NEW YORK, N.Y. — To help small businesses find better ways to engage and connect with consumers, Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC), the business services division of New York City-based Time Warner Cable, has announced findings from its Small Business Technology Impact Study.
The findings were released during National Small Business Week, sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The Small Business Technology Impact Study, conducted for TWCBC in February 2016, looked broadly at consumers’ attitudes and sentiments about how they visit, shop and choose small businesses. The key findings highlighted below center on preferred digital touchpoints and communication, how gender and generational differences contrast around these preferences, and other technologies, such as mobile payment and cybersecurity.
“It’s no secret that small business owners are hungry to get a prospect’s attention, while keeping their current customers coming back for more,” said Maureen Link, group vice president of small business at TWCBC. “Our recent survey findings can help empower small business owners to rethink their strategies and start thinking critically about how they invest in technology and gain more customers. For example, in many cases no online connection means no customers: one out of two consumers surveyed said they avoid small businesses without websites or social monitoring.”
An online presence is indispensable for today’s small business
A website remains essential for small businesses and consumers expect it from them, more so than on-air advertising, loyalty programs or even a Facebook page. While clear, pertinent product information and pricing is a must, consumers want to find a personalized story about the owner or a compelling history of the company. An active social media presence is similarly a critical part of a small business’s engagement strategy, especially if the customer base tends to be female.
Across industries, more consumers may not shop at small businesses who don’t have a website (36 percent) than those who don’t have a loyalty program (20 percent) and don’t advertise on TV/cable or radio (12 percent).
Up to 50 percent of consumers surveyed (depending on vertical) say they might not buy from a company without a website.
Ninety-three percent of consumers surveyed said that knowing the owner helped attract and retain them as customers. Additionally, 70 percent of those surveyed said that sharing the owner’s photo along with a story about the business on the website is effective.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed feel a website with relevant business information is the most important necessity for a small business.
Don’t want to manage a social media presence? Monitoring and responding to review sites is critical, or you could lose customers.
Nearly 1 in 5 consumers surveyed won’t frequent small businesses who don’t respond to comments on Yelp or other review sites.
Up to 30 percent might not buy from a company without a social media presence.
More than 46 percent of women say that regularly posting on Facebook is very effective at attracting or keeping them as customers, compared to only 32 percent of men.
Fifty percent of 18- to 34-year olds, 42 percent of 35- to 54-year olds, and 25 percent of people 55 and older prefer businesses who regularly post to their Facebook pages.
“Building that strong relationship with your customers starts before they enter your place of business and continues after they leave,” said Link, “and you’re losing customers every day that you don’t build an online presence for your business.”
Age isn’t everything, but it should influence how to serve and speak to customers
Millennials are more interested in getting to know the small business owner than their older counterparts. Seventy-three percent of 18- to 34-year olds, versus 63 percent of those 55 and older, say that including the owners’ photos along with a story about their businesses on their websites is a very or somewhat effective way to attract and retain them as a customer.
Mobile options, including bill payment, is another technology small businesses may wish to consider adopting to attract and serve millennials.
“Are you targeting millennials? More and more in that generation expect you to be mobile-friendly: 27 percent of millennial shoppers say it’s necessary to take payments via a mobile device, such as a tablet or smart phone, compared to only 19 percent of 35- to 55-year olds.” said Link.
Twenty-seven percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, 19 percent of 35- to 54-year-olds, and 14 percent people 55 and older prefer a small business that has the ability to take and process payments via a mobile device.
Twenty-three percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, 18 percent of 35- 54-year-olds, and 10 percent of people 55 and older prefer a small business that has a mobile app for discount offers/orders/appointments.
Protecting customer data is the top concern and critical to customer retention. Along with a digital presence comes the responsibility for ensuring data security, made more challenging in the online environment.
“Small business owners might not be thinking about cybersecurity, but their customers are. The fastest and easiest way to lose customers is to not keep their personal data secure,” added Link.
Seventy-nine percent of consumers surveyed say it’s necessary for small businesses to take measures to keep customers’ personal and financial data secure; that’s more than 20 percent higher than the next highest “necessity.”
