So Close - But Still Miles Out of Reach?

Many Small Businesses Losing Out on Online Marketing Returns

As we’re told repeatedly by media and business commentators, the internet has created a level playing field for small and medium businesses, equipping them with the capability to reach out to new markets and audiences.
A professional website is your storefront to the world and the range of free or low-cost online services and tactics on offer to SMEs offers almost unlimited potential for growth, revenue and customer interaction.
So it’s ironic that this business sector sees both huge uptake, but a parallel paralysis as we head into the last months of the 2010 year. While many SMEs are rolling out their online and digital strategies, other small businesses are finding themselves coming up against a fundamental problem…they simply don’t have the time.
Time, not marketing funds, is the biggest cost of both online marketing, whether email marketing, online advertising or the hot world of social media marketing, but for many small business owners, time is a precious resource - one that’s in very short supply on a daily and weekly basis.
The learning curve to researching, creating and executing an online strategy is time-intensive. Once launched, there is the ongoing work of maintaining activity, creating fresh content, updating and upgrading; and measuring your campaign’s results.
Even finding the time to do your homework on the best strategic social media or online channels for your venture is difficult for managers or entrepreneurs, who are often bewildered by where to even start.
Should you consult the experts? The clamour of local and international suppliers and advisors promising to help guide you through the online maze is even more time-consuming and daunting to sift through. Who is telling it like it is and who is pushing their own agenda?
Once you’ve identified where you need to apply effort, outsourcing is an obvious answer, but online and digital marketing agencies and freelance contractors are often beyond SME budgets.
Small business doubled its presence on social media in 2009, with local trends following the international shift online. In the highly-measurable online world, results are positive, with 73 percent reporting their online efforts are identifying & attracting customers, 56 percent increasing target market awareness, 46 percent using online methods to engage with customers; and 78 percent generating top sales via customer reviews (Source: eMarketer.com).
Judging from attendance and interest at recent presentations and workshops I’ve given around the region, and the 2010 avalanche of media commentary on social media marketing, Nelson and NZ businesses want to take advantage of online opportunities and keep up with their competition, which may have leveraged more robust marketing budgets or internet knowledge to edge ahead.
There is a sizeable Australasian audience for NZ businesses to target, with well-over 1.5 million New Zealanders on Facebook, hot on the heels of our Australian neighbours, who are the world’s heaviest Facebook users. There are north of 350 NZ organisations and 55,000 NZ users on Twitter; and NZ membership is growing steadily on LinkedIn, the world’s largest business network with 80 million members.
Heading towards 2011, it remains a frustrating challenge that with their target audiences already online and receptive to marketing messages, many smaller businesses can’t afford to ignore the opportunity, but will continue to struggle to find the time to get started.

Guest Blogger: Teri Sawers

Teri is a seasoned online marketing communicator who works on a daily basis across web campaigns and leading social media platforms.

http://communicationsinsights.wordpress.com