Today, we went and visited Google Australia. They were visiting Melbourne because they are keen on partnering up with agencies to help expand their Adwords business. It was a rare opportunity to get an insight into Google and understand the world that they live in and how they operate. They covered their Google Advertising platform Adwords as well as an insight into their Marketing, Innovation, and Design from the User Experience.
Google (as do we) see the online landscape as a massive opportunity. In fact they commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to conduct a study to find out the size of the opportunity. Here are the findings:
The Internet contributed 3.6% of GDP to the Australian economy.
Now that may not sound like a lot but 3.6% is equivalent to $50 billion which is roughly the same amount that iron ore exports contributed to GDP. That is no small change.
In fact, it was also estimated that Australian households also benefited $53 billion from the Internet as well. $15 billion of the benefits was because we can do quicker searches for information and we also save time on mundane tasks. $16 billion was from the greater variety of purchases that are made online before the Internet. This is fascinating.
There is no question that consumer shopping habits are changing.
We are now no longer fearful of buying things online. We are now much more comfortable with buying things over the Internet. The fears of Harvey Norman and other mass retailers that consumers are buying online is quite valid. There is no doubt that many retailers have lost sales due to competition from online retailers.
Because of our changing habits, the growth of the Internet is expected to double the growth of the Australian economy as a whole.
By 2016, the Internet is expected to contribute $70 billion to GDP
Now that is $20 billion in just 5 years. Not bad statistics.
A Paypal newsletter also has indicated that by 2013 Australian online retail is set to reach $36.8 billion and right now 59% of Australian business do not have a website.
The Google Getting Connected report revealed similar numbers, albeit that 65% of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) do not have a website. That’s just over 2/3 of Australian businesses. Of those that do not have a website, 50% think that having a website is irrelevant, 27% lack the time, budget or knowledge to get started and 12% are so busy and so haven’t considered getting a website.
What is alarming is that there are no many businesses that are unprepared for the changes in the environment.
It is now more important for businesses to get themselves online because pretty soon there will be no separation between offline and online business.
We know from experience that older domains tend to be more favoured in Google. The age of a domain name is ranking factor in Google. Now is the time to start building an online asset even if you think there is no point. Things are changing rapidly and it is far better to prepare for the changes before your business is impacted. Remember, Harvey Norman is widely quoted as saying “this Internet thing is just rubbish.” If a smart person like Mr Norman has changed the viewpoint, perhaps it is time to re-evaluate this for yourself.
I know that as a marketer for many big brands, there was nothing worse than wondering why some products were not performing and not having the right data in time to make the right decisions.
Having a website means you can can participate. It also means that you can try new marketing techniques like online advertising and test if they work in your business. Online advertising can be very complimentary to your other marketing efforts and can produce a positive return on investment if approached and managed correctly.
If you find yourself short on time or are not sure if having an online presence is for you, contact us and we can help assess your situation.