Understanding the small business marketing landscape is critical if you want to be competitive and stand out.
What are your competitors doing? How are they investing their marketing budget? What new trends and tactics are they planning to try in 2026?
LocalIQ has the answer to all these questions and more in our second exceptional Small Business Marketing Trends Report for 2026, featuring tons of data and insights from over 300 small businesses!
If you want to see the full report, Go to LocalQ Or download it here. And keep reading for 10 key takeaways from this report to inform your 2026 planning.
The 10 Biggest Takeaways from LocalQ’s 2026 Small Business Marketing Trends Report
We’ve compiled 10 fast facts from the report to help you understand the small business marketing landscape and make the most of your 2026 planning.
1. Most SMBs Still Not investing in paid search
According to the report, only 45% of SMBs are investing in SMBsRB advertising — up from 40% last year, which means the majority of small businesses still aren’t running ads on search engines like Google and Bing.
But, in 2024, 39% more SMBs are investing in SEO than last year.
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2. But paid SMBs are satisfied with the results
When it came to how satisfied small businesses were with their marketing investments, search advertising was one of the top strategies they were most pleased with — ahead of video marketing and advertising and reputation management.
Search advertising is effective at driving leads and can be very easy to measure and tie back to ROI, so it’s not surprising to see it so high on this list.
3. Low-cost strategies have grown in importance
Last year, low-cost marketing strategies like listings, reputation management, and content marketing channels were pretty low on the list.
As more small businesses rein in spending while watching the economy (more on that later), it makes sense that a low-cost or essentially independent strategy will become more important. Small businesses are looking for ways to stretch their budgets, and SEO as well as listings, reputation management, and content marketing.
One low-cost strategy small businesses still aren’t investing in, though, is website chat. This can be an opportunity for small businesses to provide a contact method Most users actually prefer.
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4. Facebook is the most popular social platform SMBs are using for marketing
Social media marketing and advertising, surprisingly, are still big hits for businesses, with 66% investing in social media marketing and 56% investing in social advertising.
Facebook was the most popular social platform for SMBS to use for marketing for the second year in a row.
Of those businesses investing in social media marketing or social advertising, a total of 91% (up from 80% last year) were doing so on Facebook, followed by Instagram and LinkedIn.
Social media marketing and advertising continues to be a winning strategy for small businesses. It’s a great place to engage and grow an audience while making it easy to expand advertising and find similar prospects.
5. Small businesses have smaller budgets (not surprisingly).
I mean, it’s kind of obvious. But understanding the common Marketing budget Really easy for your SMB competitor. Lookalike found that less than 10% of SMBs had no budget and 52% (up from 38% in 2024) had a monthly budget of under $2,500.
And because the report was able to break down marketing budgets by business size, we were able to see a clear correlation between business size and budget. Which, again, isn’t surprising, but it should be validating for small businesses that aren’t doing much.
This just goes to show the importance of adopting the low-cost strategies we mentioned earlier and leveraging creative marketing ideas to get in front of potential customers.
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6. They are also less likely to have dedicated marketing support
The smaller the business, the less likely they are to dedicate staff to marketing. Which makes mastering marketing strategies a challenge—which often takes a time commitment.
What’s also interesting is that this year’s report found that fewer SMBs are working with a marketing partner (60% in 2024 compared to just 34% in 2025!) – which means these businesses are taking on more marketing tasks themselves, even if they don’t have a dedicated marketing team.
This may explain why low-cost strategies such as listing and reputation management were so well represented. They’re often quicker to get off the ground (even if they require more back-end work later) and don’t require much time or budget to start driving results.
7. Most are using SMBAI
Most small businesses are fully on the AI train. 56% of SMBs are using AI for some part of their marketing! Most are using it to save time and generate ideas for activities like content creation, design, social media management, and more.
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8. The economy is a concern
66% of SMBs noted that economic uncertainty will be their biggest challenge in 2026, up from 48% in 2025.
This is not surprising as the economy has been volatile over the past few years and Introduction of tariffs in 2025 Many SMBs are hesitant to make changes to their budgets or spending habits.
Not only was the biggest challenge to the economy noted by SMBS, it was also the main reason they were planning to cut their budget in 2026.
9. But small businesses aren’t planning to cut budgets in 2026
Although the economy is the primary factor behind SMB budgets shrinking in 2026, only 8% plan to do so. 54% of SMBs plan to keep their budgets the same and 39% plan to increase in 2026.
Despite the economic concerns, this is promising – with SMBS planning to maintain or increase budgets, they have a better chance of driving results and investing in the right marketing strategy to grow their business.
10. Customer referrals remain the biggest source of new leads (but getting new leads is still a challenge)
Acquiring new customers remains a top challenge for small businesses, with 59 percent saying it will be their top challenge in 2026, up from 45 percent in 2025. This is something we hear over and over again.
But when it comes to acquiring new customers, referrals continue to lead the pack, followed by organic and direct website traffic, and digital marketing and online advertising.
This speaks to the importance of investing in the right strategy to bring in loyal customers and reach new audiences where they are spending time online.
Create the right marketing strategy for big results in 2026
Small businesses have big plans for 2026, and this roundup covers some of them. To see all the data and insights we collected from over 300 SMBs, download the full report. And reach out to talk if you need help developing the right marketing strategy to stand out from the competition.
Here’s a recap of the upward trajectory from the Small Business Marketing Trends Report for 2026:
- Most SMBs are still not investing in paid search
- But SMBs looking for payment are happy with the results
- Low-cost strategies grew in importance
- Facebook is the most popular social platform SMBs are using for marketing
- Small businesses have small budgets (surprisingly).
- They are also less likely to have dedicated marketing support
- Most are using SMBAI
- The economy is a concern
- Small businesses aren’t planning to cut budgets in 2026
- Customer referrals remain the biggest source of new leads