Giant Peach Blog

The Internet is now the world’s largest information, communication and distribution network, and businesses need to embrace it to make the most of its potential. Just a few years ago, the internet was for people who understood computers, now people spend on average up to seven hours of their spare time a week online, twice as long as reading a newspaper. Teenagers spend more time on the internet than watching TV.

The internet has radically changed the way we consume media — for many it has become their primary source of information and entertainment.

However, even now I meet business owners who think the internet is a fad, something that will pass and nothing they need to seriously invest in .

“The change in consumer behaviour is so fundamental that in the future one of the dividing lines between firms that succeed and those that don’t will be the ones that have embraced the internet.” – Nikesh Arora, Google’s president for Europe, Middle East and Africa

Internet retail sales for 2007 reached £46 billion, accounting for 15p of every £1 spent. Even more impressive is the fact that this was a 50% increase on 2006. It’s clear that consumers are happy to spend money online.

It’s interesting that small businesses have been among the earliest and most creative adopters. While specialist stores may be disappearing from our high streets, they are turning up in ever-increasing numbers on the internet. Thanks to the web, small businesses no longer need to be local businesses.

More cost effective

As the cost of online marketing is relatively low, the cost of acquiring customers has also fallen dramatically, allowing small and medium-sized businesses to compete with the much larger multinationals.

It was not long ago that the only way to get business was to advertise in local newspapers, area specific adverts in the Yellow Pages and even local radio. Advertising in national papers or on TV was an impossibility.

The internet, search engines in particular, have changed the rules. With more than 1 billion people online, any business can be found if it offers what people are searching for. And online advertising is more cost-effective than the traditional forms of attracting customers.

The success of online marketing is also measurable. Measuring advertising has never been easy but technology allows us to measure the effectiveness of a website, search engine optimisation or online advertising. This helps companies know exactly where their marketing budget is spent.

At Giant Peach we are excited about the future, there are too many examples of companies big and small, new and established, that are going from good to great to be otherwise. If anything, the pace of this change will become faster each year, creating unprecedented opportunity on a scale unimagined just a few years ago.

However, to succeed companies need to understand the rules of the game, do you?