The Guardian speaks with Jones in article about online advertising
The Guardian spoke with Nory Jones, a professor of management information systems at the University of Maine, in an article about online advertising and small businesses. Only a third of small businesses and microbusinesses have introduced online advertising in the past three years, according to the article, possibly as a result of lack of confidence regarding online advertising tools and lack of time to experiment with digital technologies. Jones, who has studied how a digital presence boosts consumers’ awareness of small companies, had a group of MBA students create e-commerce sites for small local businesses. One business, Till Farm Soaps, saw such an increase in demand that the website had to be scaled back because demand couldn’t be met between local stores, farmers markets, craft fairs and direct online orders combined. Jones’ project found that improving reach is not always the answer for small businesses that could be unable to scale up to meet increased demand. Additionally, she recommends businesses only engage with social media if their customer care is adequate and they can respond accordingly to comments. And online reviews should be monitored as well. “Today, the vast majority of consumers trust the opinions of strangers on the internet as much as their own friends,” said Jones. “While an online review coming from an anonymous user, or one that doesn’t seem genuine, won’t fall into this category, online reviews that are articulate, thorough and personal, much like an exchange between friends, carry a lot of weight.”