Sensis Australia released their latest edition of their monthly e-Business Report for October 2011. Here are some of the findings I found most interesting:
64% of Australians had made purchases online in the past year.
This figure doesn’t really surprise me as I’ve been told that we have a country full of people who have adapted to online and new technology quite quickly. Not to mention the fact that everything over here is so expensive compared to online!
Australians using the internet on their mobile phones continued to grow over the past year at 50 per cent, up from 41 per cent last year.
Next time you’re on a bus or train or anywhere that involves people who have some idle time on their hands, look away from your own phone screen and count how many people are on theirs. It’s a common occurrence now to see people swiping up and down on their screens, checking their Twitter feeds, Facebook updates and replying to messages on a number of networks. Businesses, time to go mobile. Start working on a mobile friendly website because these usage numbers are only going to go up.
SMEs with a website continued to increase over the past year from 61 per cent to 67 per cent.
Wait… There are still businesses in Australia that DON’T have websites?! Please, if this is you, start working on this immediately. You don’t need to have a space-age, Apple design website to benefit from having an online presence. Even something basic to start you off will do, at least to get you visible online and ranking in Google. MYOB has partnered with Google to provide Aussie business owners with free websites at http://www.gettingbusinessonline.com.au. They’re nothing fancy, but they are extremely easy to set up, will get you an online presence and in case you missed the f word before, they’re FREE for the first year (the .com.au domain is free for 2 years!).
18% of SMEs connected to the internet reported that they used social media in their business.
Yes, I am biased, but I want this figure to be higher. What’s incredible is the rate at which this percentage is increasing. Last year, only 10% of SMEs were using social media and 15% 6 months ago. Will we see it hit 20% by the end of 2011?
For those using social media, the presence was most likely to include a Facebook Page (89%), Twitter (33%), LinkedIn or a blog (8% each).
Not surprising. With over 10 million Australians using Facebook, it is the most populated social network, so naturally, any business would want to have a presence there to capture as much of an audience as possible. Also, only a handful of people actually get Twitter, and only a handful of those know how to use it effectively for marketing purposes. Each business is different and will have a different target audience, but I think it’s fair to say that if they’re anywhere, they’re on Facebook.
51% of businesses using social media reported that it had a positive impact on their business, 48% felt that it had no impact and only 1% felt it had a negative impact.
I think this all comes down to how effectively it was planned and executed. Five percent of SMEs reported never updating their social media with another 11% reporting they only updated a few times in the year. Being on a social network requires you to be social. If you don’t actively participate, curate, create and engage then it’s not surprising that it will have no impact on the business. For those who did try harder, but still didn’t see any effect, did they monitor effectively? Did they track all links and tie them into Google Analytics to measure whether there was any impact on sales or brand related search terms? Did they create any video content (fresh content, not just reposting from youTube) and tie their customers/fans into the creation process? Most of the businesses that are successful in social media are those that get really into it, get creative and think outside of outside of the box (yes, very outside!). Maybe it’s time to get a social media consultant to help you out? *shameless plug*
Moral of the story: Social Media doesn’t hurt (well, only 1% of the time).
Grab your own copy of the Sensis report here – there are a lot of great insights into online business and adaptation by Australian SMEs!
Are you a small-medium Australian business using social media? What are your experiences? If you have an interesting story to share, drop a message in the comments below!
