The Biggest Challenge Facing Small Businesses Online

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June 22, 2011 By 31 Comments

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If you run a small business and don’t have an mobile strategy yet you could be in serious trouble soon.

As Michael Brenner noted yesterday: “customers are doing more social and web surfing on their [mobile] devices” than ever before.

This has massive ramifications for business and specifically your business if you don’t have a mobile strategy. For example:

  • is your website enabled for mobile?
  • do you have an app available or waiting in the wings for immanent release?

Again, as Brenner noted: “And according to Morgan Stanley and Gartner, mobile will become our primary internet screen by 2015.”

Mobile Content?

At present my own mobile content is the podcast I’m promoting and producing. Although the show was initially a slow burn I’m beginning to see a rapid uptake on the show and the majority of consumers are using their smart phones to listen to the show.

Although this isn’t the traditional “app” approach, I figure it’s a personal and portable way of connecting with potential customers as well as members of my community and a way of extending our content marketing into the mobile market.

The Next Step

Clearly, I’ll have to get thinking about a mobile app sooner rather than later but here’s the rub: Many small businesses are going to struggle with development costs. At present a lot of small businesses approach us to design their website but have unrealistic budgets. You can’t just bash out a brilliant website in a month without a clear strategy, design and implementation for a couple of hundred dollars. Or at least, we don’t think you can do that and achieve the results you need. And if small businesses are struggling to cover web design costs, there’s no way they’re going to have a budget for a mobile app as well.

In many ways, I can see that this will create even more of a hierarchy on the Net. Blogging, and particularly the emergence of WordPress, levelled the playing field. Because blogs were so SEO friendly and easily adapted to content production, it wasn’t impossible for the little guy to take on the big corporation and carve out a viable niche on the web.

With the emergence of the app stores and increasing prevalence of smart phone apps small businesses are going to need to compete or risk being left behind. In real terms this is probably the biggest online marketing challenge to small business since the emergence of WordPress.

So what are you doing to compete or are you going to let this massive challenge brush you aside?

Filed Under: marketing, mobile Tagged With: , , , , , ,
About Jon

Marketing and Communications Consultant. Head of Jontus Media. Podcaster. Life-long Liverpool FC supporter. Guarded by basset hounds.

  • http://twitter.com/jennwhinnem Jenn Whinnem

    I had the privilege of seeing @CKsays:twitter at #soslam in April, and she gave a presentation on mobile that was impossible to ignore. She shared statistic after statistic on the uptick in mobile usage for experiencing the internet, how much more quickly people respond to, say, a text message than an email…I left feeling like, this is a frontier that I have to get my head around, stat!

    I think you’re right on target, Jon, with urging your customers to optimize their sites for mobile NOW. I’d like to know more about the “app” piece though. Does every business need an app? What does that app look like – are you envisioning an app to read the website (and if so, what’s the incentive to download that for sites that rarely change), an e-store, a store locator? What’s the app for Jontus Media? okay I think I’ve hit my question limit so I’ll stop.

  • http://twitter.com/jennwhinnem Jenn Whinnem

    I had the privilege of seeing @CKsays:twitter at #soslam in April, and she gave a presentation on mobile that was impossible to ignore. She shared statistic after statistic on the uptick in mobile usage for experiencing the internet, how much more quickly people respond to, say, a text message than an email…I left feeling like, this is a frontier that I have to get my head around, stat!

    I think you’re right on target, Jon, with urging your customers to optimize their sites for mobile NOW. I’d like to know more about the “app” piece though. Does every business need an app? What does that app look like – are you envisioning an app to read the website (and if so, what’s the incentive to download that for sites that rarely change), an e-store, a store locator? What’s the app for Jontus Media? okay I think I’ve hit my question limit so I’ll stop.

  • http://twitter.com/jennwhinnem Jenn Whinnem

    Okay, one more comment to the point of a question you (Jon) asked me on Twitter: “You’ve got an app coming at work haven’t you?”

    No, we don’t. I’ve left the corporate world to join the world of philanthropy, which is non-profit. It truly is a different world. The foundation I’m working for is somewhat radical in its embrace of social media considering its size (our President & CEO is something of a pioneer in this respect). People are paper-dependent here in a way I haven’t experienced before – which means apps, mobile, paperless – are also radical ideas. To give you an idea, my team was discussing the annual report and marketing collateral and I suggested we invest in something electronic and portable – put the report on a USB fob,or create some kind of app (not that I could think right away of what that should look like). I could tell that this was the first time my team had thought of something like this, but let me quickly follow that up by saying that they did NOT reject this idea outright, but eagerly explored the idea in conversation. (I love my job).

  • http://twitter.com/jennwhinnem Jenn Whinnem

    Okay, one more comment to the point of a question you (Jon) asked me on Twitter: “You’ve got an app coming at work haven’t you?”

    No, we don’t. I’ve left the corporate world to join the world of philanthropy, which is non-profit. It truly is a different world. The foundation I’m working for is somewhat radical in its embrace of social media considering its size (our President & CEO is something of a pioneer in this respect). People are paper-dependent here in a way I haven’t experienced before – which means apps, mobile, paperless – are also radical ideas. To give you an idea, my team was discussing the annual report and marketing collateral and I suggested we invest in something electronic and portable – put the report on a USB fob,or create some kind of app (not that I could think right away of what that should look like). I could tell that this was the first time my team had thought of something like this, but let me quickly follow that up by saying that they did NOT reject this idea outright, but eagerly explored the idea in conversation. (I love my job).

  • SteelToad

    “Does every business need an app?” – that nearly brought a tear to my eye, to see somebody rationally ask the one question everyone should, but almost nobody does.

    Personally I don’t think that every small business needs an “app”, but for most they do need a mobile presence. Being visible to the mobile audience though can be as simple as a well designed mobile version of your website, and if you’re going to budget time and money for a professional website, you really should carry that same look over into mobile.

    Not every user wants to have to download, and install, and agree to permissions for a separate app for every business that wants to deal with them. Putting yourself on the mobile web is a lot less intrusive to someone that you want to call “customer”

  • SteelToad

    “Does every business need an app?” – that nearly brought a tear to my eye, to see somebody rationally ask the one question everyone should, but almost nobody does.

    Personally I don’t think that every small business needs an “app”, but for most they do need a mobile presence. Being visible to the mobile audience though can be as simple as a well designed mobile version of your website, and if you’re going to budget time and money for a professional website, you really should carry that same look over into mobile.

    Not every user wants to have to download, and install, and agree to permissions for a separate app for every business that wants to deal with them. Putting yourself on the mobile web is a lot less intrusive to someone that you want to call “customer”

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Thanks for your input Jenn. I’ve heard good things about CK’s presentation from several people. Would love to have been there.

    I’m not sure where the whole App thing is added. It’s very much a walled garden, creating all the content in one place. I suppose if I could wave my magic wand I’d have the podcast and blog content rolled into one. But it would also have to have something unique like a “resources” section that you couldn’t get elsewhere.

    I need a big customer before I can shell out for development costs. The trouble of being a small biz, eh?

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Thanks for your input Jenn. I’ve heard good things about CK’s presentation from several people. Would love to have been there.

    I’m not sure where the whole App thing is added. It’s very much a walled garden, creating all the content in one place. I suppose if I could wave my magic wand I’d have the podcast and blog content rolled into one. But it would also have to have something unique like a “resources” section that you couldn’t get elsewhere.

    I need a big customer before I can shell out for development costs. The trouble of being a small biz, eh?

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Oh, I thought I saw you mentioning the first glimpse of an app the other day. Hmm. Summer madness, methinks.

    I like you’re real world story though. This is SO typical. I’m speaking in Norway next week to a group of top C-suite managers from one of the countries most significant events organizers. They totally new to social media and how quickly online marketing and communications are moving. We’re really at the edge of a paradigm shift. I wonder where it’s going to take non-profits too.

    The school that I work with are also developing an App having seen the success of social media. That’s an interesting story I’ll be following closely.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Great point! Partly that’s why I went with a podcast to begin with. Sure, it’s not an app; however, it is a portable form of digital content that’s increasingly consumed on a smart phone.

    I do see room for cafés, restaurants, etc to have an app. My local mall has an app too which shows useful things like opening times, specials, etc.

  • http://www.johnakerson.com JohnAkerson

    If I wanted to fit my thoughts on Mobile opportunity into about 140 characters, Id say something like:  “Mobile is a Huge opportunity for sm-ALL business. It is ubiquitous, engaging, locational, demographically strong, growing and underutilized.”
    How ubituitous? ENORMOUS  Here’s a graphic: http://tinyurl.com/6fukjue
    How much is it growing? – try 20% GLOBALLY in the first quarter of 2011. http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/28/worldwide-mobile-phone-market-grew-20-in-q1-fueled-by-smartphone-boom/

    Whats the demographic strength?   Near 100% – and more importantly, 66% of 18-44 year olds  would try mobile coupons, and 50% of 18-34 year olds would give their phone number to a business in exchange for a coupon.  Small businesses that get phone numbers can establish relationships with customers.
    http://www.motomessage.com/mobile-marketing-demographics-market-penetration/

    Here’s more:  Mobile advertising in 2011 should double from 2010, and keep growing through at least 2015.  http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/mobile-industry-mobile-and-advertising-internet/6/21/2011/id/35295   

    Why the explosive growth?  Because a small business can target an advertisement to a search result and because mobile advertising puts a customer buying decision into every potential customer’s hand.  Whats the RESULT for small businesses?  Mobile equals customers, sales, and growth because mobile puts a buying opportunity where a customer wants it when a customer needs it, and make it amazingly convenient.  

    Here’s an example:  I manage two google ad campaigns for a local automotive towing company. They have a web campaign and a mobile campaign.  If someone NEEDS a towing company, they may need it because their car is broken down on the side of the road. In that case, the mobile advertisement allows them to call *from a search result* without ever seeing a website. No need for facebook, no need for twitter, no need for anything but search-click-call. Great for customers = great for a small business… and mobile is only getting better.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    John, that’s an awesome comment and what a great example of a mobile app at work. This is precisely the kind of opportunity businesses have with mobile.

    I wonder the extent to which mobile will undermine / shift standard business websites. Will they go back to being more brochure like as apps represent integration of social and content. There’s also the ubiquity of mobile, too. I mean, how much surfing are we doing on the go now compared to the productivity of sitting in front of a computer to work.

  • http://www.johnakerson.com JohnAkerson

    I was at a business meeting last week. Everyone in the meeting had a laptop, and a cell/mobile/smartphone – split between Blackberrys, Android phones and iPhones. Half of the people in the meeting had tablets. (ipads, Samsung Galaxy, Viewsonic G, etc), and a couple of the people also had Kindles. I was struck with the notion that as powerful as smartphones are, they could mostly replace tablets and netbooks now… as powerful as tablets and netbooks are, they can mostly replace laptops. Given the pace of change, going forward, it will make less and less sense to make a “mobile app” but more and more sense to make a platform-neutral app that works just as well on mobile devices as it does on tablets, netbooks, and pc’s (or Apple Mac’s).  Addressing that now could mean that your app becomes your customers *preferred* way of doing business.   

    If, two years from now,  your customers all have a phone that can do everything that a laptop can do today… either you, as a small business owner will be addressing their needs, or your competitors will be. That’s the choice.

  • http://newenglandmultimedia.com/ Michelle Quillin

    Jon, I was a holdout for a smartphone, preferring to have some space each day where I wasn’t connected. But once I caved, I started using my phone to keep up on Twitter & Facebook, simply to get more freedom from my office. Once I started clicking on links people share on Twitter and Facebook, I saw what the big deal is about mobile-optimized sites. It’s too frustrating for me to try to navigate a site that’s not optimized, so I usually just back out and go elsewhere.

    I’d like to see more examples of small businesses with their own apps, and what they’re using them for. I know Rhode Island Blood Center is working on one that provides all the info from your last donation, including results of the pre-donation exam (blood pressure, temp, iron, etc.).

  • http://www.businessesGROW.com/blog Mark W Schaefer

    CK’s video for Social Slam will be live soon.

  • http://www.businessesGROW.com/blog Mark W Schaefer

    Undeniably, the mega trend is “mobile, local, personal” But it doesn’t have to be that complicated for a small business. Over time, a website should be optimized for the small screen. there is an emerging science behind it, but it’s not rocket science, Basically the rule of thumb is pare it down, make the navigation simple and make it look OK on a small screen.

    I don’t thin it will be usefukl or necessary for every business to have an app. When eCommerce was first emerging, every company thought htey needed to have an eCommerce site. Well, customers resisted logging in to every single supplier site,. They needed a hub where they could see the status of all their purchases in one place. And that’s what happened.

    Every steakhouse in Stockholm does not need an app, for example. I think that would just be a waste of money unless the restaurant has some unique value proposition that would lend itself to an app. I can’t imagine it, but I guess it is possible.  So the restaurant should instead focus on wokring with aggregators like Foursquare and  Urban Spoon — widely used apps with lots of functionality — to try to buld their business instead of going it alone.

    I think the pressure is really on the larger businesses to build and maintain content- and function-rich apps.  Could get complicated and expensive. 

    Any way, my two cents.  Thanks for the thought-provoking post!  

  • http://spinsucks.com Gini Dietrich

    It’s funny you blog about this right now because we’re desperately trying to convince a client to go mobile (it fits their audience perfectly). We’re also developing apps for our businesses because the importance is there. In fact, as I write this, I do so on my iPad, but I’m answering emails and text messages from my phone.

  • http://soulati.com/blog Soulati

    I will sneak my comment in while Jon is sleeping. What a lively discussion, here, Jon, in your comments. John, Ray, Mark, Jenn, Michelle; all my faves — heck it’s The SMB Collective moved to Sweden! I digress.

    I’m going to come at this from the point of the consumer of the iTunes app store for my iPad2. Word of mouth is basically how and why I download apps. When I go to the store I’m overwhelmed with the descriptions, the comments, the crashes, the bugs, the need for continued updates for all these apps (I have 16 that require downloading/updating), and I can’t be bothered. Will an app change my life? Will I remember to use it? Should I sort through the app store before I enter the grocer, kinda like searching for paper coupons/e-pons (I should coin that) before I shop? Are apps tailored to a demographic; tweens, teens, etc. who’ve grown up on these platforms?

    While I agree the revolution is beginning; there is still a long way to go. Heck, we can’t even get small businesses to adopt and use social media channels to engage with customers; how are we supposed to get them to join the mobile revolution and then market that app to get people to buy it? How will my company’s app be a differentiator and earn the buzz?

    Perhaps there are answers for all these things via @CKSays (fab prezzo, and I’ll watch it again, too) and other mobile marketers; there are early adopters, and there are those who will never be late to the party because they won’t attend.

  • Justin Brackett

    Funny how easily we can waft into complacency about such topics. I mean honestly how much of our time is spend on “mobile” devices? Most of my day is spent on my iPad and on my iPhone, I know that I’m not alone in this. BUT yet its mind boggling how many people and organizations are out there who are stubbornly ignoring the iceberg they just ran into…You hit the nail on the head, baseline for people is to at least to optimize their sites for mobile.

    Love your thinking!

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Sensible stuff Mark. I think you’re right. At present there seems to be positioning going on as well as some interest from businesses. But I think it’s only through investigation and discussion that we’ll start to reach small-medium sized biz. If we get the message out that it’s not necessary they might well save money and time. 

    But it’s hard to get the discussion out. After all, everyone that’s commenting here is working in the social media / marketing space. We really need the small biz to be commenting here. They’re the one’s that don’t really get it, n’est pas? 

    Thanks for joining in !!!

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Not sure about convergence. I can see that phones and tablets have strong similarities, certainly. 

    I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that the distinction between “mobile” and “Net” is now irrelevant as we use the Net everywhere through a variety of devices. 

    Bottom line: businesses will have to explore and define a strategy to comete on the Net, irrespective of the devices people are using. 

    Thanks for some great comments John.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Thanks Justin. Perhaps it’s a generation thing? There’s resistance in some companies I’m working with because senior management don’t see mobile as relevant. But it WILL change.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    “ we can’t even get small businesses to adopt and use social media channels to engage with customers; how are we supposed to get them to join the mobile revolution”. Exactly !!! In fact, I meet companies who regard their website as irrelevant – more like a brochure – because they see word of mouth working. 

    The problem is that complacency might mean that the revolution passes you by and radically impact on your biz. 

    And YES: the iTunes App Store is a nightmare sometimes. I find the reviews a waste of time in particular

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

     Wish I had the resources to develop / explore an App too. Like I said, the podcast is my “mobile” effort right now; however, I do see app development as something that will be critical to explore over the next 18 months – 2 years. Even for a small biz like my own. 

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Definitely Michelle. I miss small biz case studies with Apps right now. It’s hard to talk mobile apps with clients without them. 

    As for your point about FB and Twitter on the go, that’s a massive trend I’ve seen here on the metro. I sneak a glance at every screen I see on the metro and so often it’s the FB app that’s open. 

  • kaushal sinha

    It’s been a great pleasure to thank you for this informative article. I will always recommend your article and refer to my friend too for the same. 

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for another great post, Jon. While I agree that mobile marketing is no longer simply a “nice to have” for businesses of all sizes, I’m still not convinced that custom apps are always the way to go. If I downloaded an app for every business, website, or publication I engage with, my iPhone would be overloaded. I’ve also noticed that many of the apps out there are simply either gateways to Web pages or, in the case of audio, package podcasts that I already subscribe to on iTunes. Those wind up being deleted pretty quickly.

    For me at least, it all comes down to usefulness and usability. I use the LA Fitness app, for example, to check class schedules and appointments with my trainer. And they make that information easy to access with just a few taps.

    So yes, mobile is the shape of things to come … but I still caution against the “app for app’s sake” mentality. Before you spend a single dollar, make sure it’s something people will not only download, but actually use on a regular basis.

  • http://www.DevelopSocially.com Justin Brackett

    It could be! I also agree with you! It WILL Change.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Hi Rachel, sorry I missed this for a day or two. My trip to Norway has knocked me sideways (CF yesterday’s post !!!)

    Don’t you find iTunes a bit of a hassle? I’m trying Stitcher at the moment and the quality is quite good. I prefer the Casts app though. It’s great not having to download and sync your phone just to keep up with what’s out there.

    Sensible advice on apps. Development costs are expensive and you have to ensure it’s not just *yet another app* for the sake of it.

  • Anonymous

    Jon I’m a bit late in finding this post, and still glad I did. The comment stream is particularly interesting. I’m in the midst of a mobile series for my weekly newsletter, so this ties into that research. I’ve got a guest doing posts helping readers get their heads around mobile-ready or mobile optimized and learn the language so they can have a productive conversation when they are ready.

     Two things, one idea, one frustration.
    Frustration 1st – ditto on the constant updates needed to the apps I’ve downloaded. And the most recent updates don’t always run well on my hardware. Especially if the hardware has iterated beyond my model. I’m in iPhone frustration mode, and don’t want new hardware until the next model ships. I’ve abandoned some apps (Foursquare) because they are painfully sluggish on my hardware.

    Now the idea re: apps and small business. Some small businesses could form joint ventures and pool their money to build something that would benefit everyone in the JV. Maybe it’s web-based instead of native to avoid multiple platform versions and simplify updates. Here’s an example: Wild Birds Unlimited owners could band together (if the franchise won’t do it for them) and create an app where people could custom blend birdseed based on their current location and the birds native to there. The app could point them to a local store, send their custom blend recipe  and have it ready for pick up. With an app like that I could stand at my Dad’s house, “use current Location” and get a recommended mix to send him for FAther’s Day.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Carla, Thanks for this awesome comment. I missed it as I was just on my way to France when you wrote this. I’ve only just got back. I like the idea of small biz banding together to create an app. That’s a cool idea and not one I’d thought about. The bird seed biz is a great example of what could possibly work.
    I’m going to look for example of this kind of approach.

    Oh, and BTW: I’ve abandoned Foursquare too