You’ve probably heard of 5G – but what implications will it actually have for marketers?
Usually touted by media as a groundbreaking technology that will speed up the modern internet, 5G will do far more than merely improve our connectivity. It will, in fact, reshape everything digital and, consequently, the way we market and advertise to consumers.
Indeed, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri has referred to it as “the best wireless technological leap that’s ever happened in the history of the business.â€
While we’ve got still got to wait a little while for this new era to kick off (and even then, we shouldn’t expect it to have a significant impact immediatelyOpens a new window as its rollout will likely be a long and gradual process), marketing teams would do well to start getting ready for the 5G revolution – if not by implementing key relevant technologies, then by preparing to adapt approaches across their operations.
With that in mind, how will 5G alter digital marketing?
Ultimately, there are two key areas of connectivity that 5G will transform: Speed and data. Just about every marketing trend and development to expect in the coming years as a result of 5G will emerge from improvements in these metrics.
Ultra fast network connections (speed)
While 5G will will have far more wide-ranging effects than augmenting connectivity speeds, faster internet arguably will be the most influential change brought by 5G. Plus, many of the other developments will come on the back of those souped-up network connections. That’s due to all the knock-on effects from faster 5G networks – which could be 100 to 1,000 times faster than 4GOpens a new window – on other technologies, as well as on consumer preferences.
Data processing
Let’s start with the obvious evolution expected from upgraded connectivity: Technology that can process and exchange larger amounts of data quicker than ever.
This varies from the vast amounts of data that 5G will introduce to business and marketing (more on that in Part 2 of this series). What it means is that marketers, advertisers and publishers will need to prepare for a digital environment where ad-load times across every device are near-instant. Shorter latency will significantly decrease bounce rates, boost clickthrough rates and enhance ROI.
From a marketing perspective, as most sites will have substantially faster page load, Google undoubtedly will update its algorithm, which currently places load speed quite high on its page ranking metrics.
From a consumer perspective, marketers can expect internet users to have far less patience for digital media buffering. So it will be crucial for businesses to invest in the stability and accessibility of their web-based infrastructure, especially for mobile.Opens a new window
As such, it may be time for some organizations to consider installing chatbot/automated messaging services on their sites so that current and prospective clients can have access to real-time support as 5G speeds will likely build a consumer expectation for no lag and instant customer service.
Mobile video and live streaming
Although mobile video has been a fast-growing segment of digital marketing for several years, 5G will launch that aspect to the next level.
Industry experts predict HD video and live streaming to become far more ubiquitous, and expect 4K and 8K videos/streaming to become the norm. In particular, marketers can expect mobile streaming to be faster and more stable (although they will still consume large amounts of data), which will effect how people consume video.
Currently, 60% of video viewingOpens a new window occurs on a fixed-line broadband connection from homes; 5G, however, will provide consumers with the same quality video from mobile connections – which explains why Verizon and other major connectivity providers are prioritizing their initial 5G applications on mobile video, according to Mark Hung, a vice president of research at Gartner.
Meanwhile, with major web-based companies such as Facebook and Twitter investing heavily in live streaming, 5G no doubt will soon contribute to cementing the format as a high-demand form of content.
Real-time analytics
Faster data communication among connected devices will give marketers access to next-gen, real-time analytics. As such, it will theoretically be possible to optimize and tweak marketing campaigns on-the-go, especially through automation and AI.
A real-world example of how this might work is when a consumer shops using a mobile wallet. After a specific purchase, the wallet will inform, for example, that person’s TV not to run ads specifically related to that item.
This type of data will also be a massive boon to location-based services, significantly enhancing how much information brands get on each consumer’s personal preferences, as well as their needs.
Marketers will start to see more out-of-home opportunities that increase the number of touch points they can have with consumers. Marketing technology will be able to use 5G to take data-driven insights gleaned from connected devices in order to market to consumers based on location data, and their interactions with in-store beacons, digital entertainment and social media platforms as well as smart city services.
Edge computingOpens a new window will especially influence the mobile consumerOpens a new window experience by combining 5G and AI to make real-time, location-based services smarter, more instant and more relevant to individual consumers. Imagine being on your way home and having your autonomous car get an update from your smart refrigerator that you’re out of eggs and should stop at the store.
From there, the implications of what brands can do based on consumer locations are, well, awesome.
Check out Part 2 of this series where I will look at how 5G will produce unprecedented amounts of consumer dataOpens a new window .