As small businesses grow, the ways they connect with customers evolve. Early on, many businesses may rely on word-of-mouth to build momentum. But as that momentum builds, reaching new audiences often requires an intentional approach to marketing and brand building — one that helps customers discover, recognize, and engage with your business across multiple channels.
No matter which channels you use, success comes from building connections and consistency at every stage of growth. Here are resources from American Express and three approaches for evolving your marketing strategy as your business grows.
The American Express Shop Small® Resource Hub: Support for every stage of business growth
The American Express Shop Small Resource Hub is designed to support small businesses at every stage by providing free, ready-to-use marketing assets that help you promote your brand more effectively.
Participating in the Shop Small Movement can be a powerful way to build visibility and credibility with consumers. Many customers actively seek out small businesses: The 2025 American Express Shop Small Impact Study found that 70% of American Express Card Members say they feel like they’re playing a role in their local community’s success when they Shop Small. Aligning your brand with a nationally recognized initiative can help reinforce that connection.
The Shop Small Resource Hub includes ready-to-use marketing materials — such as social media assets, printable posters, and seasonal campaign tools that businesses can adapt to fit their brand while saving time.
3 ways your marketing evolves as your business grows
No matter where your business is in its growth journey, resources like those from American Express can help you scale your marketing efforts and meet customers where they are. Here are three recommendations to help enhance your marketing strategy as you grow and ways the Shop Small Resource Hub can support you:
Expanding your reach and engaging with new audiences
Many small businesses start by building awareness through word-of-mouth, in-store signage and posters to promote local foot traffic, and personal networks. In fact, 63% of U.S. small and medium-sized businesses rely on word-of-mouth to gain new customers, according to data from PYMNTS.
While these channels remain valuable, growth often requires a more proactive approach to reaching new audiences. As your business expands, marketing shifts from passive discovery to more intentional outreach. Establishing a consistent presence across digital platforms, such as your website and social media channels, can help ensure customers can find and recognize your business wherever they’re searching.
This shift is especially important given how customers discover businesses today. According to the 2025 American Express Shop Small Impact Study, 81% of Millennials and Gen Z discovered a new small, independently owned business or restaurant through social media in the past year. At the same time, nearly every small business (98%) now markets through social channels, and 99% of those say it has positively impacted their revenue.
According to the 2025 American Express Shop Small Impact Study, 81% of Millennials and Gen Z discovered a new small, independently owned business or restaurant through social media in the past year.
Strengthening your brand recognition
As your business matures, the focus of your marketing strategy often shifts from simply reaching customers to building long-term relationships with them. Creating a cohesive brand presence across online and offline touchpoints can help customers recognize and remember your business.
Maintaining a cohesive visual style, clear messaging, and a reliable customer experience can also help strengthen brand loyalty and keep people coming back to you. For example, incorporating branded marketing assets from initiatives like Shop Small can help reinforce your identity while connecting your business to a broader community of local Merchants. Seasonal campaigns can also provide structure and inspiration, making it easier to maintain a consistent presence and stay top-of-mind with customers throughout the year.
Social media campaigns also tend to become more strategic at this stage of growth. Businesses may collaborate with local or micro-influencers, or use curated content to reach more targeted audiences.
These efforts can have a measurable impact. According to the Shop Small Impact Study, 75% of consumers say recommendations on social media influence their decision to shop at a small business, while 82% of small businesses report seeing an increase in sales when content creators or influencers post about them.
Saving time as you scale your marketing
Time is often a small business owner’s most limited resource, especially in periods of growth when you’re managing operations, serving customers, and planning for the future. That’s where scalable tools and marketing resources from American Express can make a difference.
In addition to the Shop Small Resource Hub’s ready-to-use creative assets, American Express offers a Shop Small Marketing Guide, which provides messaging suggestions and tips for adapting content across different platforms. Businesses can also take advantage of offers through the American Express Business Savings Suite to save money and time on their marketing efforts. For example, a Constant Contact offer provides 50% off your first three months of a digital marketing subscription plan, which includes tools designed to help businesses automate customer outreach campaigns through email, Social, and SMS channels.
Together, these resources can help simplify your marketing workflow, making it easier to stay consistent while scaling your efforts.
Growing through consistency and connection
Each stage of business growth presents new opportunities to connect with customers. Resources like the American Express Shop Small Resource Hub can help make that evolution more approachable. With access to free assets, campaign materials, and ready-to-use messaging, businesses can continue expanding their reach while maintaining a consistent brand presence.
