By Brooke B. Sellas, {grow} Contributing Columnist
Emerging 5G services will not only make our devices go faster, but it will also better interconnect society.
Efficiencies and experiences will improve. Including user experiences. But a unique product of 5G services will be the ability to consume even more content.
Yes. You read that right. 5G will enable the freeing up of our time, which in turn will allow us to consume more content.
Content Consumption (& SHOCK)
Back in 2014, Mark Schaefer wrote a post that went bananas (“Brooke speak” for viral). His post on Content Shock was an Internet and worldwide sensation.
Mark’s point was this …
“This upward trend of content consumption is not sustainable because every human has a physiological, inviolable limit to the amount of content they can consume.”
And in 2014, Neilson backed this up with research showing consumers consumed about 11 hours of content a day. Today, those numbers remain largely the same.
According to a recent article by Adobe
- “Older” consumers spend 8.8 hours a day, on average, engaging with digital content
- It jumps to 10.9 hours for Millennials, on average
- Gen Z spends 11.4 hours consuming content
That’s nearly half the day consuming content, which is mind-blowing! How people find time to do that, work, eat, sleep, and be basic humans is beyond me.
But here we are.
Our 5G Future
Imagine boarding a plane where there’s no in-flight entertainment. You grab your phone and download a couple of movies on Netflix — all before the cabin doors are closed. That’s what 5G will offer.
To break it down, the G in 5G means it’s a generation of wireless technology. Wireless technology means we will stop having to think about signal or connection — it will just be.
According to Gizmodo, 5G networks will have the capacity for transfer speeds 10 times those of 4G networks.
This not only implies a faster service but also means devices will more easily talk to one another. Your bots or AI will be talking to the bots and AI of the brands you buy from. You will use your device to automate all kinds of tasks.
5G will be a huge breakthrough for self-driving cars.
And what will we do if we no longer have to be at the helm of our long commutes? Turn to our devices.
5G Means Content Marketers Better Start Strategizing NOW
All the marketers reading this probably skipped ahead to this part. I feel ya! As a marketer, you’re wondering what the future of 5G technology means for you.
As streaming becomes seamless and content downloading happens in seconds, the assumption is that increased speed will induce greater consumption of content.
Does that mean you need to create more content? Not necessarily. But if you haven’t yet honed in on the type of content that works best for your audience(s), you need to get there. And fast.
Voice search and marketing is another place that will be majorly impacted. 5G will bring smart speakers to a whole other level; the combination of cloud-based AI and 5G will likely improve conversations between machines and humans.
And for advertisers … if 5G moves smart speakers to become more like buying and scheduling assistants, how will advertising play a role?
Example: “Alexa, buy me some butter.” (will the smart speaker be smart enough to buy what you prefer?)
Better. Faster. Stronger.
Supporters of 5G are quick to sell how the technology will allow more data to be captured around consumers (particularly their location). This great news for targeting! And marketers! So YAY!
But, before we get “there” with 5G, we all have to remember that feelings around privacy are increasingly more negative. If people feel marketers are spying on them, 5G won’t be enough to save us.
In any case, I do think 5G will improve the way we operate in our daily lives, and therefore free up more time for content consumption.
What theories are you toying with when it comes to 5G? Let me know in the comments section below!
Brooke B. Sellas is the Founder & CEO of B Squared Media, an award-winning done-for-you social media management, advertising, and customer care agency. She’s also Mark Schaefer’s Co-host on the top-rated Marketing Companion Podcast. Brooke’s marketing mantra is “Think Conversation, Not Campaign” so be sure to give her a shout on Twitter!
