89% SMB marketers expect growth with AI in ads: Report

A new study from Amazon Ads shows that small and medium-sized businesses in India expect artificial intelligence to play a significant role in improving their advertising efforts, even as many report difficulties adopting the technology.

According to the research, 89% of SMB marketing leaders believe AI in advertising will support future business growth by freeing up time for strategic work. The study found that 71% of SMBs are already using or testing AI tools for advertising.

More than half of respondents said they feel overwhelmed by the number of AI tools on the market, and many said they are eager to adopt AI but unsure how to begin.

The report estimates that SMBs could save about 5.2 hours a week, roughly 30 working days a year, by using AI to create and manage campaigns. Respondents said they would use the additional time to focus on sales (29%), team development (23%) and exploring new marketplaces (28%).

Businesses also expect a 31% drop in advertising costs over the next year because of AI-driven efficiencies, including less time spent on data analysis (49%), better campaign performance predictions (34%), improved reporting and optimization (32%) and support for media planning (37%).

Among the 71% already using or testing AI, many reported early improvements. The tools are being used for automated visual creation (23%), performance forecasting (14%) and automated ad copy generation (14%).

SMBs also expect future gains, including better audience reach (52%), faster creative production (49%) and automation of repetitive tasks (35%).

The study found notable confidence gaps. About 60% of marketing leaders said they feel overwhelmed by available tools, 55% said they are excited about AI but don’t know where to start, and 35% said they feel like they are “faking it” when using the technology.

Speaking about the insights, Kapil Sharma, Director of Amazon Ads India, “Time is one of the biggest constraints for small and medium businesses, and every hour saved can go toward building stronger customer connections or developing new products. That’s why we’ve designed our AI tools to be easy to adopt and use. It is encouraging to see Indian SMBs use solutions like the AI Image Generator and Creative Studio to quickly create effective ads, while reclaiming valuable time to invest in growth.”

While AI use is growing, SMBs want human oversight in key areas. Respondents cited final creative approval (43%), budget allocation (42%) and cultural and emotional interpretation (46%) as decisions they prefer to keep with people.

Sukriti Mendiratta, Founder, Panda’s Box, added, “As a growing brand, creating high-quality visuals used to be a time-consuming process for us. With Amazon Creative Studio, we can now create and test multiple product concepts in the time it previously took to develop just one. This has not only reduced our production efforts but also contributed to better engagement across our campaigns, improving our ad efficiency by 20% and helping us reach new audiences more effectively.”