More companies are apparently turning to Twitter to market their businesses, according to the latest Citibank small-business survey.
Approximately 36 percent of small-business owners report using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, compared with 19 percent last year.
A whopping 68 percent surveyed said they would increase marketing efforts in 2011 and 54 percent said they plan to offer new products and services.
Expansion beyond the web appears bright as well.
Of the 38 percent of small-business owners who plan some form of physical and client-based expansion this year, nearly half ”“ 49 percent ”“ plan to do so at a regional level.
About 18 percent plan a national expansion and 16 percent, a global expansion.
When surveyed on hiring, about 19 percent of respondents indicated plans to increase their workforce within the next 12 months, up from the 14 percent reported in January.
Still, workforce numbers may not deviate too much, as 74 percent of small-business owners plan to retain the same number of employees this year. About 7 percent plan to reduce the number of jobs at their company.
When asked about negative impacts on their business this year, about 33 percent said gas and energy costs would have the most impact. About 18 percent credit the rising cost of raw materials and 15 percent, inflation, as having a negative effect on their business practices.
As for what would help them in business, about 37 percent surveyed said tax reductions and 19 percent said lower health care costs would have the greatest positive impact.
Citi survey findings on business outlook and optimism were relatively similar to Insperity”™s latest Business Confidence Survey.
The economy was listed as the top short-term concern of small-business owners, followed by 46 percent who said rising health care costs were a major concern.
On the plus side, about 76 percent of small-and-medium-sized-business owners report they are meeting or exceeding performance plans for 2011.
Still, employers are making conservative compensation decisions, Insperity reported, with about 54 percent of survey participants planning to maintain employee compensation at current levels throughout 2011. About 31 percent of respondents planned compensation increases, with 3 percent reporting planned decreases.
The Citibank poll was conducted by a third-party company via telephone among a national random sampling of 1,004 small businesses in the U.S. with annual revenues of more than $100,000 and no more than 100 employees.
Insperity is a global business and human resource advisory firm based in Houston.
