As part of our annual “Cultural Studies” exercise, we recently completed the research for the ROI of digital media in 2021. This is a comprehensive report that looks at the impact of digital media has had on the consumer market and overall usage trends. It concludes that digital media usage is set to experience unprecedented growth in the years ahead, particularly in the realm of video and podcasting. Although many of the factors discussed in the report are driven by current market dynamics, the findings are applicable to all companies regardless of current market position. Our findings are important to businesses both large and small.
Changes Occurring In Digital Media
In 2021 digital media will still dominate digital usage. However, there will be new markets for services, new types of media and new distribution models which will provide different means of delivering content. While COVID 19 uprooted many strategies in this year, future-proofing your media strategy in the next five years is still a possibility. Yes, some industries do have a bigger gain than others (the media industry certainly took a big hit this year).
But many are rethinking their media strategies. The digital divide between desktop/laptop users and mobile/tablet users continues to widen, and this trend is not likely to abate for several years. So the desktop/laptop consumer will still drive digital media usage growth in the coming years. But how will it impact the future of media use?
First, let’s look at what we see happening to traditional media. Newspapers, radio, T.V., etc… Have been declining steadily for several years now. Even as cable TV subscriptions have increased, viewers have not increased. The future of traditional media is the digital media use of the web. With more people watching video on the web than watching TV, video ads are becoming more commonplace on webpages and the rise of video on sites like YouTube and Hulu makes advertising on webpages much more cost effective.
Video Content In The Future
Video content may take over from the text content in the future, or people may prefer to read news articles rather than watch videos. Regardless of how digital media users interact with this emerging platform, the future of media will focus on video. This means that those who are looking to make the most money from media in the future will have to realize that video production and distribution is quickly becoming a major part of their marketing mix.
For example, consider the rising popularity of YouTube. While still a young service, the power of video marketing is growing at exponential rates. According to Frost & Sullivan, a recent study found that more than three in five internet users have a YouTube account and half of those people regularly add new content. Digital media use is here to stay, and it will become more important than ever to understand how to use it to make the most profit in the digital age.
