New Study Finds Small Businesses Are Adopting AI-Powered Marketing Tools Instead of Hiring Additional Headcount

Unbounce, the global leader in landing page and conversion intelligence technology,  released The State of AI Marketing for Small Business Report that analyzed the awareness, adoption and impact of AI marketing tools and technology on small businesses across North America.

Time and money are always a challenge for small businesses, but the Great Resignation has made it particularly difficult for growing companies to find, hire and retain marketing talent. One of the central themes from the report revealed that many small businesses are turning to AI to help fill these talent gaps. In fact, Unbounce’s study uncovered that 95% of AI adopters say their investment in AI has largely reduced their need to hire additional marketing headcount.

“For small businesses, every dollar and hour saved can make a critical difference, especially with teams that are already stretched thin”, said Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO of the Marketing AI Institute. “AI will not replace marketers, but it will be infused into marketing tools and software to make us more efficient, and enhance our creativity and decision-making. AI solutions can be found across every area of marketing, specifically for data-driven and repetitive tasks, and where predictions are being made about outcomes and human behavior.”

The State of AI Marketing for Small Business surveyed 401 small business leaders across the US and Canada. The survey was designed and conducted by Blue Research and was completed during the second quarter of 2022. Questions focused on the familiarity, adoption, and benefits of AI marketing tools and software.

“We expected to hear skepticism and fear coming from growing companies on the topic of AI,” said Pete Housley, CMO of Unbounce. “But our study revealed the opposite — the majority of businesses are comfortable giving up some control to AI and believe it will help them add significant value to their businesses over the coming years. AI adopters are already seeing meaningful benefits directly attributed to AI including saving time, increasing sales and filling specific marketing talent gaps.”

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Other notable findings include:

Small businesses are struggling to find the right marketing expertise

• 49% of businesses say the Great Resignation has prevented their teams from recruiting and retaining marketing talent.
• 60% of small businesses say one of their biggest challenges is not having the right marketing expertise on their teams.

Companies are reducing their talent and time gaps with AI tools

• 31% of small businesses have adopted AI tools due to the challenges they face with limited staff, time and budgets that leave marketing teams at a disadvantage.
• 97% of AI adopters say they’re experiencing significant time savings in performing marketing tasks as a result of their adoption of AI tools.
• Despite hiring challenges, 46% of businesses expect the advancements in AI will create a host of new marketing roles in the future.

AI tools are helping small businesses boost revenues

• 82% of AI adopters say AI is helping them accelerate their leads and revenue growth.
• 92% of small businesses say AI marketing tools have helped them decrease costs.
• According to the study, small companies that have invested in AI tools spend less on digital marketing overall compared to those who have not yet adopted AI.

“The insights from our study uncover the enormous challenges small businesses continue to face in their endeavours to grow, and the increasing opportunity AI provides in closing their time and talent gaps,” said Housley. “This report should be an eye opening piece of research for the marketing industry and will hopefully lead to companies making more confident purchasing decisions in the future.”

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