Small Business Marketing Statistics: 55+ Verified Data Points for 2026

This briefing compiles verified statistics on how U.S. small and midsize businesses (SMBs) budget, staff, and execute marketing: budgets, channels, biggest challenges, digital adoption, and the do-it-yourself versus agency split. Every figure is attributed to its publisher, year, and geography, and vendor-survey limits (self-reported responses, sample sizes, and single-vendor customer bases) are flagged so the numbers can be used responsibly.

Two source types appear throughout. Government primary data (U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, U.S. Census Bureau) sizes the small business universe. Vendor survey data (Constant Contact/Ascend2, Intuit QuickBooks, Verizon via Statista) measures marketing behavior and attitudes; these are self-reported and skew toward each vendor’s customer base, so treat them as directional rather than census-grade.

Executive Summary

• There were 34,752,434 small businesses in the United States in 2024, representing 99.9% of all U.S. firms (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, 2024).
• The average small business advertising budget was an estimated $78,000 for 2025, and small businesses could collectively spend as much as $640 billion on advertising over the year (Source: Intuit QuickBooks / SMB MediaLabs, 2025 Small Business Advertising Trends Report, March 2025).
• 92% of small business advertisers said they would maintain (41%) or increase (51%) advertising spending in 2025, and only 8% planned cuts (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, 2025, n=1,006).
• 60% of SMBs named acquiring new customers as their top marketing challenge, ahead of understanding what is working (33%) and lack of resources (32%) (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, Small Business Now, February 2024, n=1,300+).
• Social media was the most used and most effective advertising channel, with 75% of small businesses advertising on it and 75% calling it effective (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).
• 80% of U.S. small businesses used Facebook and 64% used Instagram to promote products and services (Source: Statista, from Verizon Business and Morning Consult, August 2023).
• 37% of small businesses said the business owner personally drives marketing and advertising strategy, while 54% had a dedicated team or team member (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).
• Only 18% of SMB decision-makers said they were “very confident” their marketing was effective in 2025, down from 27% in 2024 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, State of Small Business Marketing, June 2025, n=2,500).

Key Findings

• Small businesses employed 45.9% of American workers, roughly 59 million people, in 2024 (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, FAQ About Small Business, 2024).
• Small businesses accounted for 43.5% of U.S. GDP and 39% of private-sector payroll in 2024 (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
• Small businesses added 2.6 million net new jobs in the latest year of data reported by Advocacy (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, Small Business Profile, November 2024).
• The United States had 29.8 million nonemployer businesses in 2022, generating $1.7 trillion in receipts, about 6.8% of the economy (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Nonemployer Statistics, released December 2024).
• Nonemployer businesses were about 78.4% of all U.S. businesses in 2023, and grew faster than employer businesses in nearly every year from 2012 to 2023 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, July 2025).
• 96% of small businesses said they would advertise in 2025 (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025, n=1,006).
• On average, small businesses allocated 37% of their marketing budget to advertising in 2025 (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).
• Among social platforms, 85% of advertising small businesses used Facebook and 74% used Instagram in 2025 (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).
• 39% of SMBs planned to increase their marketing budgets in 2024, and 46% expected to spend at least 10% more (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024, n=1,300+).
• 56% of SMBs said they had one hour or less each day to spend on marketing in 2024 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).
• 82% of SMBs agreed that using multiple marketing channels leads to better results, yet only 16% were confident they were using the correct channels (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).
• 44% of SMBs called email their most effective channel in 2025, up from 23% in 2024 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025, n=2,500).
• 48% of SMBs reported using AI in their marketing in 2025 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025).
• 81% of SMBs were concerned that the current economy could negatively affect their business in 2024 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).
• 95% of small business advertisers said they could measure advertising ROI at least some of the time, and 81% used marketing technology tools to do so (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

The Small Business Universe (Market Size)

Government data frames how many businesses the marketing statistics describe. The SBA Office of Advocacy and the Census Bureau are Tier 1 primary sources; their counts differ because they define and measure “small business” differently.

There were 34,752,434 small businesses in the United States in 2024 (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024). Small businesses were 99.9% of all U.S. firms in 2024 (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024). Of these, the overwhelming majority have no employees: the Census Bureau counted 29.8 million nonemployer businesses in 2022 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, released December 2024). Nonemployers were about 78.4% of all U.S. businesses in 2023 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, July 2025).

This matters for marketing statistics because most “small businesses” are solo operators or owner-run micro-firms. A statistic drawn from a survey of businesses with 1 to 100 employees describes a different, larger operator than the median U.S. business, which has no payroll at all. Vendor surveys generally sample the employer end of the distribution, so their marketing budgets and staffing figures run higher than what a typical nonemployer would report.

Marketing and Advertising Budgets

Budget figures come primarily from Intuit QuickBooks (via SMB MediaLabs) and Constant Contact. Both are vendor surveys; the QuickBooks budget estimate is modeled from survey responses combined with Census receipts data, so the national total is an extrapolation, not a measured figure.

The average small business advertising budget was an estimated $78,000 for 2025 (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). Scaling that to the U.S. small business population using Census Statistics of U.S. Businesses receipts, QuickBooks estimated small businesses could spend as much as $640 billion on advertising in 2025 (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). On average, respondents allocated 37% of their marketing budget to advertising (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

92% of small business advertisers said they would maintain (41%) or increase (51%) advertising spending in 2025 (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). Only 8% planned to cut advertising spend, citing budget constraints, higher operating costs, and weak ROI (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). On the Constant Contact side, 39% of SMBs planned to increase marketing budgets in 2024 and 46% expected to spend at least 10% more (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).

For context on the wider market: enterprise marketing budgets averaged 7.7% of company revenue in 2024, down from 9.1% in 2023 (Source: Gartner, CMO Spend Survey, May 2024). That figure is flagged as NOT small business specific: Gartner’s respondents had median annual revenue above $5 billion, so the 7.7% benchmark should not be applied to SMBs.

Advertising Budget and Spend Intentions

Table sources: Intuit QuickBooks / SMB MediaLabs, 2025 Small Business Advertising Trends Report (March 2025, n=1,006); Constant Contact / Ascend2, Small Business Now (February 2024, n=1,300+).

Channels Used and Channel Effectiveness

Channel data is consistent across vendors on one point: social media is the most widely used paid channel, and email is rising as the most effective owned channel. Platform-level figures come from QuickBooks (advertising) and Statista/Verizon (organic promotion).

75% of small businesses said they advertise on social media, and the same 75% said it is effective, making it the most used and most effective advertising channel (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). By comparison, 30% used video advertising and 27% used paid search advertising (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). Among social platforms, 85% of advertising SMBs used Facebook and 74% used Instagram (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

For organic promotion (not paid ads), 80% of U.S. small businesses used Facebook and 64% used Instagram to promote products and services (Source: Statista, from Verizon Business and Morning Consult, August 2023). On channel mix, social media was the most popular marketing channel for SMBs at 60% usage, followed by email marketing at 53% (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).

Effectiveness is shifting toward email. 44% of SMBs called email their most effective channel in 2025, up sharply from 23% in 2024 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025). The apparent contradiction, social used most but email rated most effective, reflects that social is a broad-reach top-of-funnel channel while email drives measurable owned-audience conversion.

Channel Usage and Effectiveness

Table sources: Intuit QuickBooks (March 2025); Statista from Verizon Business and Morning Consult (August 2023); Constant Contact / Ascend2 (June 2025).

Biggest Marketing Challenges

The Constant Contact / Ascend2 surveys are the clearest read on SMB marketing pain points. These are self-reported attitudes from decision-makers at firms under 250 employees across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, so they are directional and skew toward businesses engaged enough with marketing to answer a marketing survey.

60% of SMBs named acquiring new customers as their top marketing challenge (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024). 33% cited difficulty understanding what is working, and 32% cited lack of resources (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024). Confidence is low and falling: 73% were not confident their current strategy was contributing to business goals in 2024, and by 2025 only 18% described themselves as “very confident” their marketing was effective, down from 27% a year earlier (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024 and June 2025).

Time is the binding constraint. 56% of SMBs said they had one hour or less each day for marketing in 2024, and 51% named social media posting as their most time-consuming task (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024). Only 16% were confident they were using the right channels even though 82% believed multichannel marketing works better (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).

Digital Adoption and Technology

Digital and AI adoption figures come from vendor surveys and should be read as directional. Website-adoption estimates vary widely across secondary sources and are excluded here to avoid presenting an unverifiable primary figure.

48% of SMBs reported using AI in their marketing in 2025 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025). 78% said they incorporate video into their marketing strategies in 2025 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025). On the advertising side, 95% of small business advertisers said they could measure advertising ROI at least some of the time, and 81% used marketing technology (MarTech) tools to check ROI regularly (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

DIY vs. Agency: Who Runs SMB Marketing

The most defensible primary read on the DIY-versus-delegated split comes from QuickBooks. It measures who owns strategy, not whether a business uses any outside help, so it should not be read as a clean “no agency” figure.

37% of small businesses said the business owner personally drives marketing and advertising strategy, while 54% had a dedicated team member or team driving it (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). Among the youngest, highest-revenue businesses surveyed, only 8% said the owner oversees marketing and advertising strategy, showing that founder-led marketing gives way to delegated teams as revenue grows (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). QuickBooks also reported that more than a third of small businesses use do-it-yourself design tools for advertising creative (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

Limitation: “owner-driven” and “dedicated team” are not mutually exclusive with using an agency, and no cited primary source cleanly measures the share of SMBs that outsource all marketing to an agency. Widely circulated DIY-versus-agency cost comparisons come from marketing-vendor blogs, not primary research, so they are excluded here.

Original Synthesis

These derived insights combine the cited public and vendor datasets. Each states its formula, inputs, and limitations, and none should be read as a precise measured value.

1. Advertising is roughly a third of the marketing budget, and social is where the extra dollars go

QuickBooks reports advertising is 37% of the average marketing budget and that among the 51% increasing ad spend, nearly half (48%) are putting the extra money into social media (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). Combining the two, social media is not only the most used channel but the primary destination for incremental 2025 ad dollars. Inputs: QuickBooks budget-allocation and spend-direction items. Limitation: single-vendor survey; percentages describe respondents, not the full SMB population.

2. The confidence gap is widening even as effort rises

Constant Contact reported “very confident” SMBs fell from 27% (2024) to 18% (2025), a drop of 9 percentage points, or a relative decline of about 33% year over year (formula: (27 minus 18) divided by 27) (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, 2024 and 2025). Paired with 56% having an hour or less per day for marketing, the data describe a sector doing more channels with less confidence and little time. Limitation: 2024 and 2025 waves have different sample sizes (n=1,300+ vs n=2,500) and slightly different question framings, so the trend is directional.

3. Most “small business” marketing stats describe a minority of actual small businesses

The Census counts 29.8 million nonemployer businesses out of 34.75 million total small businesses, so roughly 86% of U.S. small businesses have no employees (formula: 29.8M divided by 34.75M; note the two figures are from different years and agencies) (Sources: U.S. Census Bureau 2022; U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy 2024). Vendor marketing surveys typically sample firms with 1 to 100+ employees, meaning the budgets and staffing they report likely overstate the marketing capacity of the typical U.S. small business. Limitation: the two counts use different definitions and reference years and cannot be combined as an exact ratio; treat 86% as an approximation.

Charts to Build

• Chart 1 — SMB ad-spend intentions for 2025 (stacked bar). Data needed: increase 51%, maintain 41%, cut 8%. Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025. Insight: near-universal spend stability signals a resilient SMB ad market. Citation-worthy because it is a clean single-source primary read on intent.
• Chart 2 — Most used vs. most effective channels (grouped bar). Data needed: social used 75% / effective 75%; video 30%; paid search 27%; email named most effective 44%. Sources: Intuit QuickBooks (March 2025); Constant Contact (June 2025). Insight: usage and effectiveness diverge between social and email.
• Chart 3 — SMB marketing confidence over time (line). Data needed: very confident 27% (2024) to 18% (2025). Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2. Insight: falling confidence despite rising effort.
• Chart 4 — Top SMB marketing challenges (horizontal bar). Data needed: acquiring customers 60%, what is working 33%, lack of resources 32%. Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024. Insight: customer acquisition dwarfs other challenges.
• Chart 5 — The small business universe by employer status (donut). Data needed: 29.8M nonemployer of 34.75M total. Sources: Census 2022; SBA 2024. Insight: most small businesses have no payroll, reframing who marketing stats describe.

Inline chart: Top SMB marketing challenges, 2024

Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, Small Business Now (February 2024, n=1,300+).

Methodology

Source selection prioritized Tier 1 primary data (U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, U.S. Census Bureau) for market sizing and Tier 2 vendor surveys (Intuit QuickBooks/SMB MediaLabs, Constant Contact/Ascend2, Verizon via Statista) for marketing behavior, because no government dataset measures SMB channel mix or marketing confidence directly. Inclusion required a named publisher, a year, a geography, and a traceable URL. Statistics were excluded when they appeared only in secondary marketing-vendor blogs without a primary citation, which is why several widely repeated website-adoption and DIY-versus-agency cost figures were left out.

Conflicting numbers were handled by attributing each to its specific survey wave rather than blending them; for example, the 23% versus 44% email-effectiveness figures are reported as distinct 2024 and 2025 readings. Derived estimates (Original Synthesis) are labeled as approximations with their formulas and input years shown, and the nonemployer-share ratio is explicitly flagged as combining two agencies and years. Vendor surveys are self-reported, sample each vendor’s engaged customer base, cover multiple English-speaking countries (U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia for Constant Contact), and range from n=1,006 to n=2,500, so all vendor figures are directional. Last updated July 2026.

Source Quality

Tier 1 (primary, government): U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy (business counts, employment, GDP share); U.S. Census Bureau (Nonemployer Statistics, Statistics of U.S. Businesses).

Tier 2 (credible vendor and market research): Intuit QuickBooks / SMB MediaLabs (advertising budgets and channels); Constant Contact / Ascend2 (challenges, confidence, channel usage); Verizon Business and Morning Consult via Statista (platform usage); Gartner CMO Spend Survey (enterprise benchmark, flagged as non-SMB).

Tier 3 (reputable journalism / trade coverage): PR Newswire and BusinessWire distribution of the above vendor releases, used only to corroborate figures traced to their primary reports.

Most Quotable Statistics

• “There were 34,752,434 small businesses in the United States in 2024, 99.9% of all U.S. firms.” (U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024)
• “The average small business advertising budget was an estimated $78,000 in 2025.” (Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025)
• “92% of small business advertisers planned to maintain or increase ad spending in 2025; only 8% planned cuts.” (Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025)
• “60% of small businesses said acquiring new customers is their biggest marketing challenge.” (Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024)
• “Only 18% of SMBs felt very confident their marketing was effective in 2025, down from 27% in 2024.” (Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025)
• “75% of small businesses advertise on social media, and 75% say it is effective.” (Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025)

Data Limitations

• Vendor marketing surveys are self-reported and skew toward each vendor’s engaged customer base; they are directional, not census-grade.
• Constant Contact / Ascend2 samples span the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, so figures are not U.S.-only unless noted.
• Sample sizes are modest (QuickBooks n=1,006; Constant Contact n=1,300+ in 2024 and n=2,500 in 2025) and question framing shifts between waves.
• The QuickBooks $640 billion national total is a model extrapolation from survey responses and Census receipts, not a measured figure.
• Government (SBA, Census) and vendor definitions of “small business” differ, so counts and behavior figures are not directly comparable.
• No cited primary source cleanly measures the share of SMBs that fully outsource marketing to an agency; the owner-versus-team split is the closest defensible proxy.

Recommended Dataset Fields

For a downloadable CSV, use these columns: statistic_name; value; unit (percent, count, USD); metric_type (budget, channel, challenge, adoption, market_size); geography; reference_year; publisher; survey_or_source_name; sample_size; methodology_note; source_url; tier (1-3); is_modeled_estimate (Y/N).

Press Summary

U.S. small business marketing in 2025 and 2026 looks resilient but strained. Government data shows 34.75 million small businesses, 99.9% of all U.S. firms, most of them with no employees (U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022). Vendor surveys show spending intent is strong: the average small business advertising budget reached an estimated $78,000 in 2025, and 92% of advertisers planned to hold or raise ad spend, with only 8% cutting (Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025). Social media is the dominant channel, used and rated effective by 75% of advertisers, while email is rising as the top-rated owned channel at 44% (Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025; Constant Contact, June 2025). The strain is in confidence and capacity: acquiring customers is the top challenge at 60%, 56% have an hour or less a day for marketing, and “very confident” marketers fell from 27% to 18% year over year (Constant Contact / Ascend2, 2024-2025). All vendor figures are self-reported and directional.

Suggested Headlines

• 92% of Small Businesses Plan to Hold or Grow Ad Spend in 2025, Only 8% Will Cut
• The $78,000 Question: What the Average Small Business Now Budgets for Advertising
• Social Media Wins on Reach, Email Wins on Results: The SMB Channel Split
• Confidence Is Falling Even as Small Businesses Spend More on Marketing
• Most “Small Business” Marketing Stats Describe a Minority of Small Businesses

FAQ

How many small businesses are there in the United States?

There were 34,752,434 small businesses in 2024, 99.9% of all U.S. firms (Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, FAQ About Small Business, 2024).

What is the average small business marketing or advertising budget?

The average small business advertising budget was an estimated $78,000 for 2025, and advertising made up about 37% of the average marketing budget (Source: Intuit QuickBooks / SMB MediaLabs, March 2025).

Are small businesses increasing or cutting marketing spend?

92% of small business advertisers planned to maintain (41%) or increase (51%) ad spending in 2025, and only 8% planned cuts (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

What is the biggest marketing challenge for small businesses?

Acquiring new customers, cited by 60% of SMBs, ahead of understanding what works (33%) and lack of resources (32%) (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).

Which marketing channel do small businesses use most?

Social media: 75% of small businesses advertise on it and 75% call it effective (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

Which social platforms do small businesses use?

80% of U.S. small businesses used Facebook and 64% used Instagram to promote products in 2023; among advertisers in 2025, 85% used Facebook and 74% used Instagram (Sources: Statista / Verizon, August 2023; Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

How effective is email marketing for small businesses?

44% of SMBs named email their most effective marketing channel in 2025, up from 23% in 2024 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025).

How much time do small business owners spend on marketing?

56% of SMBs said they have one hour or less each day for marketing (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, February 2024).

Do small businesses do marketing themselves or use a team?

37% said the owner drives marketing strategy, while 54% had a dedicated team or team member (Source: Intuit QuickBooks, March 2025).

Are small businesses adopting AI for marketing?

48% of SMBs reported using AI in their marketing efforts in 2025 (Source: Constant Contact / Ascend2, June 2025).

For more research-driven growth analysis, see CO Consulting. If it would help to translate these benchmarks into a marketing plan for your business, you can book a consultation.

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