You might have noticed that GoDaddy recently launched a wide-reaching marketing campaign (billboards, TV, radio, Facebook ads, Youtube pre-roll, and persistent re-marketing) across Australia staring Ray Meagher (AKA Alf Steward of Home & Away fame) for their website builder product. The series of ads show Ray using GoDaddy’s website builder to build a simple website for his “flamin’ hot sauce” product.

In the 40 second ad, Meagher claims that 60% of Aussie businesses don’t have a website; an astonishing figure in itself, but in our experience, we know that number to be over 90% in some industry vertical markets in Australia.

Interestingly, the way the ad is structured and positioned tells us a lot about GoDaddy’s insight in to the Australian market regarding websites and small-business digital marketing:

• The techno-struggle is real: The main ‘sell’ is on the grounds that people don’t need to be afraid of the complexity of getting a website online any more. The basic premise of the ad is that if a luddite like Meagher can build a website, so can you.
• The opportunity is with an older generation: While the character of Alf Stewart might be a cultural meme for millennials (take The Flamin’ Galah bar in Brisbane for example, named after one of Alf Stewarts trademark phrases on Home and Away), given that Home and Away still attracts a large over 55 viewership our money is on Meagher being chosen specifically to appear to an older generation and make website building seem more accessible to them.
• Time and money are scarce: In addition to breaking down the technical barriers, the ad also addresses concerns about time and money which was specifically mentioned by GoDaddy’s vice president and managing director for Australia and New Zealand when speaking to Mumbrella about the ads: “While Ray puts a lighthearted spin on the campaign, 60% of Australian small businesses still don’t have a website 1 because they believe they don’t have the time, money or technical skills to do so.”

So what does this mean for your business?

If you think website builder products are irrelevant because your core product isn’t internet-based, you’re missing a massive opportunity. Sure, building websites compliments GoDaddy’s main business of selling domain names nicely, but the real opportunity for your business is to harness the lack of technical adoption in Australian small businesses to your advantage.

Here’s how:

1. Websites are a communication channel. By providing your B2B customers with a website, you’re establishing your own ‘owned’ channel of communication between you, your B2B customers and their customers that can serve as a distribution platform for your content and marketing well into the future. You'll also be able to use these websites to gather browsing data & analytics and build re-marketing audiences for your brand / content.
2. By providing something of value (a website) you will build stronger relationships with your B2B customers and in turn increase their loyalty. Given their resistance to adopting a website in the first place, it’s very unlikely they will want to move to another platform after they have one set up with you.
3. The ‘cherry on top’ is that if you’re an upstream provider of services to business customers who are yet to embrace the positive impact that the internet can have on their sales, then their gains in this area will also be reflected in your bottom line.
4. You can provide a network of low-cost, small business websites to your B2B customers using an enterprise website-builder service like Directree

There is a caveat though. With giants like GoDaddy working their way in to the Australia small business website market, the window to leverage opportunity is a fleeting one. The opportunity exists now with those businesses who don’t have a website yet.

It might be time to set up a call with Directree to hear how they can help you capitalise on this and set yourself up for returns in years to come.