Comments on: Why is Australian business slow on social media?

By: Bizblogged1

Bizblogged1 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:36:06 +0000

This suggests that privately owned businesses in emerging markets are under pressure.. We never heard about Australian market status rather we always seriously watching how businesses are in US, UK and China, etc., Reasons mentioned here are common as well but they should be avoided for Australia's healthy future. Finance blog, Finance, Economics, Corporate Finance, Personal Finance, Investing and Marketing

By: Brendan McNally

Brendan McNally — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:34:21 +0000

Could it simply be that Australian business (e-commerce or not) has just not seen the mother lode often promised by internet marketers and web development firms.

Chief among them is a failure of business to understand the power of a professional online business presence and a failure to invest an appropriate portion of their marketing budget online.

Too often I hear small & micro business owners bawk at spending $5,000 – $10,000 on professional web development and marketing, while at the same time talking about their $10,000 Yellow Pages ad or the same amount on local newspaper ads or Tradeshows.

By: Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:32:04 +0000

Some other reasons which have been suggested to me this afternoon:

The overall level of competition is less here in Australia than in the more intense markets of the US and Europe, so there’s less emphasis on engagement with your customers.
Australian SMEs just don’t do customer service very well, and while they’ll happily spend $10k on print advertising they still baulk at a $5k website.

The slower penetration of “real” broadband could certainly have something to do with it. Longer page load times certainly discourage interaction, especially when we have pay-per-volume download charges which are far less common in the US. Business users are afraid to “use too much Internet” lest they get hit with extra charges or they slow their entire Internet link for the rest of the month.

I also wonder whether the super-keen entrepreneurs simply just up shop and move to San Francisco or Shanghai rather than try to be innovative in the sceptical Australian market?