums where our customers spend their time. That medium is decidedly digital. In 2018, Americans were spending an average of 6.3 hours a day using digital media in some form. More than 25% of American adults admit to being “almost constantly online.”
If your brand’s digital footprint is minimal in 2019, customer acquisition could become more and more challenging in the years to come. In short, if you’re not already making investments in digital marketing, you’re already behind.
As a company, one of the most clear signs of success is when a customer recommends your product or service to someone else in the family or a friend. This recommendation represents the complete of a healthy sales cycle; from unaware of a company’s product, all the way to purchasing the product and becoming an advocate for the company. It’s a beautiful thing! In the digital age, this recommendation remains one of the best ways to get a new customer. In fact, 23% of respondents said they purchased a subscription box because it was recommended by someone. Meeker points out that getting current customers to recommend your product to others, as well as offering free trials, could be the most effective marketing tactics to attract new customers.
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