Small and medium enterprises across Singapore and Malaysia are under pressure. Budgets are tightening, customer expectations are rising and the marketing landscape is evolving faster than most teams can keep up. The strain is especially visible on the ground: 66 per cent of Singapore SMEs say increased costs and reduced profitability are their number one business challenge, according to QBE’s 2025 SME Survey. In Malaysia, the picture is similar with 57 per cent of SMEs citing rising operational costs and 55 per cent pointing to high inflation as major obstacles shaping their priorities.

Amid this reality, some SMEs are discovering new ways to scale by questioning a fundamental assumption: Do you really need a full-time marketing team to grow?

That is where OtterHalf, led by seasoned marketer Cassandra Ong, is challenging long-held norms. Through a fractional marketing model designed specifically for resource-constrained businesses, the firm helps SMEs plug strategic gaps, avoid the most common pitfalls and make smarter decisions with the budgets they already have.

It’s a timely shift too. With nearly half of small businesses in APAC lacking in-house marketing expertise, the gap between what SMEs want to achieve and what they are equipped to execute has never been wider.

In a conversation with The Next Idea, Cassandra shares candid insights on the realities of SME marketing in 2026 from the mistakes nearly everyone makes to the trends leaders can no longer afford to ignore.

How fractional marketing is a scalable lifeline for resource-strapped SMEs

When asked about the biggest barrier SMEs face today, Cassandra said it is simple yet significant: budget constraints. With economic uncertainty and ongoing restructuring across sectors, many businesses simply cannot justify the cost of a full-time marketer.

“SMEs need strategic support, but they don’t always need someone in the office five days a week,” she explained.

OtterHalf solves this by embedding their team part-time as an extension of the business providing everything from strategy to execution without the overhead costs or the long onboarding cycles agencies often require.

This model, Cassandra notes, has become particularly relevant as companies seek to remain agile. “We integrate quickly, we run fast and we’re focused on outcomes and not hours.”

Three marketing mistakes almost every SME makes

Cassandra shares that they see the same patterns repeat across industries, regardless of size or maturity very often. The most critical missteps include:

1. Not tracking marketing efforts: Many businesses make decisions based on gut feel rather than data. “They conclude ‘marketing doesn’t work’ because they aren’t tracking outcomes,” Cassandra said. Without attribution, even effective initiatives look like failures.

2. Chasing virality: Virality is seductive but rarely repeatable. “It almost never translates into consistent revenue,” Cassandra cautioned. The focus, she emphasises, should be on sustainable visibility and conversions instead.

3. Copying other people’s playbooks: What works for a beauty brand won’t necessarily work for a B2B industrial supplier. “Context matters,” she stressed. “Many SMEs copy what they see online without understanding whether it aligns with their industry, customers or sales cycle.”

Growing on a budget: Partnerships, creators and the art of multiplying exposure

Scaling without overspending is fully possible, if businesses stop looking for shortcuts and instead look for leverage. Cassandra’s top recommendation? Strategic partnerships.

Partnerships allow SMEs to “double exposure without doubling cost,” whether through shared events, co-branded campaigns or cross-promotion. Some collaborations even open doors to strategic investment. Influencers are another underutilised lever and not in the traditional sense.

“Think of influencers as content creators first,” she advised. High-quality influencer content can be repurposed into ads, giving SMEs ready-made creative that performs well while reducing production costs.But securing the partnership is just step one. Ensuring execution, making sure each party delivers what they promised is where the real work begins.

“To make a partnership work, you must understand exactly what the other side wants,” Cassandra said. “Is it leads? Is it sales? Is it category growth? When expectations are aligned, both sides gain.”

Top 3 trends SMEs cannot ignore in 2026: AI, first-party data and community-led growth

AI as a competitive advantage: SMEs that ignore AI are “missing out.” Used correctly, AI accelerates ideation, content creation and campaign optimisation. But she also warns against over-reliance. AI should enhance strategy, not replace it.

First-party data is the new currency: With rising ad costs and shrinking organic reach, owned audiences- email lists, followers, customer databases are becoming priceless. “Your first-party data lets you remarket without paying for the same eyeballs repeatedly,” she said. This reduces dependence on paid ads and builds stability across economic cycles.

Community-driven marketing: While the term “community” is trending, Cassandra believes few SMEs truly understand what it means. “People buy from people they feel connected to,” she said. This creates a powerful loop: communities inspire sales, which in turn deepen loyalty. Unlike virality, community does not happen overnight. It requires consistent storytelling, emotional connection and genuine value. But for the SMEs that get it right, the impact is long-lasting.

The biggest misconception: Marketing ≠ ads

One theme recurred throughout the conversation: SMEs often reduce “marketing” to “running ads.” This, Cassandra argues, is a by-product of an ecosystem dominated by ad-specialist agencies. An effective strategy must be integrated combining PR, email, influencers, affiliates, partnerships and ads into one cohesive campaign.

“When everything supports a single story, exposure compounds,” she said. “That’s when SMEs finally see results.”

Also read: Strategy before the stack and how OpenMinds is helping SMEs reimagine Martech

A new 2026 playbook for SMEs

The message from Cassandra is clear: you don’t need bigger budgets- you need better strategy. Fractional marketing offers SMEs the flexibility to scale while staying financially resilient. Avoiding common pitfalls, tapping into the right partners and investing early in AI, first-party data and community-building can dramatically shift outcomes.

As SME competition intensifies across the region, the question leaders must ask is not “How much should we spend?” but rather “How are we spending and what is the strategy that guides it?”

In 2026, the SMEs that thrive will be the ones that embrace integrated, evidence-driven and community-focused marketing and the ones willing to rethink the familiar.