9.3.25
Economic uncertainty coupled with diminished returns on wide-ranging marketing efforts are stifling growth and not leading to desired revenue goals, a new survey of thousands of small businesses around the world shows, as nearly half of respondents said they have raised prices in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. Trump's tariffs, under emergency powers law, were last Friday ruled illegal by a U.S. appeals court. They have been touted by Trump and his allies who have used them in negotiations to press traditional allies, including the European Union (EU), Japan, India and others—aimed in the long term to bring tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. Treasury and offset sweeping tax cuts signed into law on July 4. Many consumers are feeling the pinch, however, as various businesses are passing higher costs to customers.
Published on Wednesday morning, the report, The State of Small Business Marketing, showed a growing gap between the effort small businesses are putting into marketing and their confidence that those efforts are driving meaningful business results. About 2,500 businesses in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom were surveyed by Constant Contact, a provider of digital marketing tools for small businesses and nonprofits. Among them, fewer than 1 in 5 small businesses (18 percent) reported feeling "very confident" about the impact of their marketing efforts—down from 27 percent in 2024. Nearly half (44 percent) of small businesses surveyed cited rising costs of goods as their top concern. About 62 percent of reported that tariffs have impacted sourcing and operations. Another 46 percent of small businesses globally have increased prices, while 39 percent have switched suppliers and 22 percent have delayed planned launches.