A new report has revealed that SMEs (small and medium-sized businesses) across the UK are falling behind when it comes to marketing, with lack of time, budget, and expertise cited as key barriers.
The SME Marketing Playbook, compiled by marketing expert collective, Mums in Marketing (MiMs) surveyed SMEs and found that 65% of business owners say time constraints are their biggest marketing challenge, with 54% pointing to limited budgets as a major hurdle.
For independent KBB retailers – many of whom run small, owner-led showrooms – the findings paint a familiar picture: trying to market their business while juggling customer appointments, quoting, and project management often leaves marketing at the bottom of the to-do list.
The report found that nearly two-thirds of SMEs manage marketing in-house, and in most cases, it’s the business owner themselves taking it on. Crucially, only 46% of respondents said they had a formal marketing strategy, while 20% admitted they had “no idea what was working.”
Commenting on the findings, co-author Liz Malone-Johnstone of Bureau 43 Digital Marketing Studio, said: “Too often, I work with clients who don’t understand the importance of setting clearly defined KPIs.
“They might be looking only at short-term tactics, without considering whether spend should be better placed focusing on the longer-term brand building and strategic marketing that is proven to result in business growth.
“A lot of this is because businesses don’t know what they don’t know. There’s a real blind spot where they might not have the time, or knowledge, to really sit and think about what they want their marketing to achieve, and how to do it meaningfully”
The findings are particularly significant for the KBB sector, where high-ticket, high-consideration purchases are the mainstay. Yet with 58% of SMEs spending less than £250 per month on marketing, many retailers could be struggling to make an impact.
The report also warned that marketing is seen as a “one-size-fits-all skillset”, with a lack of differentiation or understanding of how different marketing components need different skills and capabilities.
“A key reason for this is because business owners typically don’t understand how marketing can be used strategically,” said Rosie Denham from Project Communications and the report’s co-contributor.
“That lack of understanding can hinder any progress and potentially waste any marketing investment because they aren’t bringing in the right people, with the right skills, at the right time.”
With customer expectations rising and digital platforms constantly evolving, the report urges SMEs to treat marketing as a strategic lever for growth and not a reactive fix.
