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4 Things We Want to Know After Reading Mary Meeker's 2018 Internet Trends Report

Each year, marketers, tech writers, and overall online enthusiasts await the release of the 2018 Internet Trends Report: an annual presentation by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker covering the year's most pivotal statistics and trends in the online realm.

The report, while citing key data points -- growth in certain areas of internet use, online shopping trends, and indicators of the future of the workplace -- is exhaustively comprehensive. Meeker leaves no stone unturned, identifying numerous pivotal areas where online user behavior is changing, and where investors, marketers, and others should take note.

The full presentation -- which took place earlier this week at the 2018 annual Code Conference -- can be viewed here.

And even though Meeker's report covers an impressive amount of ground, the information and insights it contains often ends up raising additional questions. If the current is true of X, then what does the future look like for Y?

Here are a few key questions we have about the 2018 Internet Trends Report -- and what the future of tech looks like.

4 Questions We Have About Mary Meeker's 2018 Internet Trends Report

1. The time internet users spend online has increased, but when it comes to the number of new internet users, growth has significantly slowed. Does the future of growth reside in ways for people to connect, rather than getting more people online?

According to Meeker's report, 2017 saw 3.6 internet users globally: a total that amounts to more than half of the world’s population.

"When markets reach [the] mainstream," she writes, "new growth gets harder to find -- evinced by 0% new smartphone unit shipment growth in 2017."

In other words, with the internet becoming more accessible to more people, growth among new users slows. However, among those who are online, the time spent there has increased.

Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

“It seems like we’ve reached a point where more internet users would require a greater investment in infrastructure, especially in underserved or underdeveloped regions,” says HubSpot Social Media Editor Henry Franco.

It's what HubSpot Head of SEO Victor Pan says is called the "last mile problem": a term often used when discussing supply chain or transportation to describe the final leg in the process of delivering a good or service to end consumers. That "last mile," as the saying goes, is typically the least efficient step and said by some to be the most expensive part of the delivery process.

It applies to global internet access, Pan simply says, "because getting the internet to the last part of that population is really expensive," largely because of its location in areas that are what he describes as "far and sparse."

Where any product is available in a limited capacity, costs increase. "The remaining areas of the world without internet access are likely less able to afford it," Pan explains. "In that case, you see the overall growth of internet users slowing down."

What we'll end up seeing, Franco predicts, "is a greater investment in more ways to connect existing users, rather than getting new users online."

But even so, focusing innovation on new ways to connect people, rather than getting more of the population connected in the first place, is not without drawbacks, he says. "That could exacerbate skill, knowledge, and privilege gaps that already exist as a result."

2. If the answer to Question 1 is "yes," could this trend be a “golden ticket” for emerging technology like virtual reality, that has struggled to get a strong foothold in consumer and business markets alike? 

"Let's assume the answer is 'yes,'" Pan says. "The golden ticket isn't actually virtual reality ... but rather, a decreased cost for internet access as competition and alternatives increase."

So the future of growth, then, could be less about the new ways the large volume of people who are already online will start to connect (or the emerging technologies that will support them) -- and more about better options for access.

It brings up the question of technology like 5G, which, while considered an emerging technology, is more concerned with better connectivity options than the more niche tools -- see: VR -- that are sometimes "added benefits" of being online.  

At this year's Mobile World Congress, for instance, 5G dominated many of the discussions and presentations, with multiple mobile device manufacturers and wireless providers appearing to battle to be the top provider of this new type of connectivity. The "G" stands for generation, in that this is the fifth generation of this type of connectivity. Currently, 4G powers cellular connectivity like LTE. 

Its goal, fittingly, is to support the rising number of mobile internet users, by providing better speed, handling more data, greater responsiveness, and connectivity to smart devices.

Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

And while developing new technology to improve the experience of a growing mobile-first base is crucial, Pan wonders if even that's moving too far ahead of the "last mile" too quickly.

"Most of the people reading this report, I imagine, are in first world countries and take 4G granted," he says. "Most of the world connects to a 3G connection -- which may lead to poor mobile video streaming experiences, because it's cost-prohibitive. Costs need to come down for user behavior to change."

3. Meeker speaks to the “privacy paradox”: that as innovation becomes a broader channel for growth, it involves a higher degree of personalization that can inevitably require personal user data. Can there be innovation with regulation?

Data privacy has been a widely-discussed and contested topic as of late, ranging from revelations of personal Facebook data misuse by third parties, to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force last month.

Often, this personal data is used for a purpose that the name suggests: a personalized experience. Facebook, the company's executives have long used as a defense, leverages data and information provided by users to personalize the ads and other content they see in the News Feed, for example.

But as the subject of data privacy becomes more front-and-center, especially amid these current events, many consumers are debating the value of privacy over a personalized experience. Meeker calls this the "privacy paradox."

"Many usability improvements are based on data - collected during the taps/clicks/movements of mobile device users," writes Meeker. "This creates a privacy paradox... Internet Companies continue to make low-priced services better, in part, from user data. Internet Users continue to increase time spent on Internet services based on perceived value. Regulators want to ensure user data is not used ‘improperly.’"

Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

The possibility of regulating personal data (and the Big Tech companies that are so often in possession of it) within the U.S. has also been a frequent topic of discussion this year, regardless of how likely it actually is. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress in two days of hours-long hearings in April, as well as appearing before European Parliament in May. 

But regardless of what these appearances are worth, they do raise the question: Can there be innovation with regulation?

"Meeker's slides tell a compelling story about the lack of general adaptability of U.S. laws towards tech," says Franco. "Our data laws are more than 43 years out of date -- especially as compared to Japan, Korea, and the EU, which have all gotten updates in the last year or so."

Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Pan, for his part, says that there's a global struggle to find a balance of the two. 

"There two ends of the spectrum," he explains. "One, the government has a hand in all that private data -- like China, or even the U.S. with the PRISM program," the latter being the collection of online communication activity by the National Security Agency, which made headlines when whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked information on the program and had to flee the country.

On the other end of the spectrum, Pan says, there are regions like the European Union, "where data privacy is heavily regulated to protect consumers."

So, is there a balance -- a middle ground along this spectrum -- in the future?

"I think there will be innovation there," says Pan. "I can imagine web hosting companies collect, handle, and keep personally identifiable information secure and data privacy compliant to their respective countries -- for a price."

The idea of "data protection for a price" is not new,  nor is it tremendously popular, according to our research. When we surveyed a panel of 893 consumers -- almost evenly divided among the U.S., UK, and Canada -- to find out how many would pay for an ad-free version of Facebook, 64% said "no."

But knowing how this will impact innovation and the industry at-large, Franco explains, would require a side-by-side comparison of what these varying levels of regulation look like -- especially in the months following GDPR coming into force.

"That would make a really interesting case study," he says, "on the impact on innovation of self-regulation, versus government regulation of tech companies."

4. What, if any, is the psychological impact of the growing amount of time we spend online?

Finally, we revisit the trend of those who are already online spending more time there. According to Meeker's report, the average number of daily hours with digital media (among online adults) increased 4% in 2017.

The debate over disconnecting is also not new. As we spend more time on our devices, there's even a market for getting away from them, with some organizations advertising, essentially, digital detoxes for hire.

This growing amount of time online is particularly true for of time spent on social media, according to the report, with the average global daily minutes spent on such networks increased by 50% between 2012 and 2017 -- for users ranging as young as 16, and as old as 64.

Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

It begs the question: What is the psychological impact of this behavior?

"A lot of teens who come to me for therapy often cite social media as a source of stress," says Laurie Paul, PhD, a psychologist in the Washington, D.C. area. "Many of them talk about inter-personal conflicts with peers that are started or intensified by posts on social media."

This phenomenon, Dr. Paul explains, has real-life consequences. "I’ve had many teens talk to me about experiencing bullying from peers on social media and that this causes a lot of anxiety," she says. "Skipping school, changing friend groups, entire school years ruined -- because of being a target of bullying on social media."

It's not limited to teens, either. When I asked Dr. Paul if she's observed similar effects among adults, the answer was, "Yes."

"I’ve also seen conflicts among young adults that started on social media," she elaborates. "For example, around Father’s Day, I had several clients who were upset, because one of their siblings posted about how wonderful their father was, but in actuality, the father abandoned the family or was abusive."

Again, this online (specifically, social media) behavior had real-life implications. "These posts led to resentment, feeling invalidated, and sparked conflict with the sibling who made the post," Dr. Paul explains. "Sometimes, it sparked broader conflict and taking sides among several members of the family."

So with this concentrated amount of time spent on social media being a fairly recent phenomenon -- with the most explosive growth, it seems, having taken place over a period of only five years -- what are the possible long-term impacts?

"I can only hypothesize. I teach college classes, too, in addition to my clinical practice, and I’ve observed short attention spans," says Dr. Paul. "I wonder if this is related to students spending a lot of time online and being able to rapidly click until they find something interesting."

Until next year's report -- we'll continue to observe the gradual impact of these trends, and how they evolve.

Featured image attribution: By Jasveer10 [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons / Cropped from original

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Site Search: The Secret to Doubling Your Chances of On-Site Conversion

You’ve spent weeks crafting your website, and it looks great.

At a glance, visitors can see exactly what your company sells, and what you stand for. You have a navigation at the top of the page that brings users to your pricing page, an ‘About Us’ page, and a blog. There are even clear CTAs that encourage visitors to get in touch with your sales team. You feel confident that this website is going to bring in a ton of new leads for your company.

But what happens when someone lands on your site with a very specific question about your product or service?

They click a few links in your navigation, but can’t find an answer. Frustrated, they go back to Google, land on your competitor’s site and find exactly what they are looking for.

That’s a big missed opportunity for your sales team to convert a site visitor into a customer. This visitor had a specific question they were looking to answer when they landed on your site, and the navigation you were previously so confident in didn’t get them an answer quickly enough.

That’s where site search comes in. If Google indexes all the content on the internet and makes it quick and easy to find, site search will do the same for your specific website, making it easy for your visitors to find an exact answer to their question. It tailors their experience on your website in a way that isn’t possible through just your navigation.

Why should you care about site search?

According to WebInc, visitors who use site search are 216% more likely to convert into paying customers than regular visitors. This is because the behavior of someone using site search is largely different from someone just clicking around your navigation.

People using site search have a specific goal in mind. They’ve already gathered all the information they need to make a decision, and they’re simply trying to find a specific product or service on your site.

This is especially true for ecommerce companies. Offering them a simple way to search through your site’s content will go a long way in converting visitors into customers.

Compare this with people who simply click through your navigation. These visitors are simply collecting information, and weighing their options. Maybe they’ll click the link to your blog and peruse a few articles, instead of looking for an exact blog post that answers a specific question.

Search is an integral part of any well-built site, but it has largely flown under the radar for the past couple of years due to Google’s dominance over the space. Google’s own Site Search product made it easy to quickly implement a powerful search engine on your site.

Then in 2017, Google announced that they would be deprecating their Site Search product, and would only offer the free version of the product. Google’s free Site Search offering comes with Google Branding, it takes visitors away from your site, and it's ad-supported -- meaning a competitor’s ad could potentially appear higher than your own organic results. That's obviously not ideal.

Source: Search Engine Land

For businesses looking to scale, Google’s Free CSE simply won’t cut it. A number of enterprise search solutions, such as Swiftype and Algolia seized the moment and are publishing instructions on how to transition from Google Site Search to their solution. Here at HubSpot, we’ve created our own site search solution that will auto-index all of your content as soon as you press publish.

So why has Google deprecating their site search solution created such a frenzy to find a replacement?

Apart from assisting site visitors that are sales-ready, analyzing site search data can go a long way in improving your overall visitor experience, and also help your service, marketing, and web teams better serve your customers.

Ask anyone who has ever worked in customer support, and they’ll tell you that a large portion of their time is spent simply directing people to already documented solutions in a knowledge article or community forum.

This is not only time consuming for your support reps, but its not a great experience for your customers either. According to the Harvard Business Review, 81% of customers try to find a solution themselves before they reach out to a support line. Implementing site search gives your customers the opportunity to solve for themselves.

This will also free up your support team to focus on more mission critical tasks, and can save your service organization a lot of money over time. Companies like Survey Monkey are seeing great results by implementing site search in their help centers. Out of all the people who visit their help center, 96% are able to solve their problem without having to directly contact support.

Your marketing team can gain a lot of insight on your target audience by analyzing exactly what your customers are searching for on your site. Running a search-log analysis not only gives you insight into what your site visitors are trying to find, but it also lets you know how frequently they are searching for something, and what specific language they use to describe the problem they are having, or product or service they’re looking for.

This could inform your marketing team’s decision to release a series of blog posts to address specific questions your visitors have. Maybe you already have that content created, and you simply need to promote it on social, or create an ad campaign to target specific visitors with that content. Search-logs give your marketing team a unique opportunity to tap into the thought process of your site visitors.

Finally, your web team could use search analytics to inform how they structure the site. Letting people search for those niche questions they have is great, but what if they’re commonly searching for your blog, or your pricing page? If these resources used by most site visitors are frequently showing up as searched for terms, you might want to consider featuring them more prominently on your home page or main navigation.

Do you have site search implemented on your site yet? Give it a try and see how quickly adding search to your main navigation can help your sales, service, marketing, and web teams.

 

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What is Marketing? FAQ

Dictionary.com defines marketing as, “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.”

If you work in a marketing role like I do, it’s probably difficult for you to define marketing even though you see and use it every day -- the term marketing is a bit all-encompassing and variable for a straightforward definition.

This definition feels unhelpful.

The selling part, for instance, overlaps a little too snuggly with a “what is sales” definition, and the word advertising makes me think of Mad Men brainstorming sessions.

But upon digging deeper, I began seeing that actually, marketing does overlap heavily with advertising and sales. Marketing is present in all stages of the business, beginning to end.

At first, I wondered why marketing was a necessary component during product development, or a sales pitch, or retail distribution. But it makes sense when you think about it -- marketers have the firmest finger on the pulse of your consumer persona. They research and analyze your consumers all the time, conducting focus groups, sending out surveys, studying online shopping habits, and asking one underlying question: “Where, when, and how does our consumer want to communicate with our business?”

What is Marketing?

Marketing is the process of getting consumers interested in your company’s product or service. This happens through market research, analysis, and a solid understanding of your ideal consumer’s wants and needs. Marketing pertains to all aspects of a business, including product development, distribution methods, sales, and advertising.

Marketers are crucial for fine-tuning how a business sells a product to consumers to optimize success.

What’s the Difference Between Advertising and Marketing?

Essentially, if marketing is a wheel, advertising is one spoke of that wheel.

Marketing entails product development, market research, product distribution, sales strategy, public relations, and customer support. Marketing is necessary in all stages of a business’s selling journey.

On the other hand, advertising is just one component of marketing. It’s a paid strategic effort to spread awareness of a product or service, but it’s not the only method used by marketers to sell a product.

The 4 Ps of Marketing

In the 1960’s, E Jerome McCarthy came up with the 4 Ps of marketing: product, price, place, promotion.

Essentially, these 4 Ps explain how marketing interacts with each stage of the business.

Product 

Let’s say you come up with an idea for a product you want your business to sell. What’s next? You probably won’t be successful if you just start selling it.

Instead, you need your marketing team to do market research and answer some critical questions: Who’s your target audience? Is there market fit for this product? What messaging will increase product sales, and on which platforms? How should your product developers modify the product to increase likelihood of success? What do focus groups think of the product, and what questions or hestitations do they have?

Marketers use the answers to these questions to help businesses understand the demand for the product and increase product quality by mentioning concerns stemming from focus group or survey participants.

Price 

Your marketing team will check out competitors’ product prices, or use focus groups and surveys, to estimate how much your ideal customer is willing to pay. Price it too high, and you’ll lose out on a solid customer base. Price it too low, and you might lose more money than you gain. Fortunately, marketers can use industry research and consumer analysis to gauge a good price range.

Place 

It’s critical that your marketing department uses their understanding and analysis of your business’s consumers to offer suggestions for how and where to sell your product. Perhaps they believe an ecommerce site works better than a retail location, or vice versa. Or, maybe they can offer insights into which locations would be most viable to sell your product, either nationally and internationally.

Promotion

This P is likely the one you expected from the get-go: promotion entails any online or print advertisement, event, or discount your marketing team creates to increase awareness and interest in your product, and, ultimately, lead to more sales. During this stage, you’ll likely see methods like public relations campaigns, advertisements, or social media promotions.

Hopefully, our definition and the four Ps help you understand marketing’s purpose and how to define it. Marketing intersects with all areas of a business, so it’s important you understand how to use marketing to increase your business’s efficiency and success.

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