Every year for the last several years, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers has presented comprehensive reports on the state of the online world. Recently the 2014 state of the online state went live and it has sparked a lot of conversation, primarily because of the slides having to do with mobile. As an NPO, the universal ramifications of the report probably are not as much of an interest as compared to what the report may actually mean to you and your organization. With that in mind, let’s talk about some of the most important tidbits and explore how that data might affect you.
Smartphones Are Only Increasing
According to the report, 30% of the 5.2 billion mobile phone users in the world are using smartphones. This means a few things for your organization. First, you are going to definitely want to make sure that any of your online content is viewable on a smartphone. In other words, no flash. Additionally, you may want to consider that if all of your employees are using regular mobile phones, your organization is probably operating at a disadvantage at this point. Investing in smartphones is quickly becoming mandatory, not an option.
Tablet Sales Are Growing Exponentially
The report indicates that tablet sales are growing faster than PCs ever did. Currently, the tablet market is 56% the size of PCs but only 8% of the TV market. This means that now is a great chance to get ahead of the curve. Knowing that tablet sales are likely to continue to increase, preparing a campaign heavy on videos for your organization is probably a smart thing to start working on right now.
Mobile Advertising Could be a Key to Success
The report includes a slide indicating time spent in different environments versus ad spend. People are spending 5% of their time with print but the ad spend is at 19%. On the other hand, people are spending 20% of their time with mobile devices but the ad spend represents only 4% of all advertising spending. The obvious call to action here would be to jump on mobile advertising as soon as possible, but hang tight for a minute. There is advertising and then there is advertising the right way. Think about your own usage of mobile devices. Do you tend to click on mobile ads? Probably not, right? Analyze why that is and discuss with your team whether you could make something more compelling. Also, bear in mind that this slide share may represent demographics not characteristic of the people you most need to reach. If your audience still hasn’t shifted that much time to mobile, it’s not the right time for an aggressive mobile advertising campaign.
Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter are the Lead Referrers
If you want your content to be shared, these three social networks are probably your best bet, but there is still some careful analysis that needs to happen. For example, consider the fact that most of your shares on Twitter will happen with the first 6.5 hours after your tweet. After a certain amount of time, your content is bound to get lost. This may impact how you promote your blog posts or videos on different platforms. You also may want to explore the different types of content that are most popular on each platform, which the report also illustrates. The top three publishers on Facebook are Buzzfeed, HuffPo, and ABC News while the top three publishers on Twitter are the BBC, the New York Times, and Mashable. What does this indicate about these platforms? What might you be able to learn for your own organization’s purposes?
These are just some of the interesting points the report raises. It definitely is worth your time to read the entire presentation and evaluate how the data will impact how your organization communicates over the next year. Let us know what stands out most to you!