Mid-Market Marketers Turn to AI as Competitive Equaliser
New research reveals 98% believe artificial intelligence will improve effectiveness, but lack of expertise remains a critical gap
Mid-market marketing organisations are positioning artificial intelligence as the great equaliser in their battle against larger, better-resourced competitors, according to new research from WARC and Intuit Mailchimp.
The study—based on a survey of 1,205 mid-market marketers and more than 20 in-depth interviews with marketing leaders across the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand—reveals that whilst an overwhelming 98% believe AI will improve marketing effectiveness, lack of in-house AI expertise has emerged as their leading concern.
Often overlooked, these organisations with 10-499 employees are vital to the business ecosystem. After weathering five years of unprecedented challenges—from pandemic disruptions to soaring costs and fragmented marketing channels—they are now adapting marketing strategies and team structures to overcome budget pressures through strategic AI adoption.
The Mid-Market Squeeze
The research paints a stark picture of the challenges facing smaller marketing teams. Small teams, limited budgets, talent shortages and economic pressures are making it harder to compete with larger brands. Mid-market marketing organisations have fewer specialists and must do more with less.
Marketing investment, whilst strong, is spread thin. Spend is concentrated in just a handful of channels, often skewed towards short-term digital tactics. The majority of companies (87%) used eight channels or fewer, with the median figure being 4.85 across both paid and owned. Paid media usage skews heavily towards digital, with search and social dominating.
Meanwhile, owned media channels such as email and SMS proven growth engines with high ROI remain underutilised despite email being used across every stage of the funnel.
AI as the Great Equaliser
“The Marketing Equalizer explores the state of marketing in the mid-market, the need for more effective marketing plans, and how technology can help these organizations compete on new terms. This report serves as both a mirror and a roadmap: a reflection of where the mid-market stands today, and a practical guide to how AI and martech can help close the distance between ambition and advantage.”
Lexi Wolf, Head of Advisory at WARC
The research reveals that investing in martech platforms and AI improves mid-market marketers’ competitive standing. The number of martech platforms a marketing team uses, and how heavily they rely on AI, is strongly correlated with their competitive performance against other firms. Companies with broader martech adoption are more likely to experiment and feel competitively stronger.
However, adoption of AI is broad but not often deep. Most mid-market marketing teams are only at the beginning of their AI journey, with AI literacy and capability identified as the major gap in their arsenal.
A Four-Step Roadmap
“We’re at a pivotal moment. Our research for this report, conducted with WARC, shows that mid-market marketers are acutely aware of one major gap in their arsenal: AI literacy and capability. But they see AI as the equalizer and a powerful tool that must serve a solid strategy. This report outlines a clear, four-step roadmap for AI adoption. It breaks down the process from diagnosing the biggest pain points to strategically implementing AI so that it drives effectiveness, not just efficiency.”
Jillian Ryan, Senior Manager, Content Marketing Strategy at Intuit Mailchimp
The study introduces a new playbook emphasising that keeping the fundamentals of marketing growth in mind is paramount when starting to incorporate AI. Mid-market marketers should focus on using AI to improve marketing effectiveness, not just efficiency, and should approach AI as a structured journey rather than ad-hoc experimentation.
Marketing teams that commit to AI adoption as a structured journey can turn efficiency gains into sustained growth. Those that delay risk ceding ground to faster-moving competitors.
The playbook recommends mapping AI solutions to the top marketing obstacles to determine where to implement “AI done for you” or “AI done with you” solutions. Martech partners can support and enable AI experimentation, helping mid-market companies learn the right lessons. An important entry point for embedding AI is tightening the connections between paid and owned channels and the CRM systems that inform both, creating a growth loop where one component feeds the other.
Shifting Towards Long-Term Growth
The research emphasises that mid-market marketers’ marketing plans need to shift towards long-term growth. Mid-market marketers may be focusing too much on the short-term, with investment needing to be directed towards creating future demand rather than immediate conversions.
With AI and martech platforms helping with the heavy lifting and alleviating time and cost pressures, they provide a route by which mid-sized companies can level up to larger, better-resourced organisations and outpace their competitors.
The message from the research is unequivocal: marketing teams that start with well-defined AI initiatives will be better positioned to capitalise on AI’s benefits, whilst those hesitating risk being left behind as competitors make the transition.
The Marketing Equalizer: Leveraging AI for Mid-Market Growth is available from WARC.
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