A Roundup of the Week’s Most Eye-Opening Statistics
February has already proved to be an interesting month in the world of digital marketing statistics. Or at least, interesting if you’re keeping up with key topics like influencer marketing, artificial intelligence and the power of online video.
So without further ado, here’s a brief summary of just a few eye-opening statistics from the past couple of weeks that caught our attention:
AI marketing spend set to explode by 2022
The results of a recent study carried out by Quantcast and Forbes Insights suggest that markets worldwide are planning a significant increase on AI spending over the next few years. Specifically, around 53% of marketers intend to spend more on AI within the next three years, while 17% stated their intention to invest heavilyin AI. More than 50% of those studied said they’d personally seen improvements to customer retention rates since bringing AI on board. Particularly in customer service circles, AI is revolutionising the way brands enhance their online user experience.
More kids than ever before want to become influencers
The idea of the social media influencer didn’t even exist a couple of decades ago. Today, research from Awin suggests that approximately 70% of children aged 11 to 16 aspire to become successful social media influencers. In addition, a full 15% of kids intend to build successful careers on YouTube. Both of these numbers outperform the number of kids interested in becoming teachers or vets. But while kids in record numbers are dreaming of becoming the next big social media success stories, almost half of all parents surveyed (45%) admitted they’ve no idea what social media influencer marketing is all about or how it works.
Blue Monday drives strong online retail sales
The most depressing day of the year (January 21) seems to have played right into the hands of online retailers. Apparently turning to web shopping as a distraction from the doom and gloom, EmpathyBroker reported a significant uptake in shopping-based searches compared to a typical Monday. In total, around 30% heavier online retail traffic than would be normal for a less depressing Monday at any other time of year.
YouTube’s ad revenues are still on the up
Year-on-year, YouTube once again achieved impressive revenue growth for 2018 - up a full 11% from the previous year. Entertainment and media brands contributed the lion’s share of YouTube’s advertising revenues for the year - in excess of 30% in total.
Video reviews are preferable to textual write-ups
Last but not least, a study carried out by Small Business Trends once again confirmed the value and potential influence of quality video marketing. In this instance, illustrating how four times more people prefer watching video reviews of products than simply reading them. Along with being easier to deal with than block after block of unbroken text, video reviews build a deeper connection with the viewer and deliver infinitely more detailed visual product information.