American Small Businesses Report Growth in Customers and Revenue

Looking ahead to 2012, micro businesses said that the two channels they will rely on to increase their customer base will be referrals and direct mail. Both got 25 percent of responses, followed by website traffic at 16 percent.

“It’s not surprising that micro businesses continue to use the most tried and true method of marketing, word-of-mouth,” continued LeBlanc. “Social media is a natural extension of that. We also find it interesting that direct mail is a channel micro businesses believe will help them to acquire more customers in 2012. If they are able to bridge the gap between offline and online marketing, they will undoubtedly be more effective in achieving their goals.”