Dear Big Tech: We Want Our Analogue Lives Back

Maybe We Don't Need More Digital. Maybe We Need Better Digital.

Remember when you could leave the house without your phone?

You could go for a walk without checking emails. You could have dinner without a notification popping up. You could take a weekend away without feeling like you needed to stay connected to work.

It sounds strange now.

These days, our phones do almost everything. They are our camera, calendar, map, bank, shopping centre, newspaper and entertainment. For many small business owners, they are also the office.

Technology has made life easier in many ways, but there is a growing feeling that we might be a little too connected. More people are starting to look for ways to spend less time online and more time enjoying the real world.

Maybe that's why the analogue life is making a comeback.

The return of the analogue life

Walk into a bookshop and you'll see people buying physical books again. Film cameras are becoming popular with younger generations who never grew up using them. Vinyl records are back on shelves, and paper diaries and notebooks are finding their way back onto desks.

People are also making a conscious effort to put their phones away. Going for a walk without listening to something. Having dinner without checking a screen. Spending time with friends without taking a photo for social media.

It's not that people hate technology. Most of us couldn't imagine running our lives without it.

We are simply getting tired of being connected all the time.

And honestly, who can blame us?

Small business owners never really switch off

If you own a small business in Perth, you'll probably understand this better than most.

Your phone is probably never too far away. A customer sends a message at 8pm, so you quickly reply. You check your emails on Sunday morning because you're already awake. You remember that you haven't posted anything on Instagram for a few days, so you quickly put something together.

Then another email arrives.

Before you know it, your quiet Sunday morning has turned into another couple of hours of work.

The problem isn't that we have phones. The problem is that phones have made it incredibly easy to work at any time.

When your customers can reach you whenever they want, it can feel like you should always be available.

But just because you can reply to a customer at 9pm doesn't mean you have to.

Perth businesses still need digital

Now, we might be a little biased here. We're a Perth digital agency, so we're certainly not going to tell you to throw your phone into the Swan and go back to using a fax machine.

Digital is incredibly useful for small businesses.

A good website can help customers find your business and understand what you offer. Google can help someone looking for a service in their local area discover you. Online bookings can save hours of phone calls and emails, while a good ecommerce website can allow customers to buy from you at any time of day.

Digital marketing can also give small Perth businesses a chance to compete with much larger businesses. You don't need a huge marketing department to reach the right people anymore.

So no, we're not anti-digital.

We just think there can be too much of a good thing.

Your digital should make life easier

For us, good digital has a very simple job: it should make life easier.

Your website should answer your customers' questions without making them search through five different pages. Your booking system should save you time rather than create more work. Your marketing should help the right customers find you instead of leaving you wondering what you're supposed to post every day.

The question shouldn't always be, "How can I do more online?"

A better question is, "How can I make this easier?"

That's a much better way to think about digital marketing.

Imagine your website doing some of the work for you while you're busy running your business. A customer finds you through Google, visits your website, understands what you do, finds the information they need and gets in touch or makes a booking.

You didn't need to answer a phone call. You didn't need to send three emails. You didn't need to stop what you were doing.

That's what good digital should do. It should give you some of your time back.

Digital shouldn't replace real life

This is where we think the analogue trend gets interesting.

People aren't really asking for a world without technology. They're asking for technology to fit around their lives instead of taking over them.

They want to spend more time with their families. They want to go to the beach without checking their emails. They want to have dinner without their phone sitting beside their plate. They want to take a weekend off without worrying about what is happening in their business.

And the funny thing is that good digital can actually help make some of that possible.

The right website can answer questions for you. The right online booking system can manage appointments. The right automation can take care of repetitive tasks. Good SEO can help customers find you without you having to constantly tell everyone that your business exists.

The goal isn't to remove digital from our lives.

It's to make digital work harder, so we don't have to.

Maybe we just need better digital

We're not going back to the 1990s, and we're probably not giving up Google Maps anytime soon.

But maybe we don't need to.

Maybe the answer isn't less technology. Maybe it's better technology.

Technology that works quietly in the background. Technology that helps customers find you, answers their questions and saves you time. Technology that lets you get through your working day without feeling like you need to be online every minute of it.

For small business owners, this can make a real difference.

Your business is important, but it shouldn't have to take over your entire life.

There should still be time for family, friends, weekends away, long lunches, walks along the beach and the occasional afternoon where your phone stays in your pocket.

Let's make digital work for you

At Digital Marketing Crew, we're a Perth-based digital agency helping small businesses get more from their websites, SEO and digital marketing.

We believe digital should make running your business easier, not give you another job to do.

If you're spending too much time worrying about your website, Google, social media or online marketing, it might be time to take a different approach.

You run the business. We'll help with the digital stuff.

No complicated jargon. No endless meetings. No telling you that you need to post 17 times a day.

Just simple, smart digital marketing that works for your business.

Ready to make your digital life a little easier?

Visit Digital Marketing Crew and let's have a chat.

Because sometimes, the best thing technology can do is give you more time away from it.