Small businesses use nearly eight channels to promote their business. Marketing has never been more complex and tracking performance is challenging. But SMBs say referrals, websites and social media are top drivers of new business.

According to a new study, the top channels were grouped into three clusters. Referrals were alone at the top with 66% of SMBs saying they are a top driver of new business. The second cluster featured company websites (47%) and social media (44%). The third cluster featured events (28%), newspaper ads (24%), email marketing (23%) and online ads (21%).

The data is reflective of broadening marketing budgets among SMBs. With 20% or more of SMBs calling seven different channels "top drivers" of new business, small advertisers appear to be aware of the importance of diversifying media spend, both online and offline.