As marketing strategies continue to evolve, small businesses are increasingly focused on solutions to stay competitive. According to CallRail’s recent survey of small-to-medium businesses, small businesses said they planned to double down on AI, improve operational efficiency, invest in paid digital advertising, and expand their use of video marketing in 2025.
But turning strategies into action isn’t always straightforward. Here, we break down the biggest marketing trends of 2025 and show you how to apply them so you can build a marketing strategy that delivers real results for your business.
AI is essential for lead generation and content creation
Our data shows that AI adoption for content is high on the list for small businesses, with many planning to use it for:
- Lead generation and qualification: 53%
- Copy and content generation: 53%
- Lead follow-up and conversion: 44%
- Appointment scheduling: 29%
- Sales and customer service training 29%
Automating these tasks allows businesses to optimize operations while maintaining a high level of customer service.
How to make AI work for your business:
Step 1. Qualify leads efficiently – Use CallRail’s AI-powered lead scoring to automatically sort and prioritize incoming leads based on their likelihood to convert.
Step 2. Generate content faster – Leverage ChatGPT or Copy.ai to create blog posts, social media updates, and ad copy quickly, freeing up time for strategic tasks.
Step 3. Schedule appointments seamlessly – Implement AI scheduling tools like Calendly’s AI Assistant or Chili Piper to automatically coordinate meetings and appointments, reducing scheduling conflicts and improving customer experience..
Step 4. Train your team smarter – Use AI-powered platforms like Lessonly or Allego for interactive, on-demand training programs that adapt to employees’ learning styles, ensuring consistent and effective customer service.
Step 5. Maintain customer service quality – Implement AI chatbots or automated response systems to handle routine inquiries while ensuring complex questions are routed to your team.
Maximize your marketing budget
What challenges do you anticipate in 2025?
- Rising costs to operate (50%)
- Increased competition (40%)
- Keeping up with technology (31%)
- Low staff and resources (23%)
- Disconnected reporting (14%)
- Other (7%)
What challenges do you anticipate in 2025?
- Rising costs to operate (50%)
- Increased competition (40%)
- Keeping up with technology (31%)
- Low staff and resources (23%)
- Disconnected reporting (14%)
- Other (7%)
With half of small businesses (50%) anticipating rising operating costs in 2025, cost efficiency is a top priority. When operating costs increase, every dollar invested in marketing needs to be stretched as far as possible. A clear return on investment or metrics that show improvement in what you get out of your marketing will make it easier to justify marketing investments and ensure your efforts pay off in the long term.
How to get more out of your marketing budget:
Step 1. Set your marketing budget: Allocate a budget that aligns with your business goals — a common benchmark for SMBs is around 5% of revenue.
Step 2. Track what’s driving results: Use call tracking and lead attribution tools to see which marketing efforts bring in the most calls and new customers. This helps you cut spending on campaigns that don’t generate real business.
Step 3. Double down on what works: Focus on your highest-converting marketing channels. Use CallRail and Google Analytics to pinpoint top-performing channels, then strategically shift more resources to amplify those successful campaigns. This approach maximizes ROI by investing in proven winners.
Step 4. Experiment strategically with A/B testing: Test different ad headlines, content formats, and promotional offers to see what resonates most with your audience and drives the highest conversions.
Step 5. Adjust spend based on data: Reduce spend on what’s not working and increase budget on high-ROI channels like social ads.
What challenges do you anticipate in 2025?
- Rising costs to operate (50%)
- Increased competition (40%)
- Keeping up with technology (31%)
- Low staff and resources (23%)
- Disconnected reporting (14%)
- Other (7%)
Small businesses increase investment in PPC, SEO, and paid social media
Paid digital channels are the top spending priorities for small businesses in 2025, with PPC (68%) and paid social media ads (59%) leading the way. SEO (40%) and email marketing (20%) lag behind. These channels are powerful because they reach the right audience at scale, but maximizing returns requires precise attribution and optimization.
How to make smarter marketing investments:
Step 1. Understand exactly where leads come from: Assign unique call tracking numbers to different campaigns to measure which efforts drive conversions. This will allow you to assess and re-invest in what’s working best.
Step 2. Balance organic and paid strategies: To sustain long-term visibility, complement paid strategies like PPC with organic strategies like SEO and content marketing. This will give you flexibility in mixing and matching the way you distribute your content.
Step 3. Refine targeting using AI insights: Analyze customer calls for common keywords and pain points. This will allow you to make changes to ad copy, PPC keywords, and landing pages with confidence instead of guessing what might resonate with your prospects.
Top spending priorities for 2025 marketing budgets
- PPC (68%)
- Paid social media ads (59%)
- SEO (40%)
- Email marketing (20%)
- SMS/Text (10%)
- Influencer marketing (3%)
Competition intensifies, making differentiation critical
Differentiators — like offering a unique service or niche experience — are key to gaining customers in a competitive market. That’s what many small businesses emphasized in our research when asked about the second biggest challenge in 2025, increased competition (40%). Here’s how some of them described the struggle:
- “We are in a small market that is very competitive with many contractors in the space.” - Plumbing and mechanical services business
- “We are a service comprised mostly of manual labor, which is difficult to demonstrate to customers and differentiate ourselves from the competition.”
- Moving company business - "Challenges are exacerbated by economic and market conditions like interest rates and “fluctuating industry trends.” -Truck accessory and vehicle upfitting shop
Sharpen your competitive edge:
Step 1: Craft a compelling brand story
Define what sets your business apart, and craft a narrative that resonates with your audience. Use your brand story to build emotional connections and differentiate yourself from competitors.
Step 2: Build customer loyalty
Implement loyalty programs or personalized offers to keep customers coming back. Use insights from customer interactions to tailor rewards and enhance customer retention.
Step 3: Leverage social proof
Use customer testimonials and case studies to highlight success stories and demonstrate value. Showcase authentic experiences to build credibility and trust.
Step 4: Personalize your customer experience
Utilize personalization techniques, such as tailored messaging or targeted offers, to create a more relevant and engaging customer journey.
Step 5: Integrate AI for strategic differentiation
While differentiation involves more than just technology, AI can enhance your competitive edge by providing data-driven insights, automating personalization, and optimizing messaging strategies.
Video marketing is a top priority
Most businesses show interest in video marketing for their small businesses, with 74% of those surveyed identifying video marketing as a first or second priority for 2025. As video creation for small businesses becomes more efficient and less costly, 95% of marketers see video as an important part of their overall strategy, which is a 7% increase year over year.
Here’s how to act on this prediction:
Step 1. Focus on short-form video: Create engaging, bite-sized content to showcase products, services, and customer testimonials. Script a 30-second ad by focusing on one key message, using a hook in the first 3 seconds, and ending with a clear call to action.
Step 2. Choose the right platform: Select the best platform based on your industry. Instagram Reels and TikTok work well for lifestyle and retail brands, LinkedIn is ideal for B2B industries like software and professional services, and YouTube Shorts are great for tutorials and product demos.
Step 3. Use budget-friendly video editing tools: Create professional-looking videos without breaking the bank using tools like InShot for quick edits and social media-friendly formats, CapCut for advanced features like transitions and filters, and Canva Video Editor for branded templates and easy customization.
Step 4. Measure what works: Pair video marketing with lead-tracking tools to measure engagement and conversion rates. Adjust your messaging based on performance data.
Step 5. Use AI for content insights: Analyze call tracking and form tracking data to determine what messaging resonates most with potential customers, helping you refine your video scripts and ad copy.
Bake success into your marketing in 2025
If you’re like most small businesses, you started 2025 with ambitious plans. But plans are only as strong as the actions behind them. Success will belong to those who take action: embracing AI, fine-tuning marketing efforts, and leveraging data-driven strategies to maximize efficiency.
This is great news for small businesses because the advantages aren’t reserved for the biggest players. They’re available to anyone who adapts quickly. CallRail’s AI-powered insights and Call Tracking helps you see what’s working, optimize your marketing, and make every dollar count. The sooner you start using data to drive decisions, the more you’ll get out of your marketing.
Start your CallRail free trial today (no credit card required).
Disclaimer: The report cited in this content is based on aggregated and deidentified data and is provided for informational purposes only. To ensure the privacy of our business customers and comply with applicable data protection regulations, the analysis and insights presented herein are derived solely from deidentified data, excluding any sensitive or protected information as defined by privacy laws and regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. This cited report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of market trends without compromising individual privacy. Any reliance on the information presented in the report is at the user’s own risk, and we disclaim any liability for decisions made based on this report.
