42 Small Business Marketing Statistics and Data Points for 2026

By Christoph Olivier | Published 2026-07-26 | Last updated 2026-07-26

This briefing separates two kinds of data that get mixed together in most “small business marketing” roundups. Structural facts about the U.S. small business population come from government sources: the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Federal Reserve. Marketing behavior figures come from vendor surveys, which are self-reported and use convenience or opt-in samples. Every number below carries its exact value, reference year, geography, and source. Vendor survey figures are labeled as self-reported.

Executive summary

• The U.S. had 36,207,130 small businesses as of the SBA Office of Advocacy’s 2026 FAQ, which draws mainly on 2022 reference-year data.
• Small businesses account for 45.9% of private sector employees, or 62.3 million workers (SBA, 2022 reference data).
• 82.3% of small businesses (29,811,495) have no employees, which shapes how most owners can realistically market (SBA, 2022 reference data).
• Marketing budgets across all company sizes held at 7.7% of revenue in 2025, per Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey. This is a survey of 402 marketing leaders, not a small business census.
• Only 18% of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) felt “very confident” in their marketing effectiveness in 2025, down from 27% in 2024 (Constant Contact, self-reported, 2,500 respondents).
• 44% of SMBs named email their most effective channel in 2025, up from 23% in 2024 (Constant Contact, self-reported).
• 48% of SMBs used AI in marketing and 78% used video in 2025 (Constant Contact, self-reported).
• “Reaching customers and growing sales” was the top operational challenge for small employer firms in the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Small Business Credit Survey (6,525 responses).

Key findings

The strongest verified data points, each with value, timeframe, geography, and source.

1. 36,207,130 small businesses operated in the United States per the SBA Office of Advocacy FAQ published January 2026 (Advocacy defines a small business as an independent firm with fewer than 500 employees). Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, 2026.
2. 99.9% of all U.S. firms are small businesses (SBA, 2022 reference data). Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ.
3. 82.3% of small businesses (29,811,495 firms) have no employees, a category the SBA calls nonemployer firms (2022 reference data). Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ.
4. 45.9% of private sector employees (62.3 million workers) work at small businesses (2022 reference data). Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ.
5. 43.5% of U.S. gross domestic product is generated by small businesses. Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ.
6. 36.4 million U.S. employer and nonemployer businesses existed in 2023 with $50.0 trillion in combined receipts, of which 5.9 million were employer firms and 30.4 million were nonemployer businesses. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, released November 20, 2025.
7. Small businesses created about 9 of every 10 net new jobs from March 2023 to March 2024, adding a net 1.2 million jobs. Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, June 30, 2025 release / 2025 Small Business Profile.
8. Marketing budgets sat at 7.7% of company revenue in 2025, flat versus 2024, across 402 surveyed marketing leaders in North America, the UK, and Europe. This figure spans all company sizes, not only small businesses. Source: Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey (self-reported).
9. Only 18% of SMBs felt “very confident” in their marketing effectiveness in 2025, down from 27% in 2024. Source: Constant Contact, State of Small Business Marketing, 2025 (self-reported, 2,500 respondents, AU/CA/UK/US).
10. 44% of SMBs said email was their most effective channel in 2025, nearly double the 23% recorded in 2024. Source: Constant Contact, 2025 (self-reported).
11. 42% of SMBs had less than one hour per day to spend on marketing in 2025. Source: Constant Contact, 2025 (self-reported).
12. 48% of SMBs used AI in marketing and 78% used video in 2025. Source: Constant Contact, 2025 (self-reported).
13. 60% of small employer firms applied for financing in the 12 months before the 2025 survey; the top reasons were meeting operating expenses (56%) and pursuing expansion (46%). Source: Federal Reserve, 2026 Report on Employer Firms (2025 Small Business Credit Survey).
14. Online fintech lender applications rose from 17% to 29% of applicant firms between the 2020 and 2025 surveys. Source: Federal Reserve, 2026 Report on Employer Firms.
15. 46% of small employer firms currently use AI, with a further 15% planning to adopt it within 12 months; among AI users, writing or marketing was the most common task at 83%. Source: Federal Reserve, 2026 Report on Employer Firms.

1. How many small businesses exist in the United States

Government sources count the small business population differently depending on whether they include firms with no employees. The gap between counts is a data definition, not a contradiction.

The nonemployer share matters for marketing analysis. More than eight in ten U.S. small businesses have no payroll, which means the typical “small business” marketing decision is made by a sole proprietor or a very small team, not a company with a marketing department. The SBA reports that nonemployer firms nearly doubled from 15.4 million in 1997 to 29.8 million in 2022.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, 2026.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, released November 20, 2025.

2. Jobs, output, and economic weight

These structural figures set the stakes for small business marketing. They are government estimates, not survey opinions.

• Small businesses employ 45.9% of private sector employees, about 62.3 million workers (2022 reference data). Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ.
• Small businesses account for 43.5% of GDP (SBA, 2026 FAQ).
• Small businesses pay 38.7% of private sector payroll, about $3.5 trillion (SBA, 2026 FAQ).
• Small businesses generate 35.0% of private sector receipts, about $17.8 trillion (SBA, 2026 FAQ).
• Small businesses represent 97.2% of exporters (270,014 businesses) and 33.0% of known export value, about $588.4 billion (SBA, 2026 FAQ).
• From 1994 to 2022, small businesses created 61% of net new jobs, adding 20.7 million net new jobs versus 13.2 million at large businesses (SBA, 2026 FAQ).
• From March 2023 to March 2024, small businesses created a net 1.2 million jobs and opened 1.1 million new establishments (SBA Office of Advocacy, June 30, 2025 release).
• California had the most small businesses at 4.34 million, followed by Texas (3.52 million) and Florida (3.49 million) in the 2025 profile (SBA, June 2025).

The Federal Reserve notes that firms with fewer than 500 employees represented 99.7% of employer establishments in the United States in 2023, which is why “small business” and “the U.S. business sector” overlap so heavily.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ; June 30, 2025 release.

3. How much small businesses spend on marketing

There is no government census of small business marketing spend. The most cited benchmark, 7.7% of revenue, comes from Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey, which polls senior marketing leaders across company sizes and skews toward larger organizations. Treat it as a directional benchmark, not a small business figure.

• Marketing budgets averaged 7.7% of company revenue in 2025, unchanged from 2024, across 402 surveyed marketing leaders in North America, the UK, and Europe (Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey, self-reported, fielded February to March 2025).
• Paid media accounted for 30.6% of marketing budgets, equal to 2.4% of company revenue (Gartner, 2025, self-reported).
• 59% of surveyed CMOs said they lacked sufficient budget to execute their 2025 strategy (Gartner, 2025, self-reported).
• 37% of SMBs said they had increased their marketing spend in 2025 (Constant Contact, 2025, self-reported).

Limitation: the Gartner sample is dominated by CMOs at mid-market and enterprise firms, so the 7.7% figure should not be presented as the spend of a typical nonemployer or micro business. No verified government or large-sample dataset publishes a marketing-spend-as-percent-of-revenue figure specifically for U.S. firms under 500 employees, so we exclude the commonly repeated “SBA recommends 7 to 8%” claim as unverified against a primary source.

Source: Gartner, 2025 CMO Spend Survey, May 12, 2025.

4. Channels used and digital adoption

The channel and adoption figures below are self-reported by SMB decision-makers in a vendor survey. Constant Contact’s 2025 State of Small Business Marketing analyzed 2,500 small business decision-makers across Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, conducted by Ascend2 Research in June 2025. The sample is global, not U.S.-only, and is an opt-in panel.

Within AI use, writing copy for emails and social posts was the top use case at 37%, followed by creating visual content (29%) and analyzing data (25%). Among U.S. respondents specifically, 37% used AI, the lowest of any country polled. The most impactful video formats were customer testimonials (27%), company culture videos (26%), promotional content (25%), and practical advice (25%). All figures self-reported.

A separate government read on AI adoption comes from the Federal Reserve: 46% of small employer firms said they or their employees currently use AI, with writing or marketing the most common task at 83% among AI users. This is a firm-level operational figure from a 6,525-response survey, not a marketing-channel figure.

Source: Constant Contact, The State of Small Business Marketing, September 3, 2025 (self-reported).

Source: Federal Reserve, 2026 Report on Employer Firms (2025 Small Business Credit Survey).

5. Biggest challenges: customers, costs, and credit

The Federal Reserve’s Small Business Credit Survey is the most rigorous recurring read on small employer firm challenges. The 2025 survey was fielded September 3 to November 14, 2025 and yielded 6,525 responses from firms with 1 to 499 employees across all 50 states and D.C. It is a convenience sample, weighted, and not a random sample.

• “Reaching customers and growing sales” was the most commonly reported operational challenge, ahead of hiring or retaining staff (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).
• Rising costs of goods, services, or wages was the top financial challenge; 77% of firms reported rising costs, tariff-related costs, or both (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).
• More than four in ten firms said tariff-related cost increases were a financial challenge (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).
• 38% of firms applied for a loan, line of credit, or merchant cash advance, nearly unchanged from 2024 (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).
• Among firms borrowing from online lenders, 60% reported higher-than-expected borrowing costs, versus 37% at small banks and 32% at large banks (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).
• The revenue expectations index fell from 39 to 33 and the employment expectations index fell from 26 to 23 year over year, both the lowest since the 2020 survey (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).

On the vendor side, 44% of SMBs cited rising costs of goods as their top concern and 62% said tariffs had negatively affected operations (Constant Contact, 2025, self-reported). The two sources agree in direction: cost pressure and demand generation are the dominant concerns going into 2026.

Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms (2025 Small Business Credit Survey).

Original synthesis

Three derived insights built from the sources above. Each states its logic, its inputs, and its limits.

Insight 1: The “average marketing budget” number is structurally misleading for most small businesses

Logic: 82.3% of U.S. small businesses have no employees (SBA, 2022), while the 7.7%-of-revenue budget benchmark comes from a 402-respondent survey of senior marketing leaders skewed to larger firms (Gartner, 2025). Applying an enterprise CMO benchmark to a population that is overwhelmingly solo operators overstates what a typical small business spends and staffs for marketing. Inputs: SBA Office of Advocacy 2026 FAQ; Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey. Limitation: no primary dataset publishes marketing spend for nonemployer firms, so this is a structural caution, not a corrected figure.

Insight 2: Effort is rising while confidence falls, a widening execution gap

Logic: SMBs reporting “very confident” marketing dropped from 27% to 18% year over year even as 37% increased spend, 48% adopted AI, and 78% used video (Constant Contact, 2025). Rising input and falling confidence in the same population points to an execution and measurement gap, not an investment gap. Inputs: Constant Contact 2025 State of Small Business Marketing. Limitation: single-vendor, self-reported, global panel; the confidence decline is a two-point-in-time comparison within one survey series.

Insight 3: Demand generation is the shared top challenge across government and vendor data

Logic: the Federal Reserve’s 6,525-firm survey names “reaching customers and growing sales” the top operational challenge, and the SBA reports that small firms drove about 9 of 10 net new jobs from March 2023 to March 2024, meaning customer acquisition is the binding constraint on a segment that is still the main U.S. job engine. Inputs: Federal Reserve 2026 Report on Employer Firms; SBA Office of Advocacy June 2025 release. Limitation: the Fed survey is a weighted convenience sample; the two sources use different reference periods (2025 survey vs March 2023 to March 2024 job data).

Methodology

Source selection: government and central-bank sources were prioritized for all structural facts (business counts, employment, output, credit). Vendor marketing surveys were used only for marketing-behavior figures that no government source publishes, and every such figure is labeled self-reported with its sample size and fielding date.

Inclusion rules: a statistic was included only if it came from a source we retrieved directly, with an exact value, a reference year or fielding window, and a stated geography. Statistics that could not be traced to a retrieved source were excluded, including the frequently repeated “SBA recommends spending 7 to 8% of revenue on marketing” claim, which we could not verify against a primary SBA document.

Conflict handling: where a total business count differed between sources (36.2 million per SBA, 36.4 million per Census), both are reported with their definitions and reference years rather than reconciled into a single number, because the definitions differ.

Limitations: SBA FAQ figures largely reflect 2022 reference-year data even though the document was published in 2026. Vendor surveys use opt-in or convenience panels and some are global rather than U.S.-only. The Federal Reserve survey is explicitly a non-random convenience sample. Date of last update: 2026-07-26.

Source quality ranking

Tier 1 (primary government and central bank): U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy (2026 FAQ; June 2025 release); U.S. Census Bureau (Annual Business Survey; Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics); Federal Reserve Banks (2025 Small Business Credit Survey / 2026 Report on Employer Firms).

Tier 2 (credible market research, self-reported): Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey; Constant Contact 2025 State of Small Business Marketing (fielded by Ascend2 Research).

Tier 3 (reputable journalism and trade commentary): not relied on for any figure in this briefing; all values trace to Tier 1 or Tier 2 sources.

Journalist-friendly section

Most quotable statistics

• There are 36,207,130 small businesses in the United States (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ).
• 82.3% of U.S. small businesses have no employees (SBA, 2022 reference data).
• Small businesses employ 45.9% of private sector workers, about 62.3 million people (SBA, 2022).
• Only 18% of SMBs feel “very confident” in their marketing, down from 27% a year earlier (Constant Contact, 2025, self-reported).
• 44% of SMBs say email is their most effective channel, up from 23% in 2024 (Constant Contact, 2025, self-reported).
• 42% of SMBs have less than one hour a day for marketing (Constant Contact, 2025, self-reported).
• “Reaching customers and growing sales” is the top operational challenge for small employer firms (Federal Reserve, 2025 SBCS).

Data limitations

SBA FAQ figures mostly reflect 2022 data. The 7.7% marketing budget benchmark is from a 402-respondent CMO survey across all company sizes, not a small business figure. Constant Contact figures are self-reported by a 2,500-person global opt-in panel. The Federal Reserve survey is a weighted non-random convenience sample.

Downloadable dataset: recommended fields

metric_name, value, unit, reference_year, geography, source_organization, source_title, source_url, source_tier, self_reported_flag, sample_size, methodology_note.

Press summary (150 words)

The United States has 36,207,130 small businesses, and 82.3% of them have no employees, according to the SBA Office of Advocacy’s 2026 FAQ. These firms employ 45.9% of private sector workers and generate 43.5% of GDP. The dominant story in 2026 is a gap between marketing effort and confidence. Constant Contact’s 2025 survey found that only 18% of small and midsize businesses feel very confident in their marketing, down from 27% a year earlier, even as 37% increased spend, 48% adopted AI, and 78% used video. Email regained ground, named the most effective channel by 44%, up from 23%. Government data agrees on the core problem: the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Small Business Credit Survey of 6,525 firms found “reaching customers and growing sales” was the top operational challenge, with rising costs the top financial one. Marketing-behavior figures are self-reported; structural counts are from government sources.

Suggested headlines

1. 36 Million Strong: What the 2026 Data Says About U.S. Small Business Marketing
2. Small Business Marketing Confidence Falls to 18% Even as Spending Rises
3. Email Is Back: 44% of Small Businesses Now Call It Their Best Channel
4. 82% of U.S. Small Businesses Have No Employees, and It Changes How They Market
5. Reaching Customers Is the No. 1 Challenge for Small Employers, Fed Survey Finds

Frequently asked questions

Citations

• Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, 2026. https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/FINAL_FAQsAboutSmallBusiness_2026_012826.pdf
• Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, “New Advocacy Report Shows the Number of Small Businesses in the U.S. Exceeds 36 million,” June 30, 2025. https://advocacy.sba.gov/2025/06/30/new-advocacy-report-shows-the-number-of-small-businesses-in-the-u-s-exceeds-36-million/
• Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, released November 20, 2025. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/business-owner-characteristics.html
• Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey. https://www.fedsmallbusiness.org/reports/survey/2026/2026-report-on-employer-firms
• Source: Gartner, 2025 CMO Spend Survey, May 12, 2025. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-05-12-gartner-2025-cmo-spend-survey-reveals-marketing-budgets-have-flatlined-at-seven-percent-of-overall-company-revenue
• Source: Constant Contact, “The State of Small Business Marketing,” September 3, 2025. https://news.constantcontact.com/2025-09-03-The-State-of-Small-Business-Marketing-Effort-is-Up-While-Confidence-Has-Declined