Market Research

6 Marketing Statistics That Could Change Your Marketing Strategy

Image Credit: MielkiaD via Flickr

You know what they say, statistics never lie. In small business marketing, underneath some important facts lie good reasons why your business must consider changing the way you market your products and services. With this in mind, I’ve put together a list of facts that you might not know that could change your marketing strategy.

1. Around 12.6 million people access the internet each year, with 64% of those using it to buy or order goods and services – Source: Household Use of Information & Technology, Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009

This statistic is the latest from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009 so you can bet the figures would be higher in 2011. It makes you wonder why so many Australian businesses don’t have a website or those that do, don’t sell their product on-line. The point here is, every business in Australia should have a website – it’s that simple. And this is a good lead-in to my next statistic.

2. 65% of Australian businesses don’t have a website – Source: MYOB Business Monitor

This statistic is the reason MYOB and Google have teamed up to offer 50,000 free websites to Australian businesses. In addition to this, figures show that industries more likely to not have a website are trades/construction and agriculture. So if you’re a tradesman without a website, do yourself a favour and get yourself a website and get one-step ahead of your competition.

3. 35% of Australia’s mobile population own a smart phone with this figure expected to reach 50% in 2011.- Source: Nielsen Australian Online Consumer Report 2011 and Telstra

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Chris Dale

Chris Dale is the founder and managing director of MarketingHQ. He loves to help businesses of all sizes get more out of their marketing – and by more he means more sales! Find out more about him here or feel free to connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.

4 Tips To Improve Your DIY Market Research Surveys

By Chris Dale Leave a Comment

Image: Team Traveller via Flickr

Small businesses now have access to some effective and affordable market research tools. Web-based survey tools like Survey Monkey and on-line polling widgets now make it really easy to get opinions fast. But market research survey design is a skill and the results are only as good as the quality of the survey. Recently, I’ve seen a few examples of poorly structured “do it yourself” surveys which has prompted me to write this post. So here we go, four simple tips you can use to improve them.

1. Ask Specific Questions Using Plain English

When writing your questions, use plain English and be as specific as possible. You need to avoid any chance of mis-interpretation by the reader. Here is an example of a question requiring too much interpretation:

What is your favourite department store?

This question is too general because consumers may have different preferences depending on what they purchase. They will interpret the question for themselves as it provides no context. A better question would be:

From which department store do you prefer to purchase business shirts?

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Chris Dale

The Value Of Fresh Eyes

By Chris Dale @MarketingHQ Leave a Comment

Image: Orangeacid via Flickr

I’ve just started a project this week refining the marketing messages for a new client. Their main issue is communicating what they do as a business and how this can benefit their target market. It’s a common issue with many small businesses and it got me thinking about the value of fresh eyes.

Fresh eyes are untainted and don’t have pre-conceived ideas. They can also provide your business with a unique perspective. If you have a website with a high bounce rate that is failing to convert traffic, ask someone from outside your business (a relative or a friend) to visit your site and explain in their own words what you do. This small piece of market research could highlight that the message you THINK you are sending, is very different to the message your ARE sending.

Find some fresh eyes to take a look at your business. It could be the cheapest and most valuable market research you do this year.