australia: digital landscape briefing - macquarie...
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Australia: Digital Landscape Briefing
In association with Macquarie Telecom
Australia: Digital Landscape Briefing In association with Macquarie Telecom
Econsultancy Sydney
Level 1, 37 Bligh St
Sydney
NSW 2000
Australia
Telephone:
+61 2 8233 9230
Econsultancy London
4th Floor, Farringdon Point
29-35 Farringdon Road
London, EC1M 3JF
United Kingdom
Telephone:
+44 207 269 1450
Econsultancy New York
350 7th Avenue, Suite 307
New York
NY 10001
United States
Telephone:
+1 212 971 0630
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording
or any information storage and retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2013
http://econsultancy.com
Published April 2013
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Contents
1. Introduction ..................................................................... 4
1.1. Introduction from Macquarie Telecom ...................................... 4
1.2. About Econsultancy .................................................................... 5
1.3. About Macquarie Telecom .......................................................... 5
2. Australian digital landscape ............................................ 6
2.1. Data and statistics ....................................................................... 6
2.1.1. Usage, demographics and privacy ........................................... 6
2.1.2. Digital marketing landscape .................................................... 6
2.1.3. Ecommerce marketplace ......................................................... 8
2.2. Trends and developments ........................................................... 8
3. Resources ........................................................................ 11
3.1. Reports........................................................................................ 11
3.2. Articles ........................................................................................ 11
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1. Introduction This trends briefing has been produced in association with Macquarie Telecom, based on research
and data from Econsultancy and third parties.
It contains information about Australian digital marketing trends and statistics relating to the
wider digital environment.
The content has also been informed by Macquarie Telecom Digital Advisory Board meetings.
Key trends in the landscape include:
Digital becomes a growing priority for marketers
A digital skills gap is visible, but is being addressed
Consumer online spend and engagement continue to rise
Click Frenzy acts as a catalyst for change
Technology underpins digital, for both marketers and consumers
Marketers are still struggling to get senior buy-in
1.1. Introduction from Macquarie Telecom It’s no secret that the digital landscape is one that rapidly shifts - and this is especially apparent in
Australia, with multiple issues affecting the industry.
As such, Macquarie Telecom recognises the need to support marketers via technical capabilities,
to ensure that strategies can be effectively executed.
This is why we’ve joined forces with Econsultancy; to provide local practitioners insight to the
current trends and data across the landscape, while at the same time, giving them the confidence
that they can rely on us to help support subsequent practical delivery.
A lot of the elements highlighted in this briefing are topics which emerged from our recent Digital
Advisory Board meeting, a regular event we run to bring together some of the sharpest industry
minds to discuss multiple elements currently found within the online sector.
I hope that you find this document useful - and obviously, if you’d like to find out more about how
Macquarie Telecom’s services may be able to help you as a marketing or ecommerce professional,
please drop me a line.
Stuart Mills, Head of Digital and SaaS Hosting
Australia: Digital Landscape Briefing In association with Macquarie Telecom Page 5
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1.2. About Econsultancy Econsultancy is a global independent community-based publisher, focused on best practice digital
marketing and e-commerce, and used by over 400,000 internet professionals every month.
Our hub has 180,000+ members worldwide from clients, agencies and suppliers alike with over
90% member retention rate.
We help our members build their internal capabilities via a combination of research reports and
how-to guides, training and development, consultancy, faceto-face conferences, forums and
professional networking.
For the last 10 years, our resources have helped members learn, make better decisions, build
business cases, find the best suppliers, accelerate their careers and lead the way in best practice
and innovation.
Econsultancy has offices in London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Dubai and we are a leading
provider of digital marketing training and consultancy. We train some 5,000 marketers globally
each year.
Join Econsultancy today to learn what’s happening in digital marketing – and what works.
Call us to find out more on +61 2 8233 9230 (Sydney), +44 20 7269 1450 (London) or +1 212 971
0630 (New York).
You can also contact us online.
1.3. About Macquarie Telecom Founded in 1992, Macquarie Telecom is Australia’s number one Managed Hosting and business-
only telecommunications company.
Working with and supporting some of Australia's best-known organisations, Macquarie Telecom
is a full service hosting provider offering managed dedicated servers, managed co-location, and
managed private and public clouds for mid-size businesses and corporate IT departments.
Combining Business-Grade Full line (Voice, Data & Mobile) Telecommunications with Hosting
services to offer truly integrated end-to-end communications solutions, Macquarie Telecom is
best placed to help transition businesses to the new online NBN era, enabling agility in the online
world.
Macquarie Telecom’s offerings are underpinned by world-class customer care which is delivered
by the owned and managed customer service centre, MacquarieHUB.
The fully owned Australian based data centre is the most certified data centre in the country,
offering our customers ISO27001 and PCI compliance.
www.macquarietelecom.com
1800 004 943
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2. Australian digital landscape
2.1. Data and statistics
2.1.1. Usage, demographics and privacy
Australians, on average, spend nearly 44 hours using internet on a PC each month. [Source:
Nielsen]
In two years, the average volume of data downloaded per internet subscriber in Australia
increased by 114%. [Source: ACMA]
Only 15% of total Australian internet use happens at home. [Source: Australian Policy
Online]
55% of Australians consider the internet 'very important'. [Source: Australian Policy Online]
52% of Australians use the internet every day. [Source: AIMIA]
56% of consumers conduct research for products, services and retailers online [Source: IAB /
Nielsen]
50% of Australian internet users are at least very concerned about the privacy of their
personal information when buying online. [Source: Australian Policy Online]
2.1.2. Digital marketing landscape
24% of all Australian ad expenditure goes on online media. [Source: ACMA]
Digital marketing now counts for nearly a third (29%) of overall marketing budgets in
Australia [Source: Econsultancy]
68% of marketers intend to increase their digital budgets during the next twelve months.
[Source: Econsultancy]
Are you planning to increase marketing budgets for 2013?
40%
48%
11%
16%
56%
28%
68%
30%
2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Yes, increase budget No, keep the same No, decrease budget
Overall marketing budget Traditional marketing budget Digital marketing budget
Australia: Digital Landscape Briefing In association with Macquarie Telecom Page 7
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Econsultancy / Marketing Magazine: State of Digital Marketing in Australia report, 2013
Social media, paid search , natural search, email, video and display advertising are all
expected to experience budget increases by more than half (50%) of Australian marketers.
[Source: Econsultancy]
Digital marketers continue to spend far greater time on execution than on strategy. [Source:
Responsys]
The most-used digital marcomms activity is email, with 91% of companies currently using this
channel [Source: Econsultancy]
– Search engine optimisation and off-site social media are also widely used, with more than
three-quarters of organisations actively using these channels. This is followed by paid
search and online display advertising. [Source: Econsultancy]
More than half (52%) marketers say that they will be increasing investment in their email
platforms and CRM technology (51%). Nearly two-thirds (60%) also plan to increase their
investment in social media technology. [Source: Econsultancy]
Most Australian marketers (94%) agree that their digital marketing activity will be “more
structured than previous years”. [Source: Econsultancy]
Most Australian marketers also expect digital activity to be “more measurable” during 2013.
[Source: Econsultancy]
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (Client-side companies)
Econsultancy / Marketing Magazine: State of Digital Marketing in Australia report, 2013
25%
29%
51%
74%
93%
94%
94%
75%
71%
49%
26%
7%
6%
6%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%
Our digital plans for 2013 mainly involve "more ofthe same"
Our digital marketing plans for 2013 will becreated on a campaign-only basis
Managing our web properties/online content isbecoming more difficult
We are going to be experimenting heavily withdigital in 2013
We will be developing a greater cross-channelmarketing approach during 2013
Our digital marketing strategy for 2013 will bemore structured than previous years
We expect our digital marketing activity to bemore measurable during 2013
Agree Disagree
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2.1.3. Ecommerce marketplace
Online sales in Australia reached a record high in the year to November 2012, with Australian
consumers spending some $12.6bn online. [National Australia Bank, January 2013]
– November proved to be the peak month for internet sales: online retail rose by 15%.
The value of online sales in Australia is expected to reach more than $31bn during 2013
[Source: Experian]
53% of Australian retailers have no online sales channel. [Source: Experian]
20% of Australian retailers have had an online sales channel in place for more than two years.
[Source: Experian]
74% of Australian retailers obtain less than 25% of their sales online. [Source: Experian]
In Australia, 5% of total retail sales are made online. [Source: Alpha Digital]
It’s estimated that $5.6 billion-worth of purchases were on mobile phones by the end
of 2012. [eBay / PayPal]
2.2. Trends and developments
Digital becomes an increasing priority for marketers
Digital continues to be a priority for marketers, as demonstrated by increasing financial
investment. More than two-thirds (68%) of marketers say their companies will increase
their digital marketing budget during 2013. [Source: Econsultancy]
The importance of digital in the marketplace is underpinned by recent figures which predict
that by 2016, 3.7% of Australia’s GDP will come from the internet. [Boston Consulting Group]
Alongside increasing investment, the shifting nature of the environment is also creating
various complex issues which marketers are trying to address. A recent report by
Responsys suggested that marketers now need to understand relevant and “valuable
communications which aim to engage rather than sell”.
Furthermore, as the digital industry matures in Australia, marketers are increasingly focusing
on elements of measurement, attribution and data principles in order to maximise
effectiveness.
The general mindset towards digital is also altering, as previously digital has been viewed to
need little investment, resources or time allocation, but this is now quickly diminishing –
especially as the commercial digital landscape becomes more competitive.
A digital skills gap is visible, but is being addressed
As digital matures in Australia, it is becoming more complex and fragmented, making it
harder for marketers to keep pace with the latest developments and to formulate marketing
strategies and tactics.
Marketers repeatedly stress that there is a large talent vacuum in the digital industry,
which is creating a barrier in the development of Australian digital industry as a whole.
Many organisations are consciously trying to address gaps in digital ability, through training
and development programmes, as well as bringing more established (and often less-technical)
digital marketing activity in-house, as opposed to outsourcing.
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Consumer online spend and engagement continue to rise
Online shopping continues to rise in Australia at a meteoric rate, fuelled by a strong dollar
($AUD) and increased connectivity among consumers.
– The value of online sales in Australia is expected to reach more than $31bn during 2013
(Experian, 2012) and the 2012 Christmas retail period saw an unprecedented spike in
online retail, across both web and mobile channels.
– Although a consumer preference for Australian brands online exists, in the current
absence of companies having an online presence (or one that can match consumer
expectations for customer experience), research shows that a significant proportion of
online spending is made with overseas retailers.
Multiple pieces of research and data (see Section 2.2.1) also exist that all point towards
increased consumer engagement with digital channels
Click Frenzy acts as a catalyst for change
Modelled on America's Cyber Monday, Click Frenzy was an Australian online flash-sale, held
during November 2012.
– The event was an initiative for local retailers to deliver pre-Christmas discounts to
consumers exclusively online. However, within moments of launching, the site experienced
massive traffic volumes and crashed, leaving many users frustrated and both national
and international media to report negatively about this.
– More positively, however, Click Frenzy woke many local retailers up to the poor state of
existing ecommerce activity and infrastructure and highlighted the widespread use
of online channels and associated expectations among consumers.
– Additionally, many industry experts have suggested that it has caused retailers to seriously
reconsider how online is built into current and future business plans.
Technology underpins digital, for both marketers and consumers
Technology adoption by marketers has grown significantly over the past few years, and it
doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Increasingly, the roles of marketers are evolving to
encompass technical aspects.
– There is a developing appreciation of the importance of digital infrastructure, such as
ensuring robust platforms, software and hosting provision is in place.
Elements such as in-store kiosks, iPads and QR codes are increasingly being used to enhance
the customer experience, with newer technologies such as NFC (near-field communication)
and interactive displays beginning to appear in the toolkits of marketers.
– Alongside this, there is a growing recognition that investment into such technology
doesn’t necessarily have to be high. For example, online personal shoppers, brand-related
apps, interactive (in-store) maps and various forms of social media engagement have been
used effectively by Australian retailers, along with the associated infrastructure, using
minimum investment and experiencing maximum returns.
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Marketers are still struggling to get senior buy-in
Despite the growth of digital in Australia, a lack of senior support is still an issue. This
is based on multiple factors, such as limited understanding or a more traditional mindset, but
it is nevertheless a tangible frustration for many practitioners.
Econsultancy recently found that nearly a third (27%) of marketers / ecommerce practitioners
believe their activities are not supported at a senior level.
Overall, this lack of knowledge continues to cause internal issues and hamper the
development of digital within organisations, especially where senior management continues
to focus on traditional marketing channels.
Do you believe your digital marketing or ecommerce activities are supported at a
senior level within the company?
Econsultancy / Marketing Magazine: State of Digital Marketing in Australia report, 2013
82%
18%
73%
27%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Yes No
2012 2013
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3. Resources
3.1. Reports State of Digital Marketing in Australia
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/digital-marketing-australia
Australia: Ecommerce Trends Briefing
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/australia-ecommerce-trends-briefing
Australia and New Zealand: Internet Statistics Compendium
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/australia-and-new-zealand-internet-statistics-compendium
Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing: Digital Trends for 2013
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/quarterly-digital-intelligence-briefing-digital-trends-for-
2013
2013 Media Growth Report
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/2013-media-growth-report
Mobile Sophistication and Strategy Report
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/mobile-sophistication-and-strategy
Best Practices in Data Management
http://econsultancy.com/au/reports/best-practices-in-data-management
3.2. Articles Research: Digital marketing is quickly coming of age in Australia
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/62036-research-digital-marketing-is-quickly-coming-of-age-
in-australia
Will 2013 be the year Australian retailers embrace new technology?
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/61942-will-2013-be-the-year-australian-retailers-embrace-
new-technology
Online sales in Australia reach record high
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/61821-online-sales-in-australia-reach-record-high
Expert opinion: post-Click Frenzy Australia
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/11157-expert-opinion-post-click-frenzy-australia
Digital marketing is growing in Australia, but so is the skills gap
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/10906-digital-marketing-is-growing-in-australia-but-so-is-
the-skills-gap
Research: Understanding connected Australian consumers
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/62026-research-understanding-connected-australian-
consumers
Research: Where will Australian marketing dollars be spent during 2013?
http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/62067-research-where-will-australian-marketing-dollars-be-
spent-during-2013