Marketers Are Turning To AI To Gain A Competitive Edge
The WARC and Intuit Mailchimp report, The Marketing Equalizer, reveals that mid-market companies (10 - 499 employees) are experiencing a major transformation in how they approach marketing, with AI emerging as a levelling force. Having endured years of disruption, rising costs, and increasingly fragmented channels, these organisations are now adapting their strategies, structures, and tools to remain competitive under continued growth pressures.
The study draws insights from 1,205 marketers across the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, alongside 20+ expert interviews. A core finding is near-unanimous belief in AI’s potential: 98% of respondents believe AI will improve marketing effectiveness, yet most mid-market organisations lack in-house AI expertise. AI is described as both a capability gap and the clearest route to unlocking marketing performance. This has led WARC and Mailchimp to propose a structured, four-step roadmap guiding mid-market teams from problem diagnosis to practical AI adoption.
Budgets remain relatively strong, but efficiency is crucial. Mid-market marketers typically operate with smaller teams and fewer specialists compared to larger enterprises. AI and martech therefore become critical tools—capable of handling heavy operational workloads, improving speed, and creating new strategic advantages. The research shows a clear correlation between a company’s martech maturity, depth of AI use, and its competitive performance.
Current marketing allocations tend to be short-term focused, with paid search and social dominating spend. Channel diversification is low, and most organisations rely on fewer than eight channels. The report stresses the importance of balancing short-term activation with long-term brand building, highlighting owned channels—particularly email and SMS—as underutilised engines for sustainable growth. Email, in particular, delivers consistently strong ROI across the entire funnel.
To harness AI effectively, the report emphasises the need for clarity - identifying the biggest operational or strategic obstacles, mapping AI solutions to them, and choosing between “AI done for you” or “AI done with you” models. AI’s most powerful applications will arise from integrating data across paid, owned, and CRM channels, creating “growth loops” where insights continuously improve performance.
What This Means for Us
For advertisers, this research signals a decisive shift - AI is no longer a bonus capability but is rapidly becoming the foundation of competitive marketing. Mid-market companies are adopting AI to compensate for smaller teams, tighter budgets, and rising channel complexity. This means advertisers operating in the same ecosystem must elevate their own AI literacy, experimentation, and integration to avoid being outpaced.
The findings also highlight a growing expectation for advertisers to blend strategic thinking with AI-driven execution. Brands will need partners who can connect paid, owned, and CRM data in ways that drive measurable incremental growth. AI’s role is not just to cut costs, but to improve marketing effectiveness, enhance audience understanding, personalise messaging at scale, and optimise media investments in real time.
Those who embrace AI early—strategically, not tactically—will shape the next phase of competitive brand growth. Those who delay will struggle to catch up.
Source: WARC