Small Business Marketing Trends Report PDF Free Download
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Small Business
Marketing Trends
Report
2026 EDITION
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 2
Table of
contents
03 Introduction
04 The who, what, and where of this report
A breakdown of the locations and industries of the businesses we surveyed to build the
foundation of this report.
07 The most popular and effective small business marketing strategies
What types of strategies SMBs are currently invested in and how they feel about their results.
13 Future planning: How small businesses will evolve in 2026
A behind-the-scenes look at what SMBs are planning for the next 12 months.
18 Time and tech: How small businesses are managing their marketing
How much time SMBs are spending on their marketing each week and the tools and
technology (like AI) helping them keep it running smoothly.
24 Key takeaways
What the data means for your business and how it can help you get a leg up on the
competition in 2026.
28 Get ahead of the game
Need support for your 2026 marketing planning and strategy? We can help.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 3
Introduction
How are other small businesses investing their marketing
budgets, how much are they spending, and what are their
greatest challenges? Wouldn’t you like to know…
Luckily, we’ve got the answers to your most pressing small
business marketing questions—with the data to back it
up—in our second annual Small Business Marketing Trends
Report! We surveyed over 300 small business owners to
understand the current state of their marketing strategies,
what exactly they’re planning next year, how they’re using
AI, and so much more.
In this report, we’re sharing all the data we gathered plus
a wealth of strategic information and insights to help you
understand the competitive landscape and inform your
small business marketing planning in 2026.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 4
The who, what, and
where of this report
Here’s a breakdown of the locations and industries of the
businesses we surveyed to build the foundation of this report.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 5
We were thrilled to have such a wide range of survey
respondents that truly reflect the small business
landscape. Businesses surveyed were spread out across
industries, location (although the vast majority—87%—
were in the US or Canada), and size (which we’ll cover
more next).
What industry is your business in?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 6
To get a peek into how the small
businesses we surveyed operate,
we wanted to know their size
and current marketing budget.
Unsurprisingly, smaller businesses
tend to have smaller budgets.
When drilling into the data further,
we found that businesses with
10 or fewer employees were 55%
more likely to have a marketing
budget under $500 a month and
were 45% more likely to have no
full-time employees dedicated
to marketing. That means these
smaller businesses are truly tasked
with doing more for less.
How many full-time employees
does your business have? What is your monthly
marketing budget?
Does your business have employees
dedicated to marketing full-time?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 7
The most popular and
effective small business
marketing strategies
To better understand the current state of small business
marketing, we asked about what types of strategies SMBs are
currently investing in and how they feel about their results.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 8
The three most-used marketing channels this year are
unpaid social media marketing (66%), social media ads
(56%), and SEO and email marketing (53%). It makes sense:
These channels are extremely effective for small businesses
and can help them easily connect with their audiences
where they’re spending time online.
Last year, only 40% of the small businesses we surveyed
were investing in search advertising. That percentage
increased to 45% this year, but it’s still surprisingly low
given how effective search advertising is at driving leads.
That percentage was even lower (30%) for small businesses
with a monthly marketing budget under $1,000. This could
be a missed opportunity for that remaining 70% of these
businesses, especially because 65% of people will click on a
search ad when they’re looking to make a purchase.
It was also surprising to see free tactics like reputation
management and video marketing and advertising so low
on the list (28% and 26%, respectively). These strategies
are important for small and local businesses to increase
their visibility on search engines and drive more website
trafc—not to mention they had some of the highest rates
of satisfaction (we’ll talk more about this later).
What marketing/advertising channels
and tactics are you currently using?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 9
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work for your business? We’ve got you covered in this complete guide:
Social Media Marketing 101
Just like in last year’s report, Facebook is still the top social channel for
most small businesses. Over 90% of small businesses surveyed are using
Facebook as part of their social media marketing (up from 76% last year),
followed by Instagram at 74% (up from 63%), and LinkedIn at 48% (up from
43%). This means businesses know where to nd their audience: Facebook
is the most popular social media platform for users, and Instagram is not far
behind. This growth year over year also shows that businesses are nding
social media marketing to be an effective channel to reach their audience—
and their goals.
Surprisingly, fewer small businesses are investing in TikTok this year (22%)
compared to last year (34%). This could be due to growing competition on
the platform and the need to consistently post to see measurable growth—
it’s not super sustainable for many SMBs unless they have a strong online
presence and ability to be ahead of the latest trends. It could also be due
to the potential TikTok bans that have occurred throughout the year—the
uncertainty around TikTok’s future leads it to be an unstable investment for
small businesses with already limited budget.
Snapchat and Pinterest were, once again, the least-used platforms by the
small businesses we surveyed at 3% and 16%, respectively.
What social media channels does your
business use for marketing?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 10
Last year, search advertising topped the list as
the tactic that most small businesses are satised
with. But this year, video marketing and advertising
and reputation management led the pack. This
is interesting given that these were two of the
lesser-used tactics reported by SMBs. Reputation
management is a largely free tactic that can net big
returns in the form of new and repeat customers.
Search advertising was high on the list this year.
Search advertising is a proven effective way to drive
website trafc when it counts—when people are
actually looking for a product or service to buy—which
leads to direct conversions.
SMBs also reported that they are satised with
the results they’re seeing from tactics like SEO,
content marketing, and email marketing. These, like
reputation management, are largely free or low-
investment strategies meant to educate and engage
potential customers, so they’re worthwhile strategies
for SMBs with limited budgets.
How satised are you with the results you get from each
marketing/advertising channel and tactic you’re using?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 11
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What are your best sources of
getting new leads and customers?
The majority (83%) of small businesses said
customer referrals are their best source for
customer acquisition (up from 65% last year), and
the rate was even higher (87%--up from 75% last
year) for businesses with 10 or fewer full-time
employees.
For nearly half of all the businesses we surveyed
(46%), digital marketing and online advertising was
a top source for new customers and leads. However,
this varied a little depending on business size and
budget—only 37% of businesses with a budget of
$1,000 or less said this was a top source compared
to 71% of businesses with a monthly budget of
$10,000 or more. This isn’t surprising given it
requires a healthy budget to successfully run online
advertising campaigns—the more you have to
spend, theoretically, the better results you can see.
It’s interesting to see that, despite SEO challenges
and dips in website trafc over the year, more than
half of SMBs we surveyed noted organic and direct
website trafc as a top source for new customers.
This speaks to the importance of driving and
converting website trafc through those online
advertising channels and an optimized website.
Percentage who say customer
referrals is top source, by size
of business
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 12
When asked about which metrics are most
important to them, the majority of SMBs
surveyed answered that they all are. Sales
and revenue was the top reported metric,
with 78% indicating it is “very important,”
followed closely by return on investment
(73%). Other important metrics, including
conversion rate and cost per lead, are
directly tied to online advertising.
Website trafc was another important
metric for SMBs—which has become
even more challenging to drive over the
last year. Website trafc is expected to
continue declining in 2026.
What performance metrics are most
important to your business?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 13
Future planning:
How small businesses
will evolve in 2026
Now that we have a grasp on the current state of marketing,
let’s look at what small businesses are planning for the next
year to help inform your strategy.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 14
66% of small businesses think economic uncertainty
will be somewhat or very challenging in the coming
year—this is up signicantly from just 48% last year.
This isn’t surprising given continued inflation and
the introduction of tariffs that have many businesses
worried about the potential impact they might
experience. This may include supply chain challenges,
increased operational costs, and the need to increase
prices—which could lead to customer complaints or
fewer purchases overall. The uncertainty can make it
difcult to accurately plan and budget—something
many businesses are feeling as we enter a new year.
Getting new leads and customers continues to
be a concern for SMBs, with 59% saying it will be
challenging in 2026 (17% of those noted it will be very
challenging). Small businesses are also concerned
about maximizing their budget. This is the biggest
concern for businesses with a smaller monthly
marketing budget.
On the other hand, SMBs feel condent about their
ability to both keep up with competitors and adapt to
marketing platform changes. They also feel condent
about customer retention—fewer than 1 in 10 said this
area is “very challenging.” Way to go!
What are the biggest challenges your business
will face in 2026?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 15
Despite economic challenges, only 8% of
small businesses are planning to decrease
their marketing budgets in 2026. Nearly
40% of small businesses are planning
to increase their marketing budgets—
this comes after almost half planned
to increase their budgets in 2025. The
majority (54%) of small businesses plan to
keep the same budgets.
Most SMBs are increasing their budgets
to drive more leads and sales. This makes
sense as many marketing strategies built
around lead acquisition require budget,
and if you’re getting a good return on your
investment, it’s easy to scale. In other
words, you can typically drive more leads
by spending more.
For those decreasing their budgets, the
majority (57%) are doing so because of the
economy. This is understandable after a
couple of years of record inflation and the
addition of tariffs in 2025.
Do you expect your marketing budget to increase
or decrease in 2026?
Why are you increasing
your budget?
Why are you decreasing
your budget?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 16
To better understand where small
businesses are planning to allocate
their marketing budgets in 2026,
we asked how they’ll be investing in
these top strategies. Over half plan
to invest more in video marketing
and advertising (53%), while 47%
plan to invest more in both search
advertising and social media
advertising.
Most SMBs are planning to keep their
investments roughly the same for
many tactics, including SEO, email
marketing, social media marketing,
reputation management, website
chat, and more, while 24% plan to
invest less in traditional media in
2026—this is up from 16% in last
year’s report.
Are you planning to invest more or less in these channels in 2026?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 17
Over 30% of small businesses we surveyed who are
not currently using social media marketing as part
of their strategy are planning to invest in it over
the next 12 months. 26% are planning to invest in
SEO while 25% are planning to invest in both video
marketing and advertising and content marketing.
Surprisingly, only 23% of those not currently running
search advertising campaigns are planning to invest
in them in 2026.
The focus on largely unpaid strategies in 2026 isn’t
shocking given the economic challenges many SMBs
are bracing for in the coming year—investing in
low-cost strategies can be a good bet to maximize
budgets without sacricing an online presence.
However, as many platforms are becoming more pay-
to-play focused, it can be detrimental to forgo online
advertising altogether—online ads can help you
expand your existing audience and reach a targeted
segment of most likely customers.
Website chat once again tops the list of tactics small
businesses are planning not to invest in through
2026. Only 13% said they will be adding this to their
marketing arsenal. This is a little surprising given this
marketing tactic is easy to implement and can help
capture and convert more website visitors, especially
from channels like search ads, social ads, and SEO,
which many SMBs surveyed will be newly investing in.
For these channels and tactics you are not currently
using, are you planning to invest in them in the next
12 months?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 18
Time and tech:
How small businesses are
managing their marketing
Small businesses are busy. We wanted to understand how
much time they were spending on their marketing each week
and what tools and technology (like AI) were helping them keep
it all running smoothly.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 19
The majority (60%) of SMBs surveyed
spend between 1-10 hours per week on
marketing. This rate was higher for small
businesses with 10 or fewer employees
(72%) and lower for those with 50 or more
employees (50%). Because SMBs with
fewer employees and smaller marketing
budgets tend to have fewer (or no)
employees dedicated solely to marketing,
their day-to-day schedules are spread
across a range of activities that may
include marketing.
We’re also able to see that those with a
higher marketing budget are spending
more time overall on marketing each
week—64% of businesses with a monthly
budget of $10,000+ were spending over 10
hours per week on marketing—which could
point to them performing all marketing
duties in house.
How much time do you spend on your marketing per week?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 20
SMBs are using a variety of available tools to
help market their businesses. Over 70% are
using website analytics like Google Analytics—an
almost 50% increase year over year, and 63% are
using design tools like Canva or InDesign—a 47%
increase year over year.
Although the rate of use increased a bit, it was
surprising to see that so few SMBs (32%) are
using lead management software to help them
keep up with leads driven from their marketing
strategies.
Many of these tools are available in free
versions, which are great for small businesses
with low budgets.
What tools and software do you use to
help with marketing your business?
Speaking of free tools...try some of ours:
Free Keyword Tool
Free Google Ads Grader
Free Website Grader
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 21
AI has evolved from a nice-to-have to a
must, and once again, nearly 60% of SMBs
are already using it for some part of their
marketing. The vast majority (81%) are
using it for content creation—up from 52%
last year, with other popular applications
including design (54%) and social media
management (35%).
84% of small businesses said they’re using
AI to save time—up from 61% last year, and
78% said they use it to help them generate
ideas—up from 50%. This is likely due to
SMBs adopting AI and nding practical and
effective use cases for their businesses.
As AI continues to grow, it will be crucial
for small businesses to continue adopting
AI tools, tricks, and trends to stay ahead
of the curve, maximize productivity, and
expedite tedious processes.
How are you using AI? Why are you using AI?
Are you using AI for any part of your marketing?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 22
When it comes to marketing partners,
only 34% of the SMBs we surveyed are
currently working with at least one. This is
a complete reversal from our results last
year when 60% of the SMBs we surveyed
were working with a marketing partner.
Of those SMBs working with a marketing
partner, 59% are working with one or more,
while nearly 20% are working with four or
more—up from 9% last year.
Are you working with a marketing partner or
agency for any part of your marketing?
If yes,
how many?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 23
When it comes to nding the right
marketing partner, the price is right—
small businesses noted that price is
most important, followed by proven
results (although 80% deemed this
“very important”), and reporting
transparency. Basically, they want
to make sure they’re paying for real
results from a proven partner.
Surprisingly, a one-stop shop was
less important to small businesses
(although still important at 74%),
but only 38% categorized it as “very
important.”
What’s most important to you in a marketing partner?
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 24
Key takeaways
We’ve covered a lot of ground and shared a lot of data,
but what does it actually mean for your business and
how can it help inform your planning for 2026? We’re
breaking down the key takeaways.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 25
!
Economic conditions and uncertainty are the
number one challenge small businesses are
facing in 2026, yet despite this, only a minority
(8%) are planning to decrease their budgets—
a smaller percentage than last year’s 16%.
But more SMBs are planning to maintain their
budgets in 2026 (54%) as opposed to 2025
when 49% planned to increase budgets and
35% planned to keep the same budgets.
This shows that while SMBs are worried about
what the economic changes and uncertainty
will bring, they’re largely condent in their
existing strategies and investments—opting to
maintain the status quo rather than make any
large shake-ups.
Businesses are worried
about the economy, but
they’re staying the course
Most small businesses
continue to do a lot with
little budget
Most of the SMBs we surveyed are running their
strategies across multiple marketing channels—
but 52% have monthly marketing budgets under
$1,000 and 50% have no employees dedicated
to marketing.
This means SMBs are truly doing a lot with little
(to no) budget—and without employees whose
position is dedicated to this function.
This can make getting new leads and growing or
expanding their businesses (two top marketing
goals) a big challenge. Many lead generating
strategies, such as search advertising and social
ads, require a budget—meaning many of these
businesses are relying on unpaid tactics to fulll
their marketing goals.
$
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 26
Unpaid strategies are dominating
SMB marketing plans
Speaking of… the most popular marketing channels for
small businesses were mostly unpaid, including social media
marketing, email marketing, SEO, and online listings and
directories.
This makes sense due to budget constraints but may not be
maximizing time or contributing to lead generation. Many of
these strategies take a lot of time—which can be especially
challenging without employees fully dedicated to mastering their
implementation.
It’s also interesting to note that some of these strategies,
including online listings and social media marketing, had some
of the lowest rates of satisfaction. This could be due to SMBs
relying on them to drive leads and new customers when their
main purpose is for brand building. They can also be difcult
to measure direct impacts such as sales and revenue, return on
investment, or conversion rate and cost per lead—the metrics
SMBs noted are most important.
Social ads are outpacing search
ads in popularity
56% of small businesses are currently running social ads while
only 45% are running search ads. This could speak to the recent
search engine results page shake-ups (like the introduction of AI
Overviews pushing results down the page) or the cost difference
between the two platforms—our recent benchmarks showed
that Facebook Lead Ads have an average cost per lead of $27.66
while Google Ads have an average cost per lead of $70.11.
It could also speak to the effectiveness of a paid plus organic
approach on social media sites. Building a solid social media
presence that includes both of these strategies can help you
grow your audience and keep them engaged.
Or it could simply be that running ads on social media platforms
is often easier than running ads on platforms like Google and
Microsoft. Many people are already familiar with social media
sites, and ads here are fairly intuitive to run, while search
advertising is much more complex and requires hands-on testing
and optimization for success.
The 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report 27
While the number of SMBs using AI as part of their marketing strategy
remained the same year over year, more respondents indicated they
were using it to save time and come up with ideas.
AI has introduced even more advanced features over the last 12
months and become a normal part of most peoples’ lives. SMBs are
likely becoming more procient in using it to speed up once tedious
and time-consuming processes.
51% of businesses not currently investing in video marketing are
planning to do so next year, followed by content marketing and
reputation management. This shows that businesses are focused
on building their brand and exploring new channels to connect with
prospects.
As video continues to grow in popularity—from the ubiquitousness
of YouTube to the rise of TikTok—it only makes sense that more and
more SMBs will get into the game and nd ways to engage with their
audiences on these platforms.
AI proves its worth
SMBs are planning to invest more
in video in 2026
Let’s talk
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