Small and medium-sized businesses represent a crucial revenue segment for media and publishing companies across all channels, from local newspapers and magazines to digital platforms and broadcast media. Yet many publishers struggle to create compelling advertising packages that truly resonate with SMB decision-makers and their evolving marketing priorities.
inTandem’s recent survey involving 500 small business owners across diverse industries reveals critical insights about how SMBs approach marketing investments, what drives their purchasing decisions and where they're allocating their growing marketing budgets. For media companies seeking to better serve this vital client segment, understanding these trends is essential for developing relevant advertising solutions and building stronger client relationships.
While the survey was originally designed regarding their agency relationship, the findings reveal broader trends that are highly applicable to any organization aiming to serve the small business segment, including media and publishing companies.
Gain insights into what SMBs expect from marketing partnerships, how they allocate growing budgets and what services they’re most likely to stick with or walk away from.
Media sales teams should take note: small business marketing budgets are expanding significantly. Nearly half of SMBs now invest up to $3,000 monthly in marketing services, representing a substantial 38% increase from 2023. Even more encouraging for publishers, 43% of small businesses expect their marketing budgets to grow further this year.
This budget expansion creates immediate opportunities for companies offering marketing services, willing to adapt their offerings. However, success requires understanding how SMBs evaluate marketing investments and what outcomes they prioritize when allocating these increased funds.
The survey reveals that SMBs are becoming more sophisticated in their marketing approach while simultaneously demanding greater accountability from their marketing partners. They're moving beyond traditional “spray and pray” advertising tactics toward more targeted, measurable campaigns that provide tangible value and directly impact their bottom line.
When small business owners evaluate marketing opportunities, value for money dominates all other considerations. Furthermore, “lack of ROI” was their top reason for churn. This represents a fundamental change in how publishers should position their offerings and structure their sales conversations. To capture more of the SMB market, media companies should lead with value and show their SMB clients how they can help boost their business.
SMBs are no longer satisfied with general brand exposure metrics or circulation numbers. They want to understand exactly how media partnerships will drive leads, increase conversions and ultimately grow their revenue. Media companies that can demonstrate clear pathways from advertising investment to business results will have significant competitive advantages.
More than half of SMBs continue to outsource significant portions of their marketing efforts, recognizing that professional expertise delivers superior results compared to internal DIY approaches.
SMBs working with marketing professionals report confidence levels of 9 out of 10 in their marketing strategies, compared to just 7 out of 10 for businesses managing marketing internally. This confidence gap allows media companies to position themselves as strategic marketing partners rather than simple advertising vendors.
However, this trust comes with heightened expectations. SMBs expect their marketing partners to provide full-funnel support and assist with their top marketing challenge: converting leads into paying customers. Media companies that can empower SMBs to nurture and convert those leads will likely gain & retain a larger portion of the SMB market.
The marketing services with the highest churn rates reveal where traditional approaches may be failing and where innovative media solutions could fill gaps.
Social media management tops the list of cancelled services, suggesting that SMBs are often disappointed with agencies that treat social media as isolated content posting rather than an integrated marketing strategy. Media companies should strive to offer comprehensive social media advertising packages that connect social presence to broader marketing campaigns and demonstrate clear business impact.
Paid search advertising also sees high cancellation rates, despite its traditionally measurable nature. This indicates that SMBs want more than just clicks and impressions, they need partners who can support them further down the funnel and help them convert leads into paying customers.
Web development rounds out the most frequently cancelled services, though this reflects the project-based nature of website work. However, the trend could mean that SMBs prefer ongoing marketing partnerships over one-time investments, favoring media companies that offer sustained advertising relationships rather than single-campaign arrangements.
Artificial intelligence presents a great avenue for media companies wanting to differentiate their services and capture additional revenue from SMB clients. With 69% of small businesses already receiving AI tools from their current marketing partners, and 60% of the remaining SMBs actively seeking AI-enabled services, demand is clearly established and growing.
Even more compelling, 39% of SMBs plan to implement AI tools into their business operations in 2025, indicating that AI adoption is moving beyond marketing into core business functions. This creates multiple opportunities for media companies to position themselves as comprehensive technology partners rather than traditional advertising vendors.
The specific AI applications SMBs most want reveal clear pathways for media innovation:
Content creation automation tops their priority list, indicating strong demand for AI-powered content solutions that can help SMBs maintain consistent marketing messaging across multiple channels.
Automated customer service capabilities rank highly, suggesting SMBs view AI as an operational efficiency tool. Media companies could explore partnerships with AI service providers to offer comprehensive marketing solutions.
Automated quote and estimate generation indicates SMBs want to streamline their sales processes. Media companies that integrate lead generation advertising with customer relationship management solutions can easily get ahead and build stronger small business loyalty.
With these three capabilities ranking the highest, as well as the increased interest and need for AI among this sector, media companies should look into integrating lead generation advertising with AI-powered business management solutions that help SMBs with lead conversion and business growth, such as inTandem by vcita.
Perhaps the most critical insight for media companies is the compressed timeline small businesses use to evaluate marketing partnerships. With 56% of SMB churn occurring within six to 12 months, media partners have limited time to demonstrate value.
This reality has significant implications for how media companies structure their SMB advertising packages and client relationships. Traditional annual contracts may be less appealing to SMBs that want to see results quickly and maintain flexibility in their marketing investments.
Instead, media companies should consider shorter-term agreements with clear performance milestones and easy renewal processes. This approach aligns with SMB preferences while creating opportunities to demonstrate value incrementally.
Another way media companies can impress and circumvent the churn window is to partner with an SMB expert who has a proven solution that enables small businesses to convert more leads, under the media company’s brand. inTandem Connect does just that. It centralizes leads and customer information, along with all the other services the media company offers to allow for conversion, consolidation and increased cross and upsell for the media company.
The survey reveals that SMBs are seeking comprehensive marketing solutions that support their entire customer lifecycle and retention process.
When asked about additional services they would purchase from marketing partners, SMBs prioritized online presence management, brand development, analytics and reporting, and business management tools. This indicates that companies offering integrated solutions, combining advertising with supporting services, will be more successful than those focusing solely on ad placement.
For marketing service providers, this suggests opportunities to expand service offerings beyond traditional advertising. Content marketing services, social media management, email marketing and digital business management tools could become valuable add-on services that increase client retention and average revenue per client.
The most significant challenge for companies serving SMB clients is demonstrating clear value throughout the relationship. With 60% of SMBs citing “lack of perceived value” as their primary reason for ending marketing relationships, a figure that has doubled since 2023, value demonstration has become critical for client retention.
This means agencies, publishers and media companies must move beyond traditional advertising metrics like reach and frequency toward business-focused measurements like lead quality, conversion rates and revenue attribution. SMB clients want to understand not just how many people saw their ads, but how many became customers and generated revenue.
Based on these SMB marketing insights, media companies should consider several strategic adjustments to better serve this crucial client segment:
inTandem by vcita’s survey results clearly indicate that SMBs value marketing partnerships that extend beyond simple advertising transactions. They want strategic advisers who understand their business challenges and can recommend solutions that drive genuine growth.
Media companies that can position themselves as marketing consultants rather than advertising vendors will build stronger, more profitable client relationships. This requires deeper understanding of SMB business models, challenges and success metrics, but enables much higher client lifetime value and referral opportunities.
The key is demonstrating ongoing value through consistent results, proactive communication and strategic guidance that helps SMBs navigate an increasingly complex marketing landscape. Media companies that master this consultative approach will find themselves with loyal SMB clients who view them as essential business partners rather than replaceable service providers.
For detailed survey methodology, complete findings and actionable strategies for serving SMB clients more effectively, download our comprehensive SMB marketing survey report with insights from 500 small business owners across multiple industries.
