AI-Powered Advisory Platforms for Sustainable Marketing Innovation in SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Underserved U.S. Markets

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) drive economic growth but face barriers in adopting AI for creative digital marketing, particularly in underserved U.S. markets. This study investigates the impact of an AI-driven unified advisory platform designed to enable creative and strategic digital marketing among SMEs, particularly those in underserved communities. By integrating modules such as Market Radar (delivering customer insights and competitive benchmarking) with Strategic Coaching and Compliance Tools, the platform supports SMEs in data-driven campaign design, pricing optimization, and customer engagement strategies. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with owners and managers of 13 SMEs in underserved neighborhoods in Houston, Texas and surveyed 172 platform users across three states in the U.S. Results demonstrate that SMEs leveraging both Market Radar and benchmarking modules experienced higher customer acquisition and revenue increases than those relying on standalone tools. Qualitative findings show that the unified platform enabled creative repositioning and campaign refinement, even among businesses with limited marketing budgets. Trust-building elements like Peer Benchmarks and Compliance Alerts further enhanced uptake. Our study contributes to literature on digital marketing for SMEs by evidencing how AI-enabled platforms can catalyze marketing innovation, strengthen strategic decision-making, and deliver sustainable growth. The study also offers recommendations for policymakers and SaaS providers to support inclusive digital-marketing transformation in resource-constrained environments.