Small Business Pulse Report

Copyright © 2012 Constant Contact Inc. 1

Constant Contact Small Business PulseThe Health and Wellness of Small Businesses

Based on Research Conducted in May 2012


In This Report

What’s Keeping SMBs Up at Night? Small Business Resources and Hiring SMB Marketing Activities About This Report


1. What’s Keeping Small Businesses Up At Night?


Attracting new customers, engaging existing customers, and getting referrals are the top concerns for small businesses surveyed

How to

attr

act n

ew cu

stom

ers

How to

conn

ect a

nd b

ette

r eng

age

with e

xistin

g cu

stom

ers

How to

get

refe

rrals

from

curre

nt cu

stom

ers

How to

mak

e m

y mar

ketin

g do

llars

go

furth

er

How to

iden

tify a

nd se

lect

the

best

mar

ketin

g to

ols

How to

mea

sure

the

impa

ct of

my m

arke

ting

cam

paig

ns

How to

stay

on

top

of th

e la

test

in o

nlin

e m

arke

ting

trend

s

Havin

g a

mor

e in

tegr

ated

com

mun

icatio

n str

ateg

y

Gettin

g fu

ndin

gOth

er0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

76%

49%

41%

34%31%

26% 25%20%

17%

5%

79%

48%43%

38%33%

28%26%

20% 18%

4%

71%

50%

38%

26% 27%23% 24%

20%16%

8%

When you think about how to run your organization most effectively, which of the following “keeps you up at night”?

Total B2C B2B


Attracting new customers is the #1 challenge facing SMBs; getting funding is also a large challenge

0%

20%

40%

60%

80% 69%

45%

26%18% 14% 14% 10% 11% 12%

68%

41%

24% 20%11% 15% 11% 11% 12%

69%

52%

29%16% 18% 13% 9% 11% 12%

Of the items that keep you up at night, which do you rank #1?

Total B2C B2B


Attracting new customers, engaging existing customers, and getting referrals are the top issues for small businesses

How to

attr

act n

ew c

usto

mer

s

How to

con

nect

and

bet

ter e

ngag

e with

exis

ting

cust

omer

s

How to

get

refe

rrals

from

cur

rent

cus

tom

ers

How to

mak

e m

y m

arke

ting

dolla

rs g

o fu

rther

How to

iden

tify

and

selec

t the

bes

t mar

ketin

g to

ols

How to

mea

sure

the

impa

ct o

f my

mar

ketin

g ca

mpa

igns

How to

sta

y on

top

of th

e lat

est i

n on

line

mar

ketin

g tre

nds

Having

a m

ore

integ

rate

d co

mm

unica

tion

stra

tegy

Gettin

g fu

nding

Other

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

76%

49%41%

34% 31%26% 25%

20% 17%

5%

79%

48%43%

38%33%

28% 26%20% 18%

4%

71%

50%

38%

26% 27%23% 24%

20%16%

8%

When you think about how to run your organization most effectively, which of the following “keeps you up at night”?

Total B2C B2B


2. The Health of Small Businesses


The majority of small businesses surveyed are stable or growing compared to 2011

Revenues increased Revenues remained flat Revenues decreased0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

59%

30%

11%

59%

31%

10%

60%

28%

12%

How has your organization done so far this year?

Total

B2C

B2B


Many SMBs are expecting significant revenue growth this year, few are expecting a major decrease

79% of small businesses expect 2012 revenues to increase over their 2011 revenues with 52% expecting revenues to increase more than 10%.

Increase more than 10% Increase less than 10% Remain flat Decrease less than 10% Decrease more than 10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

52%

27%

13%

4% 3%

50%

30%

13%

4% 4%

54%

23%

14%

5%3%

What are your revenue expectations this year compared to last year? I expect my revenues to…

Total

B2C

B2B


Cash flow is affecting growth for over 40% of small businesses

Despite operating costs having increased for 45% of small businesses, 57% of small businesses have adequate cash flow to run their business effectively.

19% of small businesses have sought funding this year, of which 16% got some or all of the funding they needed.

0%

20%

40%

60%57%

30%

11%

53%

32%

13%

63%

27%

8%

Is your cash flow sufficient to run your organization effectively?

Total

B2C

B2B


Over half of small businesses are not planning to hire more FTEs in the next 6 months

So far this year 63% of small businesses have kept the number of employees the same. 27% of small businesses have increased the number of employees.

50% have kept payroll the same, while 38% have increased payroll.

No, I’m doing fine as is Yes No, I need to but can’t Unsure0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

47%

18% 19%16%

52%

13%

21%

13%

40%

25%

15%20%

Will you be hiring additional full-time equivalent (FTE) employees in the next 6 months?

Total

B2C

B2B


3. Small Business Marketing


Marketing spend has stayed steady for most small businesses surveyed

Increased Decreased Stayed the same0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

29%

12%

60%

29%

12%

59%

28%

11%

61%

So far this year, the marketing budget has...

Total B2C B2B


Email marketing, websites, and in person interactions are most often effective for small businesses

Email marketing

Website In-person in-teractions

Social media marketing

Events Phone calls (for lead

generation, etc.)

Public rela-tions

Direct mail Traditional advertising (print, radio,

TV, etc.)

Online advertis-ing (paid search,

etc.)

Online surveys and polls

Other, please spec-

ify

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%83%

71%68%

49%

41%

33%

22% 21%17% 17%

5%8%

84%

72%

64%

56%

43%

23% 22% 22% 22%18%

5%8%

81%

70%

75%

38% 38%

49%

22%19%

10%

15%

4%

9%

Which marketing activities do you find to be effective for your organization today?

Total B2C B2B


Small businesses are still most driven by in person interactions

0%20%40%60% 48%

28% 20% 23% 17% 17% 15% 11% 11% 6%

40% 33%21% 27% 18% 18% 13% 13% 12%

3%

59%

20% 17% 15% 14% 17% 17%8% 8% 10%

Of the items you find to be effective, which do you rank as the #1 most effective?

Total B2C B2B

0%30%60%

59%

20% 17% 15% 14% 17% 17% 8% 8% 10%

B2Bs are even more in person focused


Of those using social media, Facebook is far and away the most effective, even for B2Bs

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Google+ YouTube Yelp Other, please specify

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

75%

7% 10%1% 1% 3% 2% 2%

83%

6% 3% 1% 2% 2% 2% 2%

55%

11%

25%

0% 1%6%

0% 2%

If social media is ranked in the top 3, which tool do you find the most effective?

Total

B2C

B2B


Still, SMBs need more help with social media marketing

Social

med

ia m

arke

ting

Email

mar

ketin

g

Web

site

Online

adv

ertis

ing (p

aid s

earc

h, e

tc.)

Online

sur

veys

and

poll

s

Public

relat

ions

Phone

call

s (fo

r lea

d ge

nera

tion,

etc

.)

Event

s

Direct

mail

In-p

erso

n int

erac

tions

Tradit

ional

adve

rtisin

g (p

rint,

radio

, tv)

Other

, plea

se s

pecif

y0%

20%

40%

60%59%

40%30% 25%

19% 18% 16% 13% 11% 9% 9% 5%

66%

38%33% 29%

19% 19%12% 16%

11% 8% 9%4%

47% 42%

25%19% 19% 17%

23%

9% 12% 11% 9% 8%

Which marketing activities do you need help with?

Total B2C B2B

59% of Small Business ranked social media as the marketing channel they need the most help with


About this study

This is the first wave of an ongoing study about the state of small businesses and the ways they connect with and grow their audiences.

We surveyed over 1000 participants in the Constant Contact Small Biz Council – a research panel of US small businesses and nonprofits recruited from the Constant Contact customer base – between April 24 and May 8, 2012.

This preliminary report includes responses from 728 participants including 448 business-to-consumer organizations and 280 business-to-business organizations.

Media ContactErika DornausConstant Contact(781) [email protected]

74%

14%

6%6%

0-10

11-25

26-50

51+

Number of employees for businesses included in this study