Our 2018 digital ad research report told a very clear story: mobile is still taking over. In an age of scrambling attention – both conglomerate companies and smallbiz are looking where to spend advertising dollars to impact consumers in the most ROI positive way. Below are some key snippets from our research, full reports available to clients and by special request:
The amount of internet users has gone from 400 million to a whopping 3.2 billion since the year 2000.By 2019, mobile advertising is expected to represent 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending.
Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% vising a competitor’s site instead. That means, if your mobile site isn’t working properly almost half of the customer’s visiting it are going to someone else who’s is.
Besides the fact that digital advertising is the fastest way to reach the largest amount of users:it’s cheap. On average it costs $2.85 to reach 1,000 iPhone users with a mobile ad, that’s less than a coke. Traditional media advertising costs $100 to reach 1,000 users- time to leave those days behind us.
Social media marketing budgets are prospected to doubleover the next five years. 78% of companies now say they have dedicated social media teams, up from 67% in 2012. 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. Visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. There were over 4.4 million videos uploaded directly to Facebook in February 2016, generating over 199 billion views. So to make a long story short, if you’re not advertising on social media, you’re doing it wrong.
Why Scaling A StartUp Can Feel Like David Vs. Goliath
You’ve probably heard countless statistics about start-up failure rate after one, three or five years. It’s likely that only half of them are authentic, but one thing IS for sure: successfully scaling a start-up can feel like a David vs. Goliath type battle. David vs. Goliath tells as the ultimate underdog story, David takes on the giant Goliath and slays him with a stone, representing the tremendous courage of ‘the little guy’ and the fact that anything is possible, even against the insurmountable odds.
In comparison, the 21st Century entrepreneur fights to survive, scale and chisel away market share against some of the most formidable economic forces this world has ever seen; the Fed, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Walmart, whomever etc, etc. Even at a lesser degree contending with middle market companies can be a tall order when new, unknown and undercapitalized. While some would say this ragged group of dreamers coining themselves “entrepreneurs” suffer from delusions of grandeur, others would recognize the fact that society wouldn’t be pushed forward without them.
As Malcolm Gladwell re-states George Bernard Shaw in his book that targets startup culture David & Goliath, Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
Well stated, but what’s left out of this bit is the part about the painful process that happens during progress. As someone who finds more satisfaction in a hard fought journey than a fancy destination, I have drudged through the first four years of founding & operating an AdTech Agency with my fair share of war stories. But that doesn’t skirt the fact that it’s TOUGH – mentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally. You’ve heard it before, right?
But I’m talking about something a little different, not the life sacrifices that to me, are par for the course. The constant weekend and late night work sessions, abysmal work/life balance, cheap meals, judgement of friends or family, sleeping on couches, risking all personal capital, etc. All of that is easier to internalize and is usually enough to get you off the starting blocks, but the technical and strategic execution of scaling and creating a sustainable long term enterprise that can solve a massive problem and take market share from major players, THAT’s the real bear.
To throw a bit more weight on your shoulders, let’s factor in operating WITHOUT seed money (like we do at J. Arthur & Co), IE they actually selling things by adding value, learning how to earn a profit and re-invest into fundamental, long-term growth. While the façade of pop-culture venture money can make success appear far easier than it is achieved, tricking wannabe entrepreneurs.
Below is a chart by tech.co that shows the rate of failure in start-ups by industry. After just having skipped past the four year mark at J. Arthur & Co – this has some relevance.
But what this infographic doesn’t tell is size & industry relevance. Out of the 30 million businesses in America, 96% do LESS THAN $1,000,000 in annual revenue. While I’m a huge advocate of smallbiz, it’s safe to say you aren’t slaying any “Goliaths” at less than $1M/year. Some would say ‘the first million is the hardest’ (in sales, that is) but I adamantly disagree – all the most brutal challenges are north of the $1M mark. It’s far harder to create a vision, implement a strategy, hire intelligently, employ dozens, exist perpetually and successfully carve off market-share from industry leaders than it is to go from $0-1M. When you are obscure and little, the only place the go is up but when you now have built a sound company framework, the burden becomes heavier to take it to the next level and then the next, and the next.
But hey, this is what we signed up for, yeah? Shut up, put up, add-value and execute. The beat goes on.
Every entrepreneur, small or big, should embrace the David role because it adds some exhilaration to what can seem an unglamorous journey at times not worth taking. But if we’re keeping it real, it will take a whole lot of execution and an uncomfortable amount of courage to actually slay the giant.
Painting by Newport, Rhode Island Artist Romeo Ellorin
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Chris has led brand campaigns across creative and technical landscapes for British Telecommunications & Toni & Guy.
He’s helped build creative agencies from the ground up with to his universal design acumen and ability to manage creative talent!
At J. Arthur & Co, he is a key pillar to our team due to his innate ability to connect brand vision with user interface/experience concepts, finished with stellar execution.
When things need to happen behind the scenes — He’s our guy.
Having started his career in finance, Tom has been working in Ecom going on 5 years now.
Although he changed industries, he really values his time in finance picking up a lot of valuable and transferable skills.
Tom’s passion is the customers and the relationships he’s built with them over the years.
He’s been extremely effective for us in balancing many tasks, strategic planning, logistics management and always coming up with ways to thrill customers.
Having studied Music Production & Music Business at Point Blank Music School in London, when he’s not working hard, Tom runs a small record label with a group friends.
“Be it expediting orders, overseeing our ambassadors program, or assisting with marketing needs, I’m a jack of all trades (master of none).
My ethos has always been to keep things fun & light hearted, but professional at the heart of it.
You’ll even sometimes catch me in the gym…
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
What’s up guys, I’m Jeff and I started this shop in 2014 out of my bedroom.
I had moved into an apt with a buddy, lived on $200/mo rent and got going.
You had to walk through my room to get to the kitchen and that room became sort of a hybrid br/office.
It took me a couple failed ideas before gaining traction with J. Arthur and for a period of almost two years I slept on a couch to get the company off the ground.
First in that room and then the back of our first (real) office. Both times a couch.
I love delivering results for clients, working with our team here and growing this co (obviously), which now has a humble but global base of both team and customers.
We have just barely started and I know the sky is the limit.
Admittedly I don’t have that many hobbies, But I enjoy all types of physical training and you can usually catch me doing things like: expounding on the pitfalls of fractional reserve banking, discussing the standards of American liberty, or eating unreasonable quantities of food.
I also like to read.
Love spending time with family.
Thanks to Lensa for tightening up my hairline in exchange for my facial dna in some Orwellian database 🙂
Jo has worked in the advertising and design industry since 2015 and has over 8 years of experience with visual communication and design.
Product is her passion with a deep focus in sportswear design and creative direction.
Her key expertise combines many years in both retail and manufacturing with a proactive vision of creating new products and driving them successfully to market.
“I believe in keeping things simple, having honest intentions, and making things fun. Working in an ego-less manner, I bring my whole self to every project, always aiming to exceed expectations and create work that is well thought through and commercially compelling.”
And exceeding expectations she does. We’re very lucky to have Jo’s rare combination of marketing creative, outstanding product design, ambitious strategy and true dedication to her craft.
In Joanna’s free time her hobbies include yoga & aerial fitness, functional training at the gym and occasionally snowboarding.
You can catch much more of her branding magic at @physiqapparel 💪
Aish graduated with a bachelor of engineering in computer science, freelancing for several years before joining J. Arthur as a Junior Web Developer. She’s now been with the company for 3 years.
Aish has the intangible qualities that make a fantastic developer: the desire for continual learning, a “whatever it takes” mentality, and an intense focus on the (ever-changing) task at hand.
She meets every obstacle with optimism and has grown to become a core member of our team who we’re all grateful to work alongside everyday.
In her off time she likes to get outside and go for a much needed walk. She also loves reading books + daily news to learn something new every day. And of course, watching movies 🍿
Shortly after getting a marketing degree from Clemson University, Denton amassed a large following on Twitter after creating several viral, funny tweets that touched on everything from pop culture to music and sports 📲
Realizing he had a knack for creative writing and social media, he decided to continue developing his talents even further.
As a content manager at J. Arthur, he’s has been able to show off his creativity and bring unique ideas to the table.
He’s currently based in Raleigh, NC with his fiancé and their two cats (Nova & Bean).
In his free time you’ll find him playing tennis, listening to music, or knee deep in a good book.
We appreciate his creative adaptability, consistency & steadfast commitment to deliver success on every account.
Dhan is a multidisciplinary solution architect who helps people translate ideas from words and visuals into prototypes and applications, using code that helps organizations address business challenges.
He motivates people to think positively through the power of technology by helping solve a large number of critical situations quickly.
Having been involved in both collaborative and independently-driven roles, he is a forward-thinking leader with refined analytical and critical thinking skills, with deep experience in translating business priorities to IT roadmaps and fine-tuned IT Operating models.
In his spare time, he enjoys traveling playing (and building) video games, watching movies and listening to music.
Dhan is responsible for making our critical IT and technology decisions and has been with J. Arthur for 5 years and we greatly value his leadership.
He’s a grandmaster in complex problem solving, rapid analysis and delivery, high level infrastructure planning, and full stack engineering.
His character is proven time and again by always working in our clients best interests and never failing to deliver a solution to even the most brain busting and urgent issues, with a coolness and poise to be admired 🙌
He studied Computer Science in Brazil before coming to the States four years ago and now works out of our Newport office.
If you’re a J. Arthur client you’ve probably been in contact before, as he works directly with the team and clients to bring projects to completion.
But if you’re within his close friends, you probably know him for playing (very loud) guitar!
Paulo is responsible for tracking an often high paced workflow between project management, design, development and vendors to ensure successful delivery to customers.
We admire his patience, agile ability to learn new skills, and laser focused commitment to problem solving 👏
Based in Chicago, she loves work from home days alongside her furry co-workers. Ralphie likes his personal space, but Murray prefers to sit on mom’s keyboard to help with important emails – and he never misses a team meeting.
What keeps her motivated throughout the day? A combination of matcha lattes, espresso, and Liquid IV (often consuming all of them at the same time).
Outside of work, Hannah likes to unwind with yoga, check out local coffee shops, and spend time outside in the sunshine.
We value her outstanding communication, marketing savvy, ability to bring positivity to every situation and too many other traits to list 🙌