92 Small Business Marketing Statistics: The Definitive Guide (2024)

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Joy Gendusa

Steve Jobs once said, “When we support local businesses, we’re supporting our neighbors, our friends, and our families.”

The reality is that small businesses make up 99.9% of all businesses in the United States and employ nearly half of the workforce, contributing 43% of the gross domestic product the Pew Research Center says. Chances are you know someone who owns a small business, works for one, or is about to start one.

Small businesses are the backbone of the economy too — and here at PostcardMania, it’s our mission to make it easier for them to grow and thrive through effective, results-based marketing.

Why do we care so much? Because in an economy with a strong small business class, we all win.

But you can’t measure impact without knowing where you start. That’s why we’ve compiled every worthwhile (and reliable!) statistic we could find on American small businesses and their approach to growth — how they’re planning to grow their businesses, how they’re executing those plans, and the results.

Marketing budget statistics, social media marketing statistics, digital marketing statistics, small business marketing strategies statistics — we’ve covered it all to give you an overview of what small business owners are thinking and doing about marketing throughout the country.

You might be shocked by what the data reveals about small business owners and their impact!

Looking for a specific small business stat? Jump right to the section you want:

The Impact of American Small Business

What Small Businesses Are Saying About Their Current Marketing Efforts

Marketing Tactics Small Business Owners Love

Small Business Marketing Success Stories from Real SMBs

What Consumers Say About Shopping With and Supporting Small Businesses

How Each Generation Shops with Small Businesses

How can I improve my small business with multi-channel marketing strategies?

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments or email me at joy.gendusa@postcardmania.com.

The Impact of American Small Business

Small businesses do much more than you might imagine for the overall state of the economy, workforce, and general happiness of U.S. citizens. They also imprint a unique signature on every city and town so that when you live there or visit, you know exactly where you’ve landed. From mom and pop shops to taco trucks and mid-size marketing agencies (like us!), when every small business owner succeeds, we all do! Read these stats to see how small businesses are helping the nation thrive in different ways.

  1. Small businesses create around two-thirds of new jobs, which reduces unemployment and contributes to local economic development. (SBA, 2023)
    Small businesses create around two-thirds of new jobs

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  2. Small businesses often lead to innovation in the ways of new products, services, and business models. The Small Business Administration reported that small businesses applied for more patents than large businesses – almost 25 times the rate of any other business size. (SBA, 2023)
  3. The creation of small businesses leads to competition among businesses, spurring greater economic growth. (City of Goodyear, 2024)
  4. Entrepreneurship helps allocate resources more efficiently throughout the economy, making it more productive. (Hometown Bank, 2024)
  5. Research shows that 66% of small business owners donate to local charities. (Score.org 2024)
    Research shows that 66% of small business owners donate to local charities.

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  6. Small businesses pay taxes at the city and state level, stimulating the local economy. (Hometown Bank, 2024)
  7. 71% of small business owners (the majority) were between the ages of 45 and 64. (2023 Small Business Marketing Survey Results, 2023)
  8. The Congressional Budget Office reported that entrepreneurship declined in the four decades prior to the pandemic, but since 2020, there has been an increase in entrepreneurial activity.
  9. The U.S. Census found that the applications for new tax IDs of new businesses rose nearly seven times the typical average in 2020. Since then, monthly applications have remained high, going from roughly 200,000-300,000 to 400,000-500,000 a month in 2022.
  10. One survey also found that nearly 1 in 5 adults — 19% — of Americans are in the process of founding a business or have done so in the past 3.5 years. That’s the highest level of entrepreneurship since the survey began in 1999.

What Small Businesses Are Saying About Their Current Marketing Efforts

Small businesses may approach marketing very differently from larger companies. Most don’t have abundant funding to support a large marketing plan or marketing team of professionals. With fewer employees, small businesses also don’t have as much manpower to manage their marketing campaigns. However, marketing is certainly on small business owners’ minds. Here is what they have to say about their current marketing strategy, budget, and goals.

  1. 88% said they are the primary decision makers in their businesses. (Taradel, 2023)
  2. 79% are confident in their marketing knowledge. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  3. 78% of small business owners say they plan to invest more in their marketing in 2024. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  4. A survey found that 63% of small businesses plan to increase their marketing budget over the next year. The sectors most likely to boost spending are technology (80%), human resources (80%), and finance (76%). (SimpleTexting, 2024)
    63% of small businesses plan to increase their marketing budget over the next year

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  5. 75% of small businesses have a marketing plan while 25% said they did not. Among businesses with a marketing plan, 87% rated their marketing as successful. For those without a plan, only 13% said their marketing was successful. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
    marketing plan statistics

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  6. Small businesses with a marketing plan are 6.7x more likely to report marketing success than those without a plan. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  7. Most small businesses allocate 6-10% of their budget to marketing. Small businesses that invest more in marketing report greater marketing success. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  8. 71% of businesses say they do all of their marketing themselves and only 21% employ a marketing manager or team. The rest (8%) work with an external agency. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  9. 63% feel more confident in their marketing knowledge now (in 2024) rather than 12 months ago. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  10. 63% upskilled to understand marketing better in 2023, with a further 13% planning to in 2024. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  11. 77% say their marketing efforts in the last year have been effective. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  12. 42% of small businesses blend in-house marketing efforts with external marketing services (for example, agencies) — and those that do report 2.5X more marketing success than those relying exclusively on in-house efforts. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  13. Most business owners (53%) said that standing out from the competition is their biggest hurdle. Budget was another often-cited challenge at 49%, choosing the right marketing tactic came in at 47%, and 35% agreed keeping up with trends was a challenge. Lack of expertise was the hurdle that least concerned business owners with only 24% citing it as a challenge. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
    top challenges facing small business owners

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  14. Another report on the challenges facing small business owners echoed these results: budget was a top challenge at 23.3%, lead generation next at 22.8%, with ROI at 9.6%, know-how at 8.7%, and competition at 5.9% rounding out the results. Nearly a third of the respondents — 29.7% — cited “other” as their response. (Taradel, 2023)
  15. 9% of small businesses said sales is their main marketing goal. Increasing leads was a distant second at 15.5% with building brand awareness at 10.5% behind that. (Taradel, 2023)
  16. 46% of business owners cited reaching new customers as the reason they experimented with new marketing strategies in 2023. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  17. Referrals reign as the most valuable type of lead among small business owners (25.7%), with in-personal consultations (22.5%) and phone calls (22%) coming in not far behind. (Taradel, 2023)
  18. Virtual consultations (3.2%) and new social media followers (5.5%) were among the least valuable lead types for small businesses. (Taradel, 2023)
  19. 14% of small businesses plan their marketing campaigns a year in advance, 34% plan months in advance, 10% plan one month in advance, 13% several weeks in advance and only 4% one week in advance. 29% advertise as needed without any prior campaign planning. (Taradel, 2023)
  20. Most small business owners (nearly half) allocate $0–$499 a month for their marketing. (Taradel, 2023)
  21. 71% of small businesses say access to performance tracking and reporting is extremely important when choosing a marketing service. (Taradel, 2023)

Marketing Tactics Small Business Owners Love

Is there one particular marketing tactic small business owners love? Overall, they favor a multi-channel marketing campaign that incorporates various types, including social media, direct mail, email marketing and more. Here are the statistics showing exactly which marketing channels are favored.

  1. 76% of small business owners utilize at least two marketing channels in their overall marketing mix. (Taradel, 2023)
  2. 82% of small businesses agree that using multiple marketing channels leads to better results. (Constant Contact, 2024)
  3. 71% of small businesses say physical marketing tactics (such as flyers, banners, posters and loyalty cards) are important for connecting with new and existing customers. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
    71% of small businesses say physical marketing tactics (such as flyers, banners, posters and loyalty cards) are important for connecting with new and existing customers

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  4. 82% of small businesses plan to increase or maintain direct mail efforts over the next year. (Taradel, 2023)
    82% of small businesses plan to increase or maintain direct mail efforts over the next year.

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  5. 78% of small businesses experimented with new marketing tactics in 2023. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  6. Top digital marketing tactics small businesses chose in 2023: social media ads (60%), websites (60%), SEO (50%), email marketing (46%). (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
    Top digital marketing tactics small businesses chose in 2023

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  7. Facebook is by far the most widely used social media platform among small business owners with 83% saying they use Facebook for their business regularly. Instagram is a distant second at 48% followed by LinkedIn (30%), YouTube (18%), Twitter/X (14%), NextDoor (12%), and TikTok (11%). (Taradel, 2023)
    most widely used social media platform among small business owners

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  8. 28% of small businesses split their marketing investments about 50/50 between traditional and digital marketing tactics in 2023. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  9. 32% of small businesses invested more in traditional marketing tactics while 40% invested more in digital marketing tactics. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  10. 40% of small business owners are planning to invest more in digital in 2024, with 30% planning to invest more in traditional marketing methods and another 30% planning to invest equally in both. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  11. The top marketing tactics small businesses plan to use over the next year: Facebook ads (68%), email (66%), and direct mail (60%). (Taradel, 2023)
  12. Top traditional marketing tactics small businesses invested in, in 2023: business cards (50%), events and tradeshows (32%), print advertisements (31%), and promotional materials (29%). (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  13. 57% of small businesses with an excellent online presence say their marketing efforts have a very significant impact on sales. In comparison, only 2% of small businesses with a poor online presence share this sentiment, i.e. they feel that marketing does not have an impact on their sales. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  14. 94% of small businesses plan to increase or maintain their digital marketing investment. (Taradel, 2023)
  15. Which marketing channel delivers the best ROI for a small business? 29% say Facebook, 23% say direct mail, 19% say email, 16% say paid search/Google ads, 13% say organic search/SEO, 11% say local events, and 11% say Instagram ads. (Taradel, 2023)
    Which marketing channel delivers the best ROI for a small business?

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  16. 66% of small business owners prefer to use a self-service platform to manage their campaigns. (Taradel, 2023)
  17. Small business owners say their business growth opportunities in 2024 are: expanding their web presence (24%), increasing brand awareness (23%), and launching new products/services (22%). (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  18. In 2022, 24% of small businesses relied on a single marketing strategy. By 2023, this number shrunk to 12%. (Taradel, 2023)
  19. 6% of small business owners say social media performs excellent, good, or breaks even for their business. (Taradel, 2023)
  20. 68% of small businesses plan to use Facebook over the next year. (Taradel, 2023)
  21. Over half of small businesses (59%) are incorporating AI into their marketing strategies, and of those that do, 85% report marketing success. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
    Over half of small businesses (59%) are incorporating AI into their marketing strategies

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  22. 75% of small businesses are incorporating customer feedback into their marketing strategies.
  23. Only 19% of small businesses are using local SEO and Google My Business to enhance their local visibility. (SimpleTexting, 2024)

Small Business Marketing Success Stories from Real SMBs

PostcardMania has helped 119,322 small businesses and counting with their marketing! Direct mail-led multi-channel marketing is our specialty, and we pride ourselves on being able to deliver real marketing results to small business owners who need it the most. Here are some of our clients’ most successful direct mail marketing campaigns. The additional revenue that these businesses have been able to generate have helped them grow the American economy, employ more American workers, and give back to the community at large. Take a look at these stories, and if you see a particular marketing campaign that you want to recreate, let us know!

  1. This Fantastic Sams franchise in Greenwood, AR mailed 60,000 postcards and generated over 1,000 responses that brought in over $400,000 in revenue. (PostcardMania, 2024)
  2. A pool remodeling business in South Jordan, UT used a coordinated campaign of 4,000 postcards, Google ads, and Facebook and Instagram ads to bring in over $250,000 in revenue. (PostcardMania, 2024)
    A pool remodeling business in South Jordan, UT used a coordinated campaign of 4,000 postcards, Google ads, and Facebook and Instagram ads to bring in over $250,000 in revenue

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  3. This Patuxent, MD dentist went from $700,000 to $3.2 million in revenue with multi-channel marketing. (PostcardMania, 2019)
  4. An HVAC services company launched a multi-channel marketing campaign that combined 3,000 postcards with digital ads, and they generated $120,000 in revenue. (PostcardMania, 2023)
  5. A real estate agent in Brooklyn, NY, mailed 10,943 postcards on a monthly mailing schedule and sold a home for $2 million! This generated $120,000 in revenue for them with an ROI of 846%. (PostcardMania, 2024)
  6. An Asian restaurant in Atlanta, GA wanted to bring in more diners, so they mailed 6,000 postcards out with coupons on the design, and 900 people came in to use the discount! They gained so much business, they had to hire 3 more people and made $10,800 in revenue! (PostcardMania, 2024)
  7. This chiropractor in Colorado wanted to increase their patients, so they launched an integrated marketing campaign that included postcards, Google ads, and Gmail ads, and they made $42,000 in revenue! (PostcardMania, 2024)
  8. A cleaning company in Lakeland, FL decided to combine direct mail with digital advertising and mailed between 2,300 and 10,000 postcards a week as well as ran follow-up digital ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Gmail. As a result, they generated $170,000 in revenue. (PostcardMania, 2022)
  9. A roofing company in Iowa wanted to increase their client base, so they mailed 7,052 postcards and gained 10 new roofing jobs, bringing in $174,000 in revenue — an ROI of 3,297%. (PostcardMania, 2024)
  10. This insurance company in Los Angeles, CA mailed 12,808 postcards to property owners in the local area and generated $250,000 in revenue. (PostcardMania, 2024)
  11. A medical office in Pinehurst, NC wanted to increase the amount of their patients and mailed 30,000 postcards as well as ran digital ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Gmail. Their marketing campaign resulted in 40 new patients and more than $250,000 in revenue! (PostcardMania, 2023)

Note: Interested in how these multichannel campaigns work? It’s easy — we coordinate your postcard design with ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and even Gmail to manage a results-generating campaign so you don’t have to. This campaign bundle is called Everywhere Small Business.

What Consumers Say About Shopping With and Supporting Small Businesses

If you have the choice to shop with a local small business or a larger corporation, which would you choose? Consumers are reconsidering exactly who they spend their money with today based on a number of factors, like reducing carbon footprint, supporting the businesses in their community, and increasing employment opportunities for locals. In recent years, there has been a larger push to support small businesses, but are consumers listening? Here are some small business marketing statistics that show where consumers are spending their dollars and why.

  1. 72% of consumers prefer to buy products from small businesses over larger enterprises. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
    72% of consumers prefer to buy products from small businesses over larger enterprises

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  2. 81% of consumers overwhelmingly indicated that they are most likely to engage with marketing messages from small businesses that feature discounts and promotions. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  3. How often do consumers say they shop small? 40% said once or twice a month, 36% said once or twice a week, 11% said every day. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
    How often do consumers say they shop small?

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  4. Top marketing tactics that help consumers find small businesses: social media (54%), search engines (44%), flyers (34%), direct mail (29%), print advertisements (26%), TV/radio ads (25%), posters/banners (23%). (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  5. 78% of consumers say it’s important for them to shop small. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  6. 41% of consumers said one of the reasons they prefer to patronize small businesses over large ones is to support a local business. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  7. 46% of consumers regularly seek out small businesses in their community. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  8. 40% of consumers are planning to shop small “as much as possible” in 2024. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  9. Top five reasons consumers say they choose small businesses over big ones: location and convenience (49%), product quality (45%), price (43%), wanting to support local business (41%), having a positive impact on my local economy (38%). (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
    Top five reasons consumers say they choose small businesses over big ones

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  10. Top reasons consumers have visited a local small business: recommendation from a friend/family member (58%), walking past the storefront (57%), seeing a social media post (42%), receiving a direct mail piece or flying in the mailbox (38%), outdoor signage/posters/ads in the local area (37%), online search (30%), attending a local event (28%), seeing an ad in a local print publication (27%). (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  11. 64% of consumers say that online reviews impacted their decision to support small businesses in the past year — yet only 43.5% of businesses actively seek to influence these reviews. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  12. We prioritize quality over price when shopping small — 50% of customers cited product quality as their primary concern, overshadowing the 28% who focus on price and the 9% who value customer service most. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  13. 64% of consumers across the board say it’s either important or very important that small businesses have a strong online presence to attract and retain customers. (SimpleTexting, 2024)

How Each Generation Shops with Small Businesses

Each generation responds to and interacts with small businesses differently. When it comes to different marketing channels, each age group has a tendency to respond better to one form over another. Every generation also shops in different ways, whether it is online or inside a storefront. Take a look at these statistics that show the differences between Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z to get a better idea of how they feel about purchasing goods and services from small businesses as well as their shopping behaviors.

  1. Consumers aged 18–54 cite social media and search engines as their top methods for discovering local businesses. Ages 25–54 all agreed that flyers were the next best way to find local businesses, behind the first two. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  2. Direct mail is still king among boomers — consumers aged 55+ agreed that direct mail and flyers tied with direct mail were their top methods for discovering local businesses. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  3. In one study, Gen Z respondents supported small businesses more than any other age group with 46% saying they shopped at a local small business once or twice a week and 21% said they are always actively seeking out new small businesses — but 42% said they struggled to find small businesses in their area. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  4. Another study found that Gen Xers and millennials lead the charge, shopping with small businesses more frequently than both Gen Zers and baby boomers. (SimpleTexting, 2024)
  5. For Gen Z, not all digital marketing is created equal. Search engines were less popular with 18-24 year-olds than any other age group, while social media was their top choice by a huge margin. In fact, 66% of Gen Z said they like finding new local businesses through social media compared to 37% choosing search engines. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
    For Gen Z, not all digital marketing is created equal

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  6. 68% of Gen Z consumers purchased products through social media in the last 12 months — compared to 45% of all consumers. (Wix and VistaPrint, 2024)
  7. Gen Zers are most likely to find new small businesses to shop with through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, whereas other generations primarily rely on word-of-mouth referrals. (SimpleTexting, 2024)

How the Pandemic Affected Small Businesses’ Marketing Plans

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one-third of small businesses closed during the pandemic. Whether small businesses closed or not, their marketing strategy was certainly affected. Many reduced their spending on marketing while others stopped marketing completely. A small segment increased their marketing in an attempt to survive the shift in the economy. Take a look at these statistics that show how the pandemic affected small businesses marketing plans as well as how they shifted their marketing mindsets moving forward.

  1. 60% of small business owners had to pivot and adapt as a result of Covid-19. (PostcardMania, 2022)
  2. Businesses in the Southeastern United States pivoted the most; 67% claimed they made pandemic adjustments. (PostcardMania, 2022)
  3. 54% of small businesses said they expected to mostly or completely maintain the changes they made as a result of the pandemic. (PostcardMania, 2022)
  4. Most businesses (61.37%) responded to Covid-19 by adjusting how much money they were willing to spend on marketing — 46% spent less while 15% spent more. (PostcardMania, 2022)
  5. A majority of businesses (55.49%) were still hanging back on marketing during the pandemic, which might mean there’s room for even more revenue growth once businesses have the capital and confidence to begin marketing again. (PostcardMania, 2022)
  6. 44% of small businesses continued to market or increased their marketing efforts while only 31% scaled back their marketing. (PostcardMania, 2021)
  7. Despite a reduction in revenue, 62% of small business owners expected to be able to avoid layoffs and keep staff counts steady through the rest of the year. (PostcardMania, 2021)

How can I improve my small business with multi-channel marketing strategies?

As you can see, marketing is a top priority for small businesses, and when they thrive, the whole country benefits. If you are a small business owner and want to improve your marketing campaigns with direct mail, digital advertising, website design or other tactics, let us know! We offer free marketing advice and have many different marketing strategies your business can benefit from.

To get started, we recommend you look through our case study library, which contains over 900 stories of successful direct mail marketing campaigns. With more than 70 industries represented, you can find one similar to your business and start planning a mailing.

Click here to view our case study library.

We recommend that you check out our 947 postcard design templates, which span 83 different industries and request some free samples.

Click here to view templates and order FREE samples.

Click here for FREE marketing education resources.

To speak with a marketing consultant and get expert advice on direct mail marketing, call 1-800-628-1804.

 

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