“Doing more with less” has become a common refrain in America over the last few years and new survey data from Constant Contact®, Inc., released in conjunction with Small Business Week, indicates that small businesses are getting quite good at doing just that. Small businesses surveyed reported a strong 2013, with almost 40 percent saying their revenues increased 10 percent or more over 2012, despite the fact that 65 percent have had to make concessions to economic pressures, from reducing operating costs and marketing budgets, to changing their offerings, and more. The 2013 revenue upswing has small business owners feeling optimistic about what lies ahead, with an overwhelming majority (81 percent) expecting revenues to continue to rise in 2014.

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2. Revenue on the Rise
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Almost 40 percent of SMBs
said their 2013 revenues
increased 10 percent or more
over 2012.
13%
26%
23%
22%
7%
6%
3%
Increased greater
than 25%
Increased between
10 and 25%
Increased less
than 10%
Stayed the same Decreased less
than 10%
Decreased
between 10 and
25%
Decreased greater
than 25%

3. Great Expectations
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81 percent of SMBs expect
revenues to increase in 2014.
13%
38%
30%
15%
2%
1% 1%
Increase greater
than 25%
Increase between
10 and 25%
Increase less than
10%
Stay the same Decrease less than
10%
Decrease between
10 and 25%
Decrease greater
than 25%

4. Cash Flow
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64%
26%
8%
2%
Yes, I have adequate cash flow
No, and it is preventing me from growing
my business
No, and it is barely enough to maintain
current operations
No, and my business may not survive the
next 12 months
The majority of SMBs have adequate
cash flow.

5. Optimism & Jobs
5
27%
49%
24%
Yes
No
Unsure
Here is how SMBs
responded when asked if
they’ll be hiring over the
next 12 months.

6. Growing Marketing Opportunities = More Vendors
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43.5%
49%
7.5%
1 to 2 3 to 4 5+
The majority of SMBs
are working with
multiple vendors.

7. 82% of respondents say they have
adopted multi-channel marketing
programs.
Of the 73% who said they were
successful, the following gains were
cited:
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• More customer engagement (73 percent)
• More new customers (57 percent)
• More website traffic (54 percent)
• Increased event attendance (42 percent)
• More revenue (40 percent)
• More referrals (39 percent)

8. However, for the 27 percent who have
not indicated success with their multi-
channel marketing efforts, their most-
cited reasons are:
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• Don’t know if their customers are
using all the channels (59 percent)
• Don’t know how to measure success
across all the channels (35 percent)
• Find it too time-consuming to get
everything done across all the
platforms (32 percent)
• Don’t know how to use all of the
platforms (26 percent)
• Too difficult to get the messaging and
looks right (15 percent)
• Hard to keep my contacts straight (15
percent)

9. Drawbacks of Using Multiple Tools
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15%
33%
45%
46%
48%
Other
Cost
Keeping contact information up to date everywhere
Keeping a consistent look and feel
Learning how to use different interfaces
Using multiple online marketing tools can lead to hassles for SMBs,
making one-stop shop solutions like Constant Contact’s Toolkit desirable.

10. About the Data
This Constant Contact data was compiled from a survey administered in March 2014
to 1,305 participants in the Constant Contact Small Biz Council – a research panel of
US small businesses and nonprofits recruited from the Constant Contact customer
base. The survey is part of an ongoing series about the state of small businesses and
the ways they connect with, and grow, their audiences.
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