What’s working for small business marketing in 2025?
Marketing’s never been a one-size-fits-all process, but in 2025, that’s truer than ever before. For small businesses – where time is tight, and every pound needs to work harder than in bigger organisations – the challenge is often figuring out what’s actually worth doing.
The good news is that you don’t need to be focusing your marketing everywhere at once. But you do need to be smart about where you show up, and how you talk to people once you’re there.
We spoke to the team from leading B2B agency Fluid Commerce about what’s actually working for small business owners this year. Let’s get into it.
Getting found locally
Forget trying to outrank the giants on national search terms, local visibility is where smaller businesses are holding their own.
That starts with your Google Business Profile. It sounds basic, but an up-to-date listing with recent reviews, proper categories, and accurate opening hours can make all the difference.
Hyperlocal SEO – content that targets specific postcodes, landmarks, or neighbourhoods – is also delivering results. You shouldn’t be trying to be everywhere. Just right where your best customers already are.
Videos that feel like they weren’t made by robots
There was a time when you needed a videographer and a chunky budget to even think about filming content. Not anymore.
The kind of video that’s working in 2025 is often something that’s a tiny bit shaky, made with a phone, capturing someone talking like they actually talk. That’s what cuts through on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts – even LinkedIn, oddly enough.
Behind-the-scenes clips, a 30-second answer to a common customer question, a quick ‘how we pack your order’ video. None of this needs to be polished, it just needs to feel like an actual person, not a brand voice.
Email’s not dead
Here’s the truth: most people still check their emails, but what they don’t do is read the bad ones. Businesses that are seeing results aren’t blasting the same message to every subscriber. They’re segmenting their lists and personalising their subject lines.
It’s not rocket science, it just takes a bit more thought, and maybe some help from an external agency. You need to send the kind of email that sounds like you wrote it, not like it was cooked up by a CRM platform on autopilot.
A focus on community
There’s something shifting in how businesses grow now. More and more, the smart ones are putting effort into building real communities, not just abstract audiences. That might be a private Facebook group, a subscriber-only WhatsApp channel, or even just a consistent and helpful presence in the comments section. The format doesn’t matter as much as the consistency.
When you respond, people stay. When you invite feedback, people will talk. When they feel like part of the business, that’s when the referrals can start rolling in.
What’s working in 2025 looks a lot like what worked ten years ago, but stripped of the useless baggage. The brands doing best aren’t necessarily louder, they’re just more honest, and more present where it counts.
For a small business, that’s a hopeful message. You don’t need to do everything, but what you do end up doing? Do it like a human, not like a machine.
