Web news : Google, CBA release conflicting research about small businesses

According the Sydney Morning Herald ( Australia ) the results of two new research studies about small businesses’ use of technology are almost diametrically opposed. One study conducted by Google released this morning shows more than a third of those surveyed don’t use the internet. The other survey by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia says small businesses are tech-savvy.

The Connected Small Businesses report released today found businesses that use the internet as a key business tool are twice as likely to be growing as those that don’t. In addition, they earn twice the revenue per employee compared to businesses that are not engaging with the online world.
The report was prepared by professional services firm Deloitte for search engine Google and surveyed 500 small businesses.

Findings from the survey show businesses that are engaged with the internet earn 20 per cent more than those that are not engaged with the ‘net. They also have better growth prospects, more diversified revenue sources and a larger customer base.

These results are in line with accounting software business MYOB's March 2013 Business Monitor. Its study of more than 1,000 small businesses show only 38 per cent have a business website. Businesses with a website were 60 per cent more likely to have had a lift in revenue over the past year.

The results of Google's research show only 16 per cent of businesses are highly engaged with the internet. Thirty-five percent of businesses are not engaged with the internet at all.

The results of Google's research contradict research conducted by the Commonwealth Bank. Its research shows 81 per cent of small businesses rate their knowledge of digital technologies as good or better. In contrast to Google's research, CBA's research found the majority of small businesses use digital technologies on a daily basis.

The study also shows the average small business has invested $28,226 in digital technologies and that digital technologies have generated an additional $57,574 in revenue for the average small business.
The research did acknowledge the high cost of technology and uncertainty about the return an investment in digital technologies will produce are reasons why businesses don’t adopt digital technologies.

So why are the findings of the two studies so different?


Technology commentator Trevor Long says one of the reasons is because the two surveys focus on different areas.

“What we can see in these surveys is the very clear need for small businesses to understand and embrace digital technologies. On this they agree,” says Long.

“However Google is keen to see small businesses embrace the web. In Google terms that means them having a cracking good website, understanding and using e-commerce and understanding and embracing search engine and online advertising,” he says.

Long says from a CBA perspective, the report concentrates more on small businesses’ total digital investment, looking at hardware such as tablets or computers, as well as what is spent on online and social media technologies.

“The bank was much more wide ranging in its approach to what digital is in the survey. CBA wants to see business spend more on digital, perhaps borrow more to get that growth potential. Google wants small businesses to see the upside in spending on marketing and advertising online as well as selling to consumers online.”

Andrew Thomas, CEO of technology business Thomas Duryea thinks the results of CBA’s survey reflect a lack of awareness among smaller enterprises of the potential of technology.

“I suspect for that percentage of SMEs to rate their knowledge and use of digital as excellent, they are not aware of the extent or power of the latest digital technologies. I know of very few businesses that are exploiting the latest capabilities in big data and analytics,” says Thomas.

“This includes taking existing deep customer data, combining it with public data, website traffic and other private datasets, then running complex analysis to yield insights, trends and opportunities that would never have been available three years ago,” he adds.

Thomas says small businesses don’t even make the most of simple technologies, such as using different website landing pages for different audience or using different phone numbers for different marketing campaigns to test which work the best.

“I doubt whether most small businesses could quote the frequency of relevant search terms or the difference between source traffic that browses for research, compared to traffic that arrives to purchase from a website.”

Adam Franklin, social media speaker, from web strategy consultants Bluewire Media thinks the difference between the two pieces of research lies in the fact small businesses understand they need to use digital channels, but they don't have the time or know-how to implement these technologies themselves.

 “Eighty-one per cent say their understanding of digital technologies is high, but only a handful have high engagement. It is much harder to get everything implemented and use it week-in week-out, than it is to merely know you should be doing it,” says Franklin.

“It’s kind of like exercise. Everyone knows the benefits but getting up and actually doing it everyday is a different story,” he quips.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au