SMEs Drive Next Wave of Marketing Automation Adoption With 13% Forecast CAGR

According to the latest market research study published by P&S Intelligence, the global marketing automation market was valued at USD 6.8 billion in 2024, and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% between 2025 and 2032 — reaching USD 17.5 billion by 2032. As organizations increasingly integrate digital tools, and as internet and mobile usage continues to rise worldwide, demand for automated marketing solutions is surging.

This upward trajectory is being driven by more companies — from small enterprises to large corporations — deploying advanced marketing platforms. These tools are proving vital in the new digital-first environment shaped by shifting consumer behavior and post-pandemic advertising dynamics.

At the same time, the growing need to streamline marketing operations, automate repetitive tasks, and deliver measurable results is establishing marketing automation as a core component for any online business.

Download free Report Sample Now

Key Insights

• The market remains highly fragmented, with no single vendor dominating — owing to a wide variety of software solutions, customization across industries, and the availability of both cloud-based and on-premises deployments.
• In 2024, the solutions segment accounted for roughly 90% of the market, underscoring broad adoption of standalone or integrated marketing automation software by businesses across sectors.
• Meanwhile, services (including professional services, system integration, support and maintenance) are projected to grow the fastest during the forecast period — indicating rising demand for implementation, onboarding, and ongoing support.
• By enterprise size, large enterprises hold the larger share, reflecting their established digital infrastructure and capacity to invest in comprehensive marketing stacks.
• However, SMEs are the fastest-growing category, with a projected CAGR of around 13%, as more small and mid-sized companies adopt marketing automation to reduce repetitive tasks, streamline operations, cut costs, and improve customer engagement.
• Regarding deployment mode, cloud-based solutions lead the market (about 60% share in 2024) and are also growing fastest, thanks to their scalability, flexibility, lower IT overhead, and ease of integration — making them especially attractive for SMEs and geographically distributed companies.
• By application, lead management held the largest share in 2024, reflecting widespread use of marketing automation tools for lead capture, prospect tracking, customer-journey mapping, and lifecycle management.
• Reporting and analytics applications are expected to see the fastest growth (forecast CAGR ~ 15%), driven by increased demand for real-time dashboards, performance measurement, campaign analytics, and data-driven decision making in marketing functions.
• Among end-user industries, retail & e-commerce led in 2024 (about 35% market share), as online shopping growth, internet penetration, and adoption of AI/ML-based personalization drive demand for marketing automation.
• Over the forecast period, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) is expected to be the fastest-growing vertical, as financial enterprises increasingly deploy marketing automation to reach prospects, manage customer relationships, and scale cross-sell/upsell efforts. 
• Geographically, North America remains the largest regional market (about 40% of global revenue in 2024), owing to early adoption of digital marketing platforms, presence of numerous software vendors, and high awareness of campaign-management technologies.
• Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is poised to be the fastest-growing region (expected CAGR ~ 15%) — driven by rising internet penetration, social media adoption, retail & e-commerce expansion, growth in IT sectors, and increasing digital transformation among SMEs.
• The acceleration in demand is further fueled by increasing adoption of advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning (ML), cloud computing, 5G, and other digital infrastructure — enabling marketing automation solutions to deliver personalized, scalable, and real-time campaign management.
• As more vendors — both global and regional — enter the space, competitive dynamics are expected to intensify. The fragmented nature of the market, combined with growing demand for customization, offers ample opportunity for new entrants offering niche, vertical-specific, or AI-enabled marketing automation platforms.