Lessons from 2025: How small businesses can market smarter in 2026

Clear lessons from a year of change, and how small business owners can use them to plan smarter in 2026

Why search behaviour changed

Search has changed a lot in recent years, but 2025 was when many small businesses really felt it.

Research from SparkToro shows that over 60% of searches now end without a click. People often get the answer they need directly from Google or AI tools, without ever visiting a website.

What this means for you as a small business:

• If your website traffic drops, it doesn’t always mean people aren’t interested

• Your content needs to be clear and genuinely helpful to be chosen

• Writing vague pages “just to have a website” doesn’t work anymore

  
  

Think less about “getting traffic” and more about “being useful when someone is looking for help”.

Social reach, relevance and attention

Organic reach on social media has continued to fall. Meta’s own reports confirm that business content is shown to fewer people unless it performs really well or is boosted with paid ads.  And the same is true on LinkedIn as Richard van der Blom has reported in his latest Algorithm Research.

What this means for you:

• Posting more often won’t fix low engagement

• Generic posts get ignored

• Relevance matters more than frequency

  
  

If social feels like hard work for little return, you’re not imagining it. It might be time to reduce effort there and put more energy into places where your customers actually look for help, information or reassurance.  If you’re not sure ask your customers how they conduct research.

AI adoption and what it really helps with

More small businesses started using AI in 2025. Not as a trend, but because it can genuinely save time.

Research from McKinsey shows businesses use AI to:

• Draft emails and content

• Summarise information

• Automate repetitive admin

• Explore ideas faster

What this means for you:

AI can help you move faster, but it doesn’t replace thinking. If you’re unclear about your message, AI will just make confusion quicker.

Use AI to support your work, not decide it for you.  Get specialist help and training if you’re not sure how to go about this. 

Trust and authority still matter most

The Edelman Trust Barometer shows people trust businesses that are clear, honest and helpful.

For small businesses, this is good news.

You don’t need big budgets to build trust. You need:

• Clear explanations

• Honest communication

• Useful content

When people feel helped, they start to trust you.  It’s that simple.

What worked best for small business marketing in 2025

From research and my own client work, three things stood out:

• Clarity beats volume: Saying the right thing is better than saying lots of things.

• Relevance beats reach: Being useful to the right people matters more than being seen by lots of people.

• Depth beats noise: Proper answers beat quick posts.

Small businesses that focused on these things usually felt calmer and got better results.

What should you do differently in 2026?

1. Create content that answers real questions

Instead of guessing what to post, think about what people actually ask you:

• “How does this work?”

• “Is this right for me?”

• “What should I choose?”

Turn those into:

• Simple FAQ pages

• Helpful guides

• Clear explanations of what you do and who it’s for

2. Focus on trust and relevance

   
   

People choose businesses they understand and trust.

That comes from being:

• Honest

• Clear

• Specific about who you help and how

You don’t need to do everything this year. You just need to do the right few things, in the right order, for your business. Have a browse through my blog for up to 200 insightful articles on marketing to help grow your business.

References

SparkToro Zero-Click Search Studies (2023–2024)

Gartner AI and Search Behaviour Insights (2024)

Meta Business Transparency Reports (2024)

McKinsey Global Survey on AI Adoption (2024)

McKinsey: The Economic Potential of Generative AI (2023)

HubSpot State of Marketing Report (2024)

Edelman Trust Barometer (2024)

Richard van der Blom, LinkedIn Algorithm Research (2024–2025)

About the Author

Nat Sharp is the founder of Sharp Thinking Marketing, a UK-based marketing consultant specialising in strategic clarity for small businesses. Nat helps founders focus on the right priorities, strengthen their positioning, and build marketing that actually works without overwhelm.