On October 10, 2019, ACT | The App Association visited Monday Night Brewing Garage, an Atlanta, Georgia based brewery, to engage with developers about the local tech community, Georgia’s app economy, and general trends and opportunities for tech businesses. App Association member Southern DNA’s Chris Adams spoke at the event. Below, Chris explains how Southern DNA leverages the tools platforms provide small businesses to grow their business and best serve their clients.
I’m Christopher Adams, CEO and co-founder of Southern DNA in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m one of the thousands of app developers powering a $1.7 trillion economy. Southern DNA is a marketing technology agency founded in 2016 to bring big agency experience and customer intimacy to small and medium-sized organizations in need of marketing technology support and strategy. We focus on building custom software solutions, websites, and native and web apps.
My co-founder, Greg Haygood, and I worked together for almost a decade for a digital marketing agency in Atlanta. When a larger organization acquired the agency we were working for, we knew that changes in the company structure would change how we worked with clients. The day-to-day interaction with clients and involvement with their projects was something we relished and now feared would suffer in a new environment. We knew that our hands-on approach to the work built trust with our clients — it was the way we liked to work, and it led to longer engagements. That environment and that way of working was something we wanted to continue to explore, so we branched out on our own, and Southern DNA was born.
It’s one thing to have the vision and the experience to support projects, but bringing them to life is another challenge altogether. A big part of what makes our work and approach possible is the shift in access to consumers. The ubiquity of the internet and the growth of the app economy brings a level of commonality to our industry that didn’t exist pre-smartphone. We live in a time when potential customers carry billboards, storefronts, and newspapers in their pockets. Smartphones are such a normal part of our everyday lives that a target audience is actively engaging with products and businesses without provocation.
Instead of fighting for shelf space in a big box store, an organization can spend more marketing dollars on the product versus the promotion. Customers are looking for unique and interesting solutions to their needs, and Google and Apple enable small companies like Southern DNA to easily introduce solutions to the world through a commonly accepted platform. A consumer may be skeptical of a product or they may question the delivery method of an ad, but there is an unquestionable level of trust and acceptance that Google Play and Apple’s App Store provide customers.
It’s not just app stores that are helping small businesses like mine. One of the greatest aspects of the app economy is the wealth of tools and systems that make it possible for us to compete with larger organizations. We don’t have to start from scratch on every project; we don’t have to solve every problem on every initiative. We can focus on a single solution and leverage the intelligence and experience of a larger community. The cost of entry is lower, the ability to find resources and tools continues to expand, and the ability to find a niche in a market creates opportunity. The openness of our space also benefits our ability to connect with clients. The small businesses we work with know that we can seamlessly integrate with their internal teams and have the knowledge and ability to find solutions to their problems or create efficiencies, all with the use of technology. This level of access and exposure removes barriers that previously required a company to have to work with larger organization to execute a development project. With growth of the industry came a larger base of knowledge, and as that community grew, so did the trust in groups not powered by big corporations.
When Greg and I started working together nearly 10 years ago the idea of starting our own company and having a chance at success was a longshot, but the tectonic shift in marketing from traditional to digital opened doors for small agencies and individuals to find success. Using technology and smartphones as part of our everyday lives isn’t a trend that is slowing. Screen time and the number of devices continue to trend upward as more traditional paths shrink. We’ve come a long way with technology, but we’re still living in its infancy. Every day sees hundreds of new apps, websites, platforms, and software introduced to the world. It’s a thrilling time in digital space. I’m excited to be a part of this community and to be a part of the continued growth of the app economy and the small business owners who depend on it.