A CO' Marketing research reportOctober 2026
State of Small Business Marketing in Eastern Ontario
Nine in ten owners do their own marketing, and 86% have no plan.
How owner-led businesses market, where they struggle, and the support that builds resilience.
At a glance
The effort is there. The structure underneath it is missing.
Most of these businesses are one to three people. Marketing is one of many jobs the owner carries, and it gets whatever time is left.
- 87%of owners handle their own marketing
- 86%describe their marketing as ad hoc or habit-based
- 53%mostly figure marketing out themselves
- 0%of owners with a structured plan rate their confidence low
What the research found
Eight findings, in three parts
The report answers three questions: How do owners market today? Where do they struggle? What support would help them?
- 01
87% of owners do their own marketing, on top of everything else
- 02
Owners are already working hard at marketing, across four or five channels at once
- 03
Referrals bring the customers. Social media takes the time.
- 04
86% of owners market without a plan, even after five years in business
- 05
Fewer than one in four owners feel confident about their marketing
- 06
Owners with a plan are far more confident. Not one rated themselves low.
- 07
48% of owners struggle most with focus and consistency, more than with finding customers
- 08
53% of owners teach themselves marketing. Only 16% have turned to a support program.
The report closes with five recommendations for economic development and small business organizations on how to help owner-led businesses build their marketing.
Inside the findings
Confidence rises with structure
Owners working ad hoc average 2.6 out of 5. Habit-based owners average 2.7. Owners with a structured plan average 3.8.
Average confidence, out of 5. Structured combines planned and systemized. n=101.
What regional leaders are seeing
Six leaders from the region's business-support community responded to the numbers
"The ones who somehow find a way to integrate it into their weekly task list are the ones achieving the highest success."Visit the Bay of Quinte website
"Having a business longer doesn't automatically lead to having a marketing plan or system in place."Connect with Brittany on LinkedIn
"While 85% of businesses use social media, only around 10% credit it as a primary source of new customers. From an economic development perspective, this indicates a significant gap."Connect with Linda on LinkedIn
"With so many competing priorities, marketing can sometimes be difficult to keep at the forefront."Visit the Downtown Trenton website
"Marketing is not a one-and-done activity. Building a successful marketing campaign, and thus a strong business, requires significant dedication, support, trials, failures, and repeated trials."Connect with Tracey on LinkedIn
"The entrepreneurship ecosystem, although amazing, is fragmented, and entrepreneurs busy running a business just don't have the time to do all the research to find the connections they need when they need them."Connect with Cathy on LinkedIn
From the author
Cheyanne O'Driscoll
I'm a marketing strategist in Quinte West and the founder of CO' Marketing. Over eight years I've worked with more than 250 independent businesses across the Bay of Quinte and beyond.
I ran this research to put real data behind what is happening with marketing in our region's small businesses, and to show where support would make the biggest difference.
What I found is that owners aren't short on effort. They're short on structure, and structure can be built.
The full report
Read State of Small Business Marketing in Eastern Ontario
All eight findings with their charts, the owner interviews, two owner case studies, the regional leaders' full responses and five recommendations.
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About the research
The Small Business Marketing Landscape Survey ran from March 9 to September 7, 2026. The sample is self-selected, and percentages describe the respondents.
Cite as: O'Driscoll, C. (2026). State of Small Business Marketing in Eastern Ontario, 2026. CO' Marketing.