Last week we reported on research that suggested that just 10% of small businesses use Twitter as part of their marketing strategy.

It goes without saying that this is a surprisingly low number, and even more so when you consider that some 60% of small businesses who do use Twitter find it effective for engaging with their customers.

Engagement marketing firm Constant Contact surveyed 1,972 small business owners and employees in October 2011, and discovered that Twitter (60%, as above) is second to only Facebook (86%) amongst preferred methods for small business marketing (LinkedIn rated 55%), while video sharing (71%) is also seen as effective.

Facebook continues to be the social tool de jour for small businesses – a heady 96% say that they use it.

Other key takeaways from this infographic:

• 81% of small businesses now use social media (up from 73% earlier this year)
• 51% say their customers use social media (up from 38%)
• 67% say that social media is easy to use

(Source: Constant Contact. Top image credit: iQoncept via Shutterstock.)