Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends report is out! This is one of those annual reports I get excited to read through end to end, even though it’s quite long. There are typically a half dozen or more facts and findings that directly relate to the work I do or the work our customers do. Here are a few that caught my attention this year:
- There are 3.6 billion internet users, representing 46% penetration. Year-over-year growth is flat, but what made me pause this year at this metric is how closely it matches another stat I’ve had my eye on lately: the number of football fans worldwide. According to Total Sportek, these fans amount to more than 4 billion worldwide. These fans leverage the internet to check in on their games – from virtually anywhere. 86% say they check on a game at their desk at work, more than half (58%) check while in the bathroom, and a surprising 9% check at church!
- Adults in the US are consuming 5.6 hours of digital engagement per day, with mobile representing more than half (3.1 hours), representing 4% growth year over year. This highlights how important it is for content providers to ensure their content is optimized for mobile experiences.
Source: Kleiner Perkins Internet Trends 2017 Report
- The rate that information is being created is simply staggering: 12 zetabytes of information were created in 2015 – and this is projected to grow to 163 ZB by 2025! With more than 12x information being created, how users search for, discover, and consume content is going to have to continue to evolve as well.
And finally, social media continues to transform more and more of our lives and the way we do business. This year’s report noted that “effective UGC generates 6.9x higher engagement than brand content.” It specifically relates to content on Facebook, but we’ve seen at Crowdynews as well that UGC incorporated on to a brand’s site can increase engagement and even improve conversion.
Read about our A/B test with TUI that found exactly that.
Until next year, happy browsing!