Mary Meeker spotlights messaging apps? potential as central communications hubs
Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker?s annual Internet Trends report forecasts that messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat have the potential to become central communications hubs as they quickly grow and expand.
The messaging leaders are aiming to create cross-platform operating systems that are context-persistent communications hubs for more and more services, per Ms. Meeker. The report also highlighted the growth in vertical video viewing, new ad formats optimized for mobile, the growth in buy buttons on mobile platforms and how content is being reimagined.
?I believe messaging apps will become the primary digital media channel for most consumers in many countries within the next two years, they will subsume social platforms in that social platforms will morph into messaging apps - i.e., Facebook Messenger will become Facebook?s primary portal - and notifications via messaging apps will become a primary marketer?s tool,? said Mark Beccue, principal analyst at Mark Beccue Consulting Inc., Tampa, FL.
?Shorthand ? savvy marketers should start leveraging messaging app media channels and notifications,? he said.
Expansive platforms
Messaging leaders such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, WeChat, LINE and KakaoTalk are growing fast and building expansive platforms along the way.
For example, Snapchat is working with publishers, brands and musicians to create a go-to media channel for millennials.
At the same time, notifications are growing rapidly and are increasingly interactive.
Going forward, Ms. Meeker predicts that the next generation of new Internet users are most likely to onboard via messaging platforms.
For all of these reasons, messaging platforms are becoming increasingly important to marketers, a fact that is evident by the growing number of big brands embracing these platforms.
Ad spend discrepancy
However, Ms. Meeker also points to the ongoing discrepancy between the amount of time spent on mobile and the size of budgets allocated for mobile. Growth rates for leaders in mobile advertising are still high but slowing.
Consumers spend 2.8 hours per day with digital media on mobile, or 51 percent of all time spent with digital media.
Print remains significantly over-indexed relative to time spent, with 4 percent of overall time spent with media happening on print but 18 percent of advertising budgets spent here.
In contrast, 24 percent of time is spent on mobile but only 8 percent of ad spend goes here.
The total Internet ad spend is $50 billion, of which $13 billion is mobile, per Ms. Meeker.
Mobile-optimized ad formats
The report also points out several new ad formats that are optimized for mobile. These include Pinterest Cinematic Pins, Facebook Carousel Ads, Vessel 5-second Ad and Google Local Inventory. Each provides a way to engage with mobile users that matches the experience to the medium.
Another trend noted in the report is the growth in small screen vertical viewing of video. Vertical viewing now accounts for 29 percent of view time across platforms versus 5 percent five years ago.
Savvy marketers who have adjusted their content strategies to account for this evolution are reaping the benefits. For example, full-screen vertical video ads on Snapchat have a 9x higher completion rate vs. horizontal mobile video.
Other trends noted by Ms. Meeker include how content is being reimagined by mobile consumers, with content becoming increasingly user-generated, curated and surprising.
Also noted in the report is the growth in Buy Buttons on Twitter, Facebook, and Google. These buttons are meant to minimize the friction in purchasing at the moment of interest.
?[Buy buttons are] more a concept than a frictionless reality, but platforms, such as Facebook, Uber, WeChat, Snapchat and other messaging apps have an opportunity to help retailers accelerate digital conversions via buy now. In concept,? Mr. Beccue said. ?The hoops to jump through ? who becomes the steward of the consumer?s payment details? Visa? Facebook??
Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York