How audiences use technology and its impact on their lives
Before looking at facts, let’s take a moment to see some examples of
how people’s lives were twenty years ago (and still are in some places)
Technology has truly revolutionized nearly every aspect of modern life
From meeting your potential soulmate to watching your favorite
shows, it’s all done on the Internet now
.

To find a date,
charm and
charisma were
essential
Life Before the Internet
Finding products
or services was
very different
Sharing pictures
was a real process
A lot of planning
was required to
watch a TV show
It was challenging
not to get lost on
a road trip

5.80%
15.70%
28.80%
46.40%
56.10%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
2000 2005 2010 2015 2019
• 20 years ago only 5% of the
world population had access
to the internet
• The internet continues to
grow because of its benefits
including communication,
commerce, education,
health, etc.
Percent of the World Population Using Internet
The Rise of Internet
Percent of world population with Internet access
Source: Internet world stats (March 2019)

Percent of the Population per Region Using the Internet
67.5%
89.4%
37.3
%
51.8%
68.4%
67.2%
GLOBAL PENETRATION RATE:
56%
Source: Internet world stats (March 2019)
86.8%
World Population
7.716.223.209

11%
50%
16%
10%
4%
8%1%
Africa Asia
Europe Latin America/Caribbean
Middle East North America
Oceania/Australia Source: Internet world stats. (March 2019)
Global Distribution of Internet UsersGlobal internet users
4.383.810.342

There were
4.031 billion
global mobile
Internet users as
of April 2019.
Mobile traffic
accounted for
52.2% of Internet
traffic in 2018,
(47.8% by
desktop).
Engagement is
higher on
desktops whose
users account
for 55.9% of the
time spent on
websites (40.1%
by mobile users)
90% of the time
spent on mobile
devices is spent in
apps. Mobile apps
are increasingly
popular in
everyday activities.
Engagement is up
to four times
better on mobile
apps than on
mobile web.
How are People Accessing the Internet?
Source: hostingfacts.com
statista.com

How is people using on the go the internet?Great Britain
Source: Office for National Statistics (2017)
Internet “ON THE GO” in Great Britain
• In 2017, 78% of adults had
used the internet “on the go”
(that is, away from home or
work)
• The use of mobile or
smartphones to access the
internet has continued to
increase (from 70% in 2016 to
73% in 2017) and the use of
portable computers has also
increased (from 36% in 2016
to 43% in 2017).

Internet Speeds
• Asia is the region with the fastest
average fixed broadband internet
speed.
• Singapore is the leading country with
an average speed of 197.5 Mbps.
• The country with the fastest average
mobile internet speed is Norway, at
65.41 Mbps.
Source: Statista (April 2019)

What are people doing on the internet?

Number of active users in millions
Source: Statista (April 2019)
Social network
• Active social media
users 3.499 billion
• Active mobile social
media users 3.429 billion
Facebook
YouTube
WhatsApp
YouTube
WeChat
Facebook
Messenger
Instagram
Most popular social networks worldwide (April 2019)
QQ
QZone
Douyin/Tik Tok

Social Network Facts
The average time spent on the
mobile Facebook app was around
58 minutes a day, in 2018
95% of all Facebook visitors
access it through mobile devices.
The network is a big part of the
increase of the daily average time
spent on a phone.
The top two reasons viewers
watchYouTube are “to be
entertained” and “to relax”
500 hours worth of videos are
uploaded to YouTube every minute.
YouTube users spent an
average of 60 minutes a day
watching videos on their mobile
device in 2018
Users spend 195 minutes on
average on WhatsApp weekly.
More than 65 billion text
messages are sent through
WhatsApp daily.
More than 2 billion minutes of
voice and video calls are made on
WhatsApp daily
Source: Techjury.net
99firms.com

Retail E-Commerce Sales Worldwide (2017)Online Shopping
• Online shopping is a very popular
activity but the usage varies by region
– in the UK, online sales have shown a
steady increase since 2008.
• Desktops are still the most popular
devices for placing online shopping
orders but through mobile apps,
smartphones are catching up.
• Clothing, shoes and consumer
electronics are the most popular
online shopping categories.
• Amazon is the largest online company
by revenue in the world.
Source: Statista (2017)
SalesinbillionU.S.dollars

• More money is spent within
stores than online.
• In 2017, online sales increased
by 15.9% from the previous
year. This is in comparison with
2.4% within physical stores.
Source: Office for National Statistics
• Online spending is growing
at a faster rate than in-store
sales.
In-Store vs. Online Sales in Great Britain

When viewing
videos, 75% of
people prefer to
watch horizontally
vs. 25% vertically
Source: wyzowl.com (2019)
96% of people
say they’ve
watched an
explainer video
to learn more
about a product
or service.
87% of businesses
now use video as
a marketing tool.
(Up from 63% in
2017, and 81% in
2018.)
85% of Facebook
video is watched
without the
sound turned on.
Video Marketing Facts

Maps-GPS
Weather
Travel information
Banking
Search and reference for
products, services,
restaurants, etc.
News
Checking emails
Translations
Job searching
Online studying
Streaming TV,
watching series,
movies, sports,
music, videos,
games
Other Uses of Internet

The Future of Digital Technology

Social Network Trends
Source: blog.globalwebindex.com
The activities and purposes of
social network are becoming
more sophisticated and diverse
Percent of people who would be comfortable using social media now
or in the future for the following activities

The Future of Retail and E-commerce
The future will also depend on
the type of product or service.
It’s more likely that a person will
prefer to have an in-store visit to
buy a car, while generic products
like toothpaste are more likely to
be purchased online.
In the near future, the majority of
retail sales will still happen within
physical stores. But to maintain
competitive advantage in retail,
the strategy must include a
combination of online and offline.
Source: Office for National Statistics
futuresplatform.com
When the applications of virtual
reality includes real-world
replication, many experiences can be
translated into the digital world. For
example, to visualize how clothes
would look on you.

The Future of
Video Marketing
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Watching a short video
Text-based articles
Infographics
Presentations and pitches
EBooks and manuals
How people prefer to learn about a new product or service?
• Video is mostly watched on mobile and will continue to increase.
Companies must optimize their sites and platforms for video viewing.
• 68% of people say they’d prefer to watch a short video to learn about
a new product
• 87% of people would like to see more video from brands in 2019
Source: wyzowl.com

The Future is 5G
2m
2m
2m North America
2m Asia & Oceania
Estimated Number of 5G Mobile Connections (Millions)
Source: Statista.com – Ericsson (2018)
5g.co.uk
• 5G is expected to be able to reach
speeds between 1 Gb/s and 10Gb/s
• 5G will be launched in the UK in
2019 by the main mobile network
operators
• 5G is fundamental for technological
advance. Autonomous cars, doctors
controlling medical robots remotely
and the ability to monitor and
control factories from across the
planet will all depend on it.

Positive Impact of Technology on Consumers Lives
• Education: It has never been easier to learn and enhance your knowledge about any field.
• Commerce: There’s new opportunities for people to promote their businesses or interests
affordably. In the past, only big companies influenced trends.
• Shopping: It’s now easier for people to shop from their homes 24 hours a day, with the ability to
reach rural and remote locations.
• Information: It allows people to conduct online research and read reviews about products or
services to make better decisions.
• Communication: Technology is now instantly connecting everybody everywhere.

Negative impact of Technology on Consumers Lives
• Costs: In business, high costs are sometimes needed on technological equipment to be able to be
competitive.
• Competition: For marketers and businesses, the ability to stand out is a distinctive challenge. A lot of
creativity, design and tech-knowledge are now pre-requisites as they are competing against the whole
world.
• Mis-Information: There are an increasing number of fake reviews, and fake news online making it
harder to tell what’s real.
• Privacy Concerns: Websites collect a lot of information about people which has frequently been sold or
used by 3rd parties.
• Security: Fraud, scams and hacking are a real threat for consumers and business around the world.

Conclusion
• As more people gain access to the internet, there will be many more
opportunities to share, to learn, to shop, to work and to grow.
• The impact of technology in society is only going to get greater. The
current generation has grown up with it and technology is embedded
in their lives.
• In order to succeed, companies must focus on customer experiences
and personalization. Marketers need to know how to cleverly blend
entertainment, content consumption and advertising.
• Technology has truly revolutionized practically every aspect of
modern life. With 5G upon us, the internet will become much faster.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is at our doorstep. It is expected to be
such a revolutionary technology and is likely to be used to create
services and applications we haven’t even imagined yet.

• www.Internetworldstats.com
• www.hostingfacts.com
• www.statista.com
• www.ons.gov.uk
• www.techjury.net
• www.99firms.com
• www.wyzowl.com
• www.blog.globalwebindex.com
• www.futuresplatform.com
• www.5g.co.uk
Reference List
Maria J. Lopez