The hard work that goes into running a small business is anything but small. Your business may still be growing, but you can meet and exceed your goals now with the right data to back your marketing decisions. That’s why we’ve compiled this ultimate list of small business marketing statistics to help you prioritize your marketing channels, progress your strategy, and turn your small business into a big success.
Contents
- Small business marketing statistics: Our top picks
- Small business marketing budget statistics
- Small business advertising statistics
- Small business social media marketing statistics
- Stats on small business reputation management and online presence
- AI statistics for small businesses
- Small business email marketing statistics
- Statistics on small business websites and live chat
- Even more small business marketing stats
Small business marketing statistics: Our top five picks
Let’s kick off our list with the top small business marketing statistics every business owner should know.
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The top three marketing channels small businesses currently use are social media marketing, social media advertising, and search advertising.
52% of small businesses use social media marketing, followed by 47% using social media ads, and 40% using search ads—according to our Small Business Marketing Trends Report.
Only 21% of small businesses have a marketing team of five or more employees.
Most small businesses are relying on a smaller dedicated marketing team.
Almost two-thirds of small businesses say customer referrals are their best source for customer acquisition.
However, digital marketing and online advertising also topped the list at 50%.
About 47% of small business owners do all of their own marketing.
When it comes to managing your marketing, you don’t have to do it all alone. Many businesses also leverage a marketing partner to alleviate the hard work that goes into making marketing great.
Almost half of all small businesses (48%) think economic uncertainty will be somewhat or very challenging in the coming year.
This common small business challenge is followed by getting new leads and customers and making budgets stretch.
Small business marketing budget statistics
Understanding how other small businesses are planning and managing their marketing budgets can be helpful when determining how much to spend on your marketing. Consider the following data points.
Businesses with 10 or fewer employees are 31% more likely to have a marketing budget under $500 a month.
Not only that, but businesses this size are also more likely to have no full-time employees dedicated to marketing.
Most local businesses spend about 5-10% of their revenue on marketing.
However, for growing businesses, that number could climb as high as 14% or more.
Small and local businesses spend $1,000-5,000 per month on SEO.
Meanwhile, medium-sized companies can spend anywhere from $5,000-10,000 per month on SEO. Larger brands can spend anywhere from $10,000-20,000 on SEO per month, depending on where they are in their strategy.
On average, businesses allocate about 15% of their marketing budget toward social media.
Similar to SEO, this small business marketing budget statistic shows that growing businesses also prioritize social media when planning their spending.
49% of small businesses plan on increasing their marketing budgets in 2025.
71% of those businesses are increasing their budgets because they want more leads and sales.
Over half (51%) of small businesses plan to invest more in both social media ads and content marketing.
Meanwhile, 47% plan to invest more in search advertising and video marketing and advertising.
Small business advertising statistics
Pay per click (PPC) advertising campaigns can be a critical lever for small businesses looking to expand their market reach. Here are some key small business marketing statistics centered around advertising you should know.
65% of people will click on a search ad when looking to make a purchase.
Surprisingly, the top small business statistics above showed that only 40% of small businesses are using search ads, but this stat shows that could be a missed opportunity as search ads have an extremely high likelihood of driving small business sales.
The average cost per click in Google Ads for small businesses is $4.66.
You can find a complete breakdown of all the major metric averages for search ads, broken out by industry, in our latest benchmark report here.
❓Wondering how your Google Ads performance compares to the averages in your industry? Download our complete search ads benchmarks report here!
22% of businesses use display ads as part of their marketing strategy.
If you haven’t yet tried out display advertising, this can be an opportunity to make your business stand out.
A personalized landing page can make PPC ad campaigns 5% more effective.
It’s no secret that personalization makes a difference across all marketing channels, but it can be especially impactful when implemented on your PPC landing pages.
84% of small businesses said they see good results from their PPC advertising campaigns.
The majority of small businesses are happy with their PPC campaign results, but if you feel like you aren’t yet there, there are plenty of PPC tools available that can help you get to that point.
📈Ready to improve your PPC campaigns? Start with a free, instant account report with the Google Ads Grader from our friends over at WordStream!
Small business social media marketing statistics
Looking for small business marketing statistics specific to social media? Look no further!
Over three-quarters (76%) of small businesses use Facebook in their social media marketing strategy.
This is followed Instagram at 63% and LinkedIn at 43%.
93% of internet users are on social media.
If you think your target market isn’t on social media, this small business marketing statistic might make you think again because odds are, they are!
The average cost for Facebook ads lead gen campaigns is $1.88.
In contrast, the average cost for Facebook ads traffic campaigns is $0.77. You can find all the baseline metrics you need to know for Facebook ads broken down by industry in our complete report.
👀 Find out the average Facebook ads campaign performance for businesses in your industry by downloading our free Facebook ads benchmarks report.
Currently, there are 67 million small businesses on LinkedIn in 2024—which increased from 55 million in 2023.
In contrast, there are more than 200 million business accounts on Instagram. Plus, more than 35 million businesses are viewable on Snapchat—a 5 million increase from last year.
91% of consumers access social media sites from a mobile device.
This small business marketing stat indicates that you should ensure your mobile marketing strategy includes social media.
Nearly half of social media users rely on brand recommendations from influencers.
Check out our influencer marketing breakdown to see how you can take advantage of this trend.
Less than 5% of brands use Facebook video ads.
This is a major opportunity for small businesses looking to stand out.
Stats on small business reputation management and online presence
Your business’s online presence can make or break your credibility. Be sure to make the most of your SEO and reputation management strategies with the following statistics.
49% of businesses say that organic search brings them the best marketing ROI.
It’s important to prioritize your SEO strategy to ensure you’re at the top of local search results for an increased marketing ROI.
People spend 50% more with businesses that regularly respond to reviews.
Responding to all reviews (even negative reviews) can be pivotal when converting prospects into customers.
An example of how you might respond to a negative review.
93% of people read online reviews before making a purchase.
Not only that, but online review statistics also show that 84% of people weigh online reviews the same as they would a word-of-mouth recommendation from friends or family. Additionally, People are willing to pay 22% more for a product or service from a small business with a good online reputation.
Only 25% of people go to page two on Google. In other words, 75% of people never scroll past the first page of the SERP.
That shows how important it is to get to the top of search result pages. Use our resource to learn how you can rank higher on Google to catch your audience’s attention.
The average voice search result is only 29 words in length.
Stay voice search competitive by keeping your brand’s organic results concise with power words that help get your point across quickly.
46% of all Google searches are for a local product or service.
This small business marketing statistic proves that people are actively looking for small business products and services on platforms like Google, Bing, and more.
AI statistics for small businesses
There are tons of AI statistics that can help you understand how your small business can best use AI in marketing. Check out the following data points.
Nearly 60% of small businesses are already using AI for some part of their marketing.
The majority of SMBs (52%) are using AI for content creation, but other popular applications include social media management (39%) and chatbots (34%).
62% of organizations are in favor of using AI for business.
However, 34% of small business owners are unsure about AI. This group classified themselves as “undecided” when it comes to AI. To feel more confident in your AI outputs, check out this guide on high-quality AI prompts.
Two-thirds of businesses say they use AI for brainstorming sessions, drafts, and outlines.
While AI can be used throughout your marketing process, it’s been found that AI can be most applicable in the early stages of your marketing planning.
The top three departments at risk when using AI for your business are cybersecurity, compliance, and personal privacy.
It’s important to understand the risks you might face when using AI in marketing so that you can proceed cautiously and ensure you get the best AI outputs possible.
42% of businesses claim to currently be evaluating AI for their business processes and marketing strategies.
This small business marketing statistic suggests that the number of businesses using AI will likely increase.
Small business email marketing statistics
Want email marketing statistics tailored to small businesses? We’ve got you covered below.
Email marketing returns $36 to $40 for every $1 spent.
For small businesses looking to make the most out of a limited budget, email marketing can be a crucial solution. In fact, this brings us to our next stat…
Small businesses claim that email marketing is the marketing channel that brings them the highest return on investment.
Small businesses especially see the benefit of incorporating email into a holistic marketing strategy.
47% of email recipients decide to open an email based on the subject line alone.
Your email subject line is the first impression your business makes in your recipient’s inbox, so don’t be afraid to test multiple email subject line ideas to see what works best.
The average email subject line character count is 53.
In fact, 82% of businesses keep their subject lines under 60 characters.
87% of small businesses use email marketing to distribute their content.
Email marketing and content marketing go hand in hand, as emails can help you expand your content’s reach.
78% of small businesses said email is important to overall company success.
Since 64% of SMBs say they use email marketing to reach their ideal customers, it’s clear that your emails can have an impact on your bottom line.
Small business emails that are personalized increase open rates by 26%.
In fact, adding an email recipient’s first name to the subject line of an email can increase open rates by 9.1%. Plus, 83% of customers are happy to share their data to have personalized experiences.
Over half of businesses send emails between two to four times per month.
Additionally, 50% of people said they buy from a marketing email at least once a month. Using a marketing calendar, like the example below, can help you pre-plan when to send your emails.
🗓 Download our free marketing calendar to quickly and easily schedule your email campaigns, social media posts, and more!
88% of users check their email multiple times a day, with 39% checking it 3-5 times daily.
You should be able to know fairly quickly how effective your email campaign is since people are more likely to see your email sooner rather than later.
50% of people will delete an email if it isn’t optimized for mobile.
Expanding your mobile marketing strategy to email can be a smart move if you want to capture additional users on smaller screens.
Automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails.
There are plenty of email AI prompts you could try that can help you automate your email campaigns for a streamlined strategy.
Statistics on small business websites and live chat
Your small business website can often be the last stop for prospects before they turn into customers. Be sure you make that experience great by adding live chat to your site, ensuring your site is accessible to all, and more. These small business marketing statistics on websites and live chat can help you get started.
53% of all small business website traffic comes from organic searches.
If you’re wondering where the majority of your website visitors are coming from, odds are, they’re searching for you on platforms like Google, Bing, and more.
Small businesses that blog get 55% more traffic to their websites.
There are tons of creative blog post ideas your business can try to increase your website traffic.
It takes about half a second for visitors to form an opinion about your website.
Needless to say, your website’s first impression on customers matters!
72% of small businesses have a website.
This number is only going to continue to grow, so it’s important you do everything you can to get your business online with a great website to stay competitive.
43% of small businesses plan on improving their website performance this year.
If you haven’t started focusing on your website performance, like core web vitals, ease of navigation, and more, now is the time to do so.
Three-quarters of consumers say they judge a company’s credibility based on its website design.
With this small business marketing statistic, it’s no wonder that websites with a superior user experience generate a 400% higher conversion rate.
Nearly 60% of people said they wouldn’t recommend a business if it had a poorly designed mobile website.
If your business primarily relies on referral programs or word-of-mouth recommendations, your website’s design matters.
70% of small business websites are missing a call to action on their homepage.
Avoid becoming a part of this statistic with this handy list of powerful call-to-action phrases you can use on your site.
Investing in your site’s user experience leads to a $100 return for every $1 you spend.
73% of businesses invest in web design to help their brand stand out from competitors. This is probably because nearly 90% of consumers will shop with a competitor after a poor website experience.
Even more small business marketing stats
Ready for even more small business marketing statistics? You’ve come to the right place!\
Most small businesses are satisfied with all of their marketing channel investments.
For example, over 70% of businesses are satisfied with all of the following channels: search advertising, video marketing and advertising, content marketing, social media advertising, display advertising, SEO, and reputation management.
When looking for a marketing partner, small businesses find their product and service offerings to be most important.
Other qualities business owners and marketers look for when evaluating marketing partners are competitive pricing and proven results.
52% of businesses are using marketing attribution reporting.
To assist with this, 91% of businesses use CRM software for marketing and PPC reporting.
49% of businesses report that they grow revenue faster when they’re using video content.
This makes sense as 86% of consumers say they’d like to see more video content from brands they love.
73% of customers are willing to spend more with a brand that has complete transparency online.
Staying true to your brand messaging can help build your brand credibility and transparency.
76% of brands report having used marketing automation just this past year.
Want to join in on this statistic? Check out this list of marketing automation tools to try.
Use these small business marketing statistics to your advantage
99.9% of all US businesses are small businesses, and there are over 32.5 million small businesses in the United States. When marketing gets tricky, it can sometimes feel like you’re the only small business marketing out there trying to grow. However, know you’re not alone, as there are countless small businesses out there testing the same tactics as you.
No two small business marketing strategies are exactly the same, and these marketing statistics may not always reflect your own experience. That said, staying informed on the latest industry data points like the ones above can help you craft your own unique marketing plan. For more help growing your small business, see how our solutions can help your marketing campaigns thrive.
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