As a child television was for me, 1 then 2 channels and I can even remember black and white programmes. We did not have computers at all, they were introduced into my school in 1978. We most certainly did not have mobile phones. Hold on, it’s not that long ago, I am only 46. The speed of change is startling and difficult to stay ahead of.
Future in Focus white paper
Today I was reading a white paper from comScore called US Digital, Future in Focus 2012 and the stats are amazing. They cover all aspects of online behaviour, some of which I have listed below:
- Social
- Portals
- Video
- Mobile
- e-Commerce
Multi-Device Digital Omnivore
This is a new term for me but it describes the fact that people are now viewing online through smart phones, tablets, note books, lap-tops and in some cases simultaneously. 8% of all online viewing was via mobile in the US last year. The “Multi-Device Digital Omnivore” is going to drive that figure higher.
# Social
Facebook is still the number one, most viewed Social Platform with Twitter now second, this is as a result of Twitters hook-up with Apple’s iPhone. Facebook’s membership is still growing but the more interesting stats include:
- the average time people engage is up by 32%,
- and Facebook now accounts for 15% of all views online.
Google is the most used Portal but again this is on the back of it’s purchase of YouTube, video is helping to cover the problems Portals are having. Surprisingly Google’s figure is only at 10.80% of all online views.
The traditional portals are the big losers, Yahoo, MSN and AOl all losing out to the shift to Social via Mobile.
The two big winners in Social are Pinterest and Tumblr, both registered huge growth during 2011, with Pinterest not registering at all in July of the year.
Related: How Pinterest Can Increase Your Website Traffic
# Long-form Video Content
Over 100 million Americans viewed online video in 2011 up 43% on 2010, these videos are also getting longer.
- With the average viewing up 1 minute from 5 to 6 minutes.
- This may not sound a lot but is largely down to Netflicks and Hulu’s on demand service for movies and TV series.
- The number of streams viewed also jumped dramatically up 44%.
Marketers are again being challenged to come up with the correct way to leverage all the online traffic.
Related: Simple tips to produce online video
# Mobile
The Omnivores are actually surfing during the adverts on TV, the switch to mobile is allowing this behaviour to flourish. As the dumb phones are replaced over the coming years the viewing figures from smart phones is going to drive this trend.
There are close to 4.8 billion dumb phones and 1.2 billion smart phones world wide
- the majority of dumb phones are going to be replaced shortly with smart phones.
- In lower socioeconomic countries the smart phone may represent the only “computer” that people are going to own.
What will they use it for? To buy goods via the net, engage with Social Platforms and in a world where pictures paint a thousand words, video will boom.
Related: Five Key Elements Of A Successful Mobile Marketing Campaign
# e-Commerce
Our retailers have huge competition from the web but all we ever hear about is rent, rates, wages and recession, recession and recession. Well, WAKE-UP it’s more to do with the e-commerce on the web.
- Cyber Monday 28th Nov last year in the US, citizens spent $1.251 billion
- and another 10 days around the holiday period broke the $1 billion barrier online.
We are still waiting for the figures here in Ireland but the anecdotal evidence is that the figures were up. Some delivery companies had difficulty making all their deliveries pre-Christmas. Santa was late in some cases.
Related: Retailers: How To Sell Online In 60 Seconds
Conclusion
The “Multi-Device Digital Omnivores” are going to continue the trends set over the last couple of years. As the mobile market grows so will the online viewing habits of the world population. What ever about TV and traditional media, e-commerce will grow into the future. If the offline retailers do not grasp this quickly they are dead.
The retail company Game closed it’s Irish retail outlets this week, more will follow. Angela Ahrendts the CEO of Burberry believes that the ROI of online Social Business is, any company that does not embrace the changes will not exist in 5 years.
Why has Game closed it doors, online………
Thanks to comScore for the white paper it is enlightening and required reading for all business with or without an online presences. It may be the US market but it follows here in Ireland and the UK.
Image: “Mobile phone in the hand/Shutterstock“
