SMBs Ratchet Up Their Social Media Presence
Small- and medium-sized businesses are starting to leverage AI to close the content creation gap
By Dominick Fils-Aimé October 1, 2025
In ancient times, say 2010, social media was mainly considered the domain of large, consumer-facing companies with ample marketing budgets. However, in the last decade, social media has become democratized throughout the business world — and a catalyst for growth among small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) constantly looking for an edge against competitors.
Indeed, 76 percent of SMB executives say social media has had a “positive impact” on their business, and nearly three-quarters (73 percent) reported plans to expand their presence on social platforms, according to “2025 Verizon Business State of Small Business Survey” released last April.
The survey, based on responses from 600 decision-makers, also found that more than half (54 percent) of SMBs surveyed said they struggle to produce enough content to support their online presence, while the same share said it was difficult having their content reflect fast-changing social media trends.
To close the gap, many SMB marketers have started to experiment with new tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The Verizon study says AI adoption among SMBs has surged, from 14 percent in 2023, to 38 percent in 2025, with marketing and social media cited as the top channels. For SMBs strapped for resources, AI-powered content creation tools are quickly becoming the main remedy for converting marketing ideas into better outcomes.
Use cases for applying AI tools to content creation include developing, editing, and enhancing content, as well as several other applications, according to Kelly Cutler, associate professor at ANA member Northwestern University, who specializes in digital marketing.
“There is a lot of low-hanging fruit opportunities to integrate AI into content marketing,” she says. “Using a tool such as Jasper or Grammarly for content development, content editing, reformatting content into different types of formats, taking text and turning that into audio or video are all ways content marketing is benefiting from AI.”
Her comments are echoed in “Small Business Now: Growth in Motion,” released by SMB-focused digital marketing platform Constant Contact earlier this year. The report, which surveyed 1,645 early-stage SMBs, found that 72 percent of startup companies plan to adopt AI in 2025. Among those companies, 37 percent said they will use AI for content creation and campaign ideation, such as drafting social posts or designing creative assets.
The Constant Contact survey also revealed that 23 percent of respondents plan to use AI to optimize ad campaigns, while roughly a third of respondents plan to use AI to analyze customer data and trends, and to personalize customer experiences with email marketing and/or product recommendations.
AI Is Not the End-All
To be sure, AI can automate and optimize many tasks, but human oversight is essential for driving success on social media. “Businesses should tailor creative content to each platform, aligning messaging with audience preferences,” says Michelle Wells, head of global industry marketing, SMB segment at ANA member SAS. “A strategic, data-informed approach — grounded in audience insights and platform strengths — enables SMBs to build brand awareness, generate leads, and maximize ROI with confidence in a crowded digital landscape.”
Wells advises SMBs to consider the content format of each platform they’re targeting to maximize engagement:
Facebook. Ideal for community-building and storytelling, encouraging the use of longer-form posts, behind-the-scenes content, and customer testimonials.
Instagram. The photo-based app owned by Meta demands a visual-first approach, leveraging high-quality images, Reels (short-form video clips), and Stories (24-hour posts) to showcase products, brand aesthetics, and lifestyle-related content. [Last March, Meta launched AI-enabled creator discovery and content recommendation tools within Instagram’s creator marketplace.]
LinkedIn. The B2B-based social network is a bastion for thought leadership articles and videos, industry insights, and stories about company culture. [Last August, LinkedIn expanded its video advertising program, adding new publishers and creator-led shows.]
TikTok. The wildly popular video-drenched app, drawing 1.8 billion monthly users worldwide, is designed to entertain and/or educate. A bipartisan law passed by Congress last year mandates TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sell the app. [On September 25, President Trump signed an executive order that would keep the app alive in the U.S. — pending China’s approval — with a joint-venture company holding over an 80 percent stake in the app, according to CNBC.]
X (formerly Twitter). The site is a marketing vehicle for real-time updates, quick tips, and news, along with short-form video content.
As SMB marketers increasingly migrate more of their budgets toward social media, the pressure to demonstrate clear ROI intensifies, compelling brand managers to reassess success and the KPIs they use.
Building a Business Case
A recent Sprout Social report underscores the challenge marketers face bolstering their social media channels, with 65 percent of senior leaders expecting a direct correlation between social campaigns and business goals. The survey, based on the responses of 900 social media practitioners and 322 marketing leaders across Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., also found that 52 percent of respondents expect measurable cost savings, and 45 percent need clearer visualizations of social media data.
The path forward lies in anchoring measurement to traditional performance indicators while reframing brand metrics so that they directly align with business objectives.
For the SMB-Agency Relationship, Success Comes from Trust
“Everything still comes down to the basics of measuring performance and how well you’re reaching, engaging, and retaining customers,” says Jeff Rauch, EVP of global commercial services marketing at ANA member American Express (Amex). “For small businesses, those customer-focused metrics like loyalty, repeat purchases, retention, and engagement rates are still incredibly important in terms of evaluating the performance of your marketing and how it’s achieving your end goals and how audiences are responding.”
Amex’s Small Business Saturday offers a model SMBs can follow to shape engagement strategies, especially around community-building, visibility, customer connection, and social media.
The program, which launched in 2010, is still going strong, with more than $223 billion in spending reported at small businesses, according to Rauch.
To help SMB merchants promote themselves, Amex provides free window decals, supplies, and social media templates. “These resources are available for small businesses year-round, helping them continue to reach and engage with their customers and helping Small Business Saturday grow into a global shop-small movement,” Rauch says, adding that Amex also spotlights small businesses to card members through personalized recommendations.
Shares Trump Scrolls
Striving to connect with customers has started to reshape how SMBs approach social media, moving beyond surface-level metrics to build trust and relevance. Nakeya R. Bennett, senior director of AI-driven marketing strategy at ANA member Infosys Aster, says meaningful engagement must go beyond likes and clicks.
“That means conversations over impressions, shares over scrolls, and signals of intent or loyalty over fleeting interactions,” she says, citing emotional connection, personalized storytelling, and active community participation as the bedrock for building loyalty.
Bennett adds, “SMBs that lead with values, tell human stories, and invite two-way engagement see stronger performance. And increasingly, brands are realizing that community is the new engine that drives loyalty.”
Still, balancing brand and performance on social remains a challenge — but AI can help. “The most effective teams are creating ‘performance brands’ — campaigns that convert because they’re rooted in trust, storytelling, and cultural relevance,” Bennett says. “AI is helping SMBs do both, enabling smarter segmentation and creative testing without compromising brand integrity.”