November 6, 2025 — Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, today released a new Mailchimp report, The Marketing Equaliser: Leveraging AI for Mid-Market Growth. The report was created in partnership with WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness.
Key report findings include:
- More than half of global mid-market companies operate with 10 or fewer marketing staff, and 43% of ANZ marketers cite finding candidates with right skills as a challenge for growing marketing teams
- 98% of global respondents believe AI will improve marketing effectiveness
- Only a third of global respondents report using AI widely in their organisations, whereas nearly half (44%) of ANZ report the same
- Lack of in-house expertise (39%), integration challenges (35%), and data privacy concerns (33%) are identified as the top barriers to AI adoption
Mid-market businesses, defined here as companies with 10 to 499 employees, face nuanced marketing challenges, particularly when it comes to resourcing and growth: They’ve outgrown startup scrappiness, but don’t yet have enterprise-level resources. And research finds that, while most are optimistic about AI’s potential to raise marketing performance, capability gaps and lean teams continue to slow adoption. In ANZ, however, adoption and hiring are notably stronger than in other regions covered in the study.
“Mid-market marketers do recognise AI literacy and capability as a persistent barrier,” explains Jillian Ryan, Senior Manager of Content Strategy at Mailchimp. “But they’re overwhelmingly optimistic, too. Many see AI as an equaliser. It allows them to compete at a higher level, driving growth and ROI, while also freeing time for the strategic, creative work that drew them to marketing in the first place.”
The Marketing Equaliser pulls from a global survey of more than 1,200 marketers across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand, as well as interviews with industry experts and marketing leaders. “This report acts as both a mirror and a roadmap for mid-market marketers,” said Lexi Wolf, head of advisory at WARC. “It reflects where these organisations stand today and charts a practical path to make AI work for their goals.”
Skills gaps persist, but experimentation can help
Despite constrained resources, nearly all survey respondents (98%) believe AI will improve marketing effectiveness. While ANZ (44%) reports higher rates of wider deployment within their organisations than global averages (only about a third), common barriers remain. The most prevalent global concerns include a lack of in-house expertise (39%), integration challenges (35%), and data privacy concerns (33%).
For most mid-market marketers, media investments remain concentrated: The median number of marketing channels used is less than 5. Spending is focused on digital platforms like paid search and paid social—channels that tend to deliver short-term results, but may limit future demand and brand growth.
Furthermore, more than half of mid-market companies operate with 10 or fewer marketing staff, driving demand for tools that boost efficiency without added complexity. These lean teams often lack specialist roles, but the report suggests that a culture of testing and iteration can help team members build skills, refine strategy, and maximise the ROI of every campaign dollar.
ANZ marketers show greater confidence in AI adoption and headcount growth than global peers
Enthusiasm around AI’s potential may be an international trend, but report findings about headcount and practical impact reveal regional nuances to its application. In Australia and New Zealand, for example, 86% of marketers expected to grow their teams over the following 12 months—a significant number compared to 64% in the UK and 71% in the US. A similar pattern emerged around confidence in adoption, too: 44% of ANZ respondents report wide AI deployment, versus 28% in the UK and 27% in the US. These contrasts suggest that local factors—from labour markets to economic outlook—do impact the degree to which teams grow and embrace new tools.
“It’s great to see the ANZ market leading on AI adoption and optimism. Local brands have a strong track record as early adopters who turn technology into customer value, and we’re seeing that again with AI,” said Anthony Capano, Regional Director, APAC, Intuit Mailchimp. “However, there’s still challenges to overcome in order to turn that momentum into measurable results. Our new report sets out practical steps for mid-market marketers to build a solid roadmap to implementation, use AI to sharpen their competitive edge, and convert efficiency gains into sustained growth.”
A playbook that turns optimism into impact
For mid-market businesses, building sustainable marketing practices involves expanding channel diversity, using owned channels like email and SMS more effectively, and applying AI to improve performance over time. Yet turning those priorities into measurable results often depends on having the right systems in place to connect data, automate workflows, and see what’s working.
“That’s where Mailchimp can play a key role,” said Ryan. “Managing multiple efforts in one place gives marketers a unified view of their performance—making it easier to measure whether their AI investments are driving results at scale. That kind of visibility can help teams double down on what drives ROI, something we see firsthand as the Intuit platform increasingly serves as the system of record for growing businesses.”
The Marketing Equaliser explores these marketing strategies in depth, outlining a step-by-step approach to help mid-market companies advance AI maturity, from assessing skills and infrastructure to mapping use cases and establishing leadership accountability. It shows how AI can elevate both creative and analytical work, enabling smaller teams to make faster, smarter decisions that scale their impact.
Read and download The Marketing Equaliser: Leveraging AI for Mid-Market Growth for benchmarks, trends, and practical recommendations.
Methodology: The Marketing Equaliser is based on a panel-sample online survey conducted by WARC on behalf of Mailchimp from 23rd Jan 2025 to 11 Feb 2025. The survey consisted of 1,205 respondents in the US (304), UK (301), Canada (300), Australia (150) and New Zealand (150). Respondents worked in marketing or advertising functions for companies with 10-499 employees and represented a mix of B2C (54%) and B2B (46%). The margin of error is +/- 3%, at a 95% confidence level. In parallel, we conducted 14 in-depth interviews with marketing leaders and 7 interviews with subject matter experts.
About Intuit: Intuit is the global financial technology platform that powers prosperity for the people and communities we serve. With approximately 100 million customers worldwide using products such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to prosper. We never stop working to find new, innovative ways to make that possible. Please visit us at Intuit.com and find us on social for the latest information about Intuit and our products and services.
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