Small businesses say good-ol' word-of-mouth remains the most effective marketing strategy, according to a recent report from Infusionsoft.

Some 62% of small businesses surveyed cite word-of-mouth/customer referrals as a top 3 marketing strategy, by far the highest endorsement level of any tactic.

Other strategies considered effective include email (34% rank it as a top 3 tactic), networking (25%), social media (23%), search engine marketing (14%), and content marketing (13%).

Television/radio ads are viewed as the least effective marketing strategy, with just 2% of respondents ranking them in the top 3.

Below, additional key findings from the report, which was based on data from a survey of 408 small business Infusionsoft customers (50% B2C-focused; 28% B2B; 22% mixed).

Attitudes Toward Common Business Activities

• Regarding business-related tasks, respondents say they most enjoy serving customers and developing products.
• The least-liked activities are administrative, human resources, and financial.

Biggest Challenges

• 55% say finding enough time to get everything done is a huge business challenge.
• 43% struggle with managing everything themselves.
• 40% say finding enough money to invest in their ideas is a huge challenge.

About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 408 small business Infusionsoft customers (50% B2C-focused; 28% B2B; 22% mixed).