A new survey from Verizon confirms what many of us are seeing in the field: ๐˜š๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต.

Whether theyโ€™re five employees or 50, SMB’s are investing like never before in tools that help them move faster, serve better, and reach customers where they are.

๐—ž๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜š๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜›๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต:

๐Ÿ‘ 38% of SMBs are now using AI tools, especially for marketing, hiring, customer service, and automation.
๐Ÿ‘ 47% have upgraded cybersecurity protections, a sharp jump as businesses lean further into digital channels.
๐Ÿ‘ 76% say social media is critical to growth, making content, engagement, and ad targeting essential to daily ops.
๐Ÿ‘ Many are adopting DIY website tools, chatbots, eCommerce platforms, and automated back-office systems to reduce cost and complexity.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ด ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: SMB’s are acting more like agile tech startups than ever before:
โœ”๏ธ Automating low-value tasks
โœ”๏ธ Leveraging AI instead of adding headcount
โœ”๏ธ Using platforms to scale presence and support with minimal infrastructure

๐Ÿ’ก ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜:
This trend is especially critical if you serve SaaS, MarTech, FinTech, or services supporting new business formation. These digital-first SMB’s are building tech-forward operations from day one, and the time to ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ is ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€.

Crosslists gives you access to newly formed, high-intent SMBs across all major industries. Want to target your ICP or test a new vertical? Weโ€™ve got a fresh weekly feed to help you move fast.

๐Ÿค” What tech stack trends are you seeing in early-stage SMBs?
Letโ€™s compare notes. Drop your view in the comments!

Data governance and enterprise data management topics are widely discussed through the EDM Council: https://edmcouncil.org