Similar to other enterprises around the world, Australian businesses have faced an array of challenges in the past couple of years. You only need to look at the latest business trends to see how small to medium enterprises and corporations in the country have adapted. 

So, to help you stay up to date and ahead of the competition, we put together small business trends for 2023 that you need to keep tabs on as well as a couple of tech trends and digital marketing trends that you can leverage. 

How are businesses doing in Australia? 

Let us just do a quick recap on how businesses are doing before we jump right into discussing the business trends in 2023 for Australia:

According to the Australian Bureau of Statics, the country’s economy grew by 5.9% for 2022 compared to the preceding year. This shows consecutive growth on a quarterly basis since the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 Delta variant virus.  

In the same report, consumer price was up by 1.8% in the fourth quarter of last year. Moreover, business investments in the private sector grew by 2.5% which was led by the increase in infrastructure in the country. 

In a 2022 joint report by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and Deloitte, more than 41% of the country’s working population was working from home back in 2021. Companies that utilise digital innovations contributed to the 6.5% in economic activity for the country. This equates to an additional $126 billion AUD in Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

More on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector: In the financial year of 2020 to 2021, ICT companies made big contributions to the country’s economy amounting to almost $56 billion AUD in Gross Added Value (GVA).

In addition, exports from Australia’s ICT sector reached $5.09 billion AUD in the same financial year, contributing to the 2.1% economic growth year on year. Opposite to this, imports fell by 5.3% which mirrors the sector’s consistent growth. 

What are the top 5 business trends today in Australia?

With that said, here are key Australian business trends for 2023 that you should keep an eye on. 

Workplace flexibility

Companies operating on a nine-to-five basis are fast becoming a thing of the past. The Australian government is making the necessary steps to increase work flexibility through legislation. This enables both businesses and the working population the choice to change working hours, work patterns, and even the location of the work.

Support for mental well-being

The importance of employee well-being has always been a subject of interest, especially for working professionals. More so now, in the past couple of years, research shows a widespread surge of mental distress caused by the pandemic

As the issue of mental health conditions has become less stigmatised, businesses are making a conscious effort to ensure the mental well-being of employees. Some companies have already taken a more adaptive and employee-centric approach in line with this business trend.

Focus on cyber security 

Cyber security is an ongoing issue that is increasingly more pressing as companies are becoming more reliant on digital tools for core business processes. Moreover, there are reports wherein industry giants are also victims of cyber-related crimes. 

Consequently, the Australian Federal Government has taken necessary measures to minimise the risks, such as these initiatives:  Investing more than $1 billion AUD in the country’s cyber security industry and cyber infrastructure. 

And, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is a government organisation that leads efforts to improve the country’s cyber security capabilities and protect and defend denizens from hackers and cyber attackers. 

Sustainable business practices

Sustainability is more than just a buzzword promise. Its growing importance is in response to the ongoing issue of climate change and its environmental effects. Moreover, according to a 2021 survey conducted by Deloitte Global, more than 80% of business executives are concerned about the climate crisis. 

There are plenty of forward-thinking businesses that have already adopted sustainable business practices before. However, now, it is increasingly becoming a crucial factor for stakeholders, potential employees, and even the government.

Accelerated digital transformation

Artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), cloud computing, blockchain, and super-fast network are just a few examples of the latest digital innovations that businesses have been utilising in the past couple of years. 

With that said, from what we know a few years back have drastically changed. Innovations have taken existing technologies into a new realm of applications and utilisations. 

Tech and Digital Marketing Trends You Should Leverage

Of course, aside from business trends, there are also other aspects that you should be up to date on as well. 

Here are tech trends for business that you should carefully consider:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Progress in Web3
3. Increasingly Editable Nature
4. Quantum Progress
5. Progress in Autonomous System
6. More Sustainable Technology

For 2023 and the following years, these trends are looking to broaden the utilisation of tech innovations in business processes. 

As mentioned above, digital transformation has accelerated in the past couple of years, an example of this is AI. Lately, it has been integrated into a lot of web tools and even search engine platforms like Bing. AI is also used for no-coding tools with easy drag-and-drop capabilities to produce content. 

In addition, here are marketing trends that you can apply in your digital marketing strategy and content plan for 2023:

1. Influencer marketing
2. Use of chatbots
3. Voice search
4. Short-form video content

The direction of tech trends and marketing can be attributed to the increased reliance on digital tools as more companies move to remote and hybrid operations. And, as the number of active users in the past couple of years skyrocketed in response to lockdowns during the pandemic.

How these business trends will influence Australia

With that said, the business trends we see right now for 2023 and in the following years show the importance of improving certain internal aspects of every Australian business. 

Moreover, the pandemic has also changed how people work. This does not only refer to the most obvious trend, which is remote and hybrid operations. These also refer to the change of priorities for working professionals. Particularly, for better work-life balance.

Ultimately, limited monetary and human resources at the height of the pandemic gave rise to these trends. Naturally, this presents an opportunity for Australian businesses to leverage these trends and utilise innovative solutions to maintain productivity and efficiency. 

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