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More businesses move onto the internet

July 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Business Online thumb More businesses move onto the internetMore businesses are taking advantage of the internet, with many finding the move online creates more revenue, a new survey has found.

Research by accounting software provider MYOB has found that the number of Australian businesses now online has increased to 39 per cent, up from 35 per cent last November, with a further 22 per cent planning to create a website in the next 12 months.

Almost a third of the 1000 respondents surveyed reported an increase revenue compared with just 22 per cent without a website.

‘Today consumers look online first when making buying decisions,’ MYOB CEO Tim Reed said, releasing the survey findings on Wednesday.

‘If your business can’t be found via a search engine, it’s as if you don’t exist.’

Western Australian businesses are leading the way online at 43 per cent, closely followed by NSW and Victoria at 41 and 40 per cent respectively.

Still, not all business are making full use of the internet and some are convinced that the internet is not the way forward.

The survey found that 57 per cent of business still do not promote or sell products and services online.

Almost half without a website said they have no intention of creating one in the future, and 26 per cent don’t believe a website would benefit their business at all.

‘While only 26 per cent of business owners believe their competitors are ahead of them when it comes to the online economy, I’m concerned for Australia’s future international competitiveness if business owners don’t do more to embrace the online economy,’ Mr Reed said.

‘It’s important Aussie business owners take action now to make sure they don’t lose market share to global competitors.’

He said one of the biggest challenges for businesses getting online appears to be having the right skills and knowledge to take the necessary steps to move.

One in three businesses believe they are behind the times in using the internet for business, 35 per cent believe they don’t use the internet well enough for marketing purposes, and 31 per cent believe they don’t use online search engines well enough to market their business.


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Twitter Users Want Businesses to Answer Them

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Social sites like Quora are designed specifically as question-and-answer venues where users can get expert help, but Twitter often serves as an informal tool for the same purpose. Users might ask their followers for advice, ask the world what a particular trending topic means, or hope for customer service help from a brand.

According to May 2011 research from InboxQ, a service to feed businesses questions from Twitter, Twitter users—especially ones with more followers and thus, presumably, more experience—tend to ask questions with tweets directed at all followers rather than using @ replies or direct messages. This means questions are often not directed at a relevant brand, but many users want brands to answer them anyway.

Eight in 10 Twitter users surveyed worldwide said they thought the answers businesses posted on Twitter were at least as trustworthy as those from regular people, and about six in 10 said they wanted businesses to respond to them on the microblogging service.

Yet just 21% of Twitter users with under 100 followers and 41% of users with over 100 followers said they had actually received a response from a business via Twitter.

Users indicated that more responsive brands would benefit from greater loyalty and purchasing. Almost 60% of respondents said they would be more likely to follow a brand that answered them, and 64% said they would be more likely to make a purchase from that brand.

InboxQ may have an interest in getting businesses to pay attention to questions posted to Twitter, but this research meshes with an already robust body of data about the kinds of interactions many social media users hope to have with brands. Consumers often indicate that they understand and accept the value exchange of connecting with companies in return for information that can help them. And they also often want brands to pay attention to them and not take their business for granted now that they have access to the powerful voice social media provides.

tt twitter micro3 Twitter Users Want Businesses to Answer Them


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Does Social Media Marketing Make Sense for the Smallest Businesses?

November 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

eMarketer estimates that 127 million people in the US, or 57.5% of internet users, will use social networks at least monthly this year. Facebook alone has over half a billion active users worldwide. Still, many of the smallest businesses don’t believe their customers can be marketed to on such sites, according to an August 2010 survey from customer review platform RatePoint.

Respondents, the majority of whom were business owners with just one to five employees, were split on whether social media was a quick way to connect with current or future customers, but sentiment was largely negative. When asked if they thought customers wanted to hear from them on social sites, only a quarter of businesses thought they did.

In addition, 20% of small businesses did not think their customers spent time on social networking sites; another 27% were undecided. And nearly a quarter did not believe their customers did research online before doing business with their company.

With a majority of US internet users on social networks, chances are the customers of even small local businesses are there. According to BIA/Kelsey and ConStat, 97% of US internet users used online media to look for local products and services in Q1 2010, and 90% used search engines. Research from comScore and TMP Directional Marketing shows that, looking for local businesses, searchers are much more likely to use a search engine than a social networking site as their primary resource, but both are used, especially among young people.

“Social media use is no longer limited to one demographic; everyone is adopting,” said Neal Creighton, CEO and co-founder of RatePoint, in a statement. “While many small-business owners are uncertain, big brands are investing heavily in social media. Social media can be a great equalizer for small businesses to compete alongside larger brands and SMBs are missing out if they are not involved.”

tt twitter micro3 Does Social Media Marketing Make Sense for the Smallest Businesses?


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