The marketing shifts that matter most to a small business right now are messaging-first customer contact, tighter consent rules under POPIA, the new opt-out registry that requires direct marketers to register with the National Consumer Commission before contacting anyone, short-form video, disclosed influencer partnerships, AI in the daily workflow, and local search. Reach is cheap. Permission has become the expensive part, and getting compliance wrong now carries real penalties.
Most marketing trend lists could have been written anywhere. This one is for a market where WhatsApp is the default channel and one unsolicited SMS can put you on the wrong side of two laws.
DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report put internet use at 51.7 million people at the end of 2025, or 79.6 percent of the population, with 29.1 million social media user identities counted in October 2025. The question is no longer whether you can reach people. It is whether you are allowed to, and whether they pay attention when you do.
Why WhatsApp deserves your attention before any other channel
WhatsApp is the most used social platform in the country, ahead of every feed-based network. For a small business that means the highest-intent conversations are already happening in a place most marketing plans treat as an afterthought.
The practical move is to stop using a personal number and set up a WhatsApp Business profile with trading hours, a location, and a product catalogue customers can browse without leaving the chat. Quick replies handle the five questions you answer twenty times a day, and labels separate a new enquiry from a paid order. Our walkthrough on setting up WhatsApp Business catalogues covers it end to end. One caution: a customer messaging you first is not consent to receive marketing broadcasts. The law treats those as two separate permissions.
Personalisation is worth doing, but POPIA sets the terms
Using order history to recommend the right product still beats blasting one message to everyone. What has changed is the paperwork behind it.
Section 69 of the Protection of Personal Information Act prohibits direct marketing by electronic communication unless the person gave prior consent, or is an existing customer who bought a similar product from you and had a chance to opt out at the point of sale. Where consent is required, it must be obtained in the prescribed manner using Form 4 under Regulation 6 of the POPIA Regulations, and you may make only one approach to ask for it. If they ignore that or say no, you cannot ask again.
The Information Regulator’s December 2024 guidance on direct marketing also treats telephone calls as electronic communication for the purposes of section 69, pulling cold calling into the same consent requirement as email and SMS. Failing to comply with an enforcement notice is an offence carrying a fine of up to R10 million or up to ten years imprisonment on conviction. Our guide on what small businesses need to do to stay POPIA compliant sets out the wider obligations.
The opt-out registry changes how you clean your list
The Consumer Protection Act Amendment Regulations of 2026 established a central opt-out registry administered by the National Consumer Commission, which took effect on publication on 15 April 2026 with no transitional period. Direct marketers must register annually using Form Annexure P and cleanse their databases against the registry every month.
Two details matter. A consumer’s entry on the registry overrides consent you collected earlier, so a contact who blocks marketing after opting in is off limits until you obtain fresh, channel-specific consent. And the penalty runs to R1 million or 10 percent of annual turnover, whichever is greater. Put the monthly cleanse in your calendar the way you would a VAT deadline.
Short-form video: which platform actually deserves the effort
Short vertical clips shot on a phone now outperform polished studio work for most small brands. TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Facebook Reels all distribute the same 9:16 file, so one shoot feeds four channels. Rather than spreading yourself thin, pick the one where your buyers already are and post consistently for ninety days before judging the result. Product demonstrations, before and after clips, and a founder answering a common question all travel further than a branded advert.
Influencer partnerships and the disclosure rule you cannot skip
Micro creators with a few thousand engaged followers in one niche are within reach of a small budget, and usually convert better than a large account with a general audience.
The compliance point is simple and often ignored. Advertising falls under the Advertising Regulatory Board’s Code of Advertising Practice, which requires any commercial communication to be clearly identifiable as advertising. For creator content that means a visible label such as #Ad or #Sponsored placed prominently in the post itself, not buried in a comment. The ARB weighs commercial intent rather than the wording of the contract, so gifted product, affiliate commission and free service all count. Put the disclosure obligation in the brief in writing, because the brand carries reputational risk alongside the creator.
Where AI genuinely saves a small marketing team time
The useful applications are narrow and repetitive rather than strategic. First drafts of product descriptions and captions. Turning one long article into a week of posts. Summarising reviews to find the complaint that keeps repeating.
Two rules keep this safe. Do not paste customer personal information into a public AI tool, because you remain the responsible party for that data under POPIA. And check anything factual before it goes out under your name. Our roundup of the best free AI tools for marketing your business is a starting point.
Local search and the free listings that bring people through the door
For any business with a physical location or a service area, a complete Google Business Profile is still the highest return asset that costs nothing. Categories, trading hours, fresh photographs and a steady flow of reviews feed the map results people see before they see your website.
Voice queries and AI answer tools pull from the same information. Answer the questions customers actually ask in full sentences on your own site, keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere, and make sure the site loads quickly on mobile.
Social commerce, and where the checkout really happens
Shopping features inside social apps keep growing, but the picture is uneven and worth checking before you build a plan on it. TikTok Shop is not among the markets TikTok lists as open for its Seller Centre and no local launch date has been announced, so treat any promise of in-app TikTok checkout with caution.
What works today is a shorter path from post to payment. Instagram and Facebook shops, a catalogue link in WhatsApp, a payment link sent in chat, and a simple online store accepting local payment methods will move more product than waiting for a feature that has not arrived.
Sustainability and values claims you can actually back up
Buyers do favour businesses that treat people and the environment properly, and saying so is legitimate. Saying so without evidence is not. Advertising must not mislead, so a claim like recyclable, locally made or ethically sourced needs something behind it: a certificate, a supplier list, a named material. One honest sentence about your packaging carries more weight than a page of commitments.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need consent to send marketing emails or SMSes to my customers?
Yes, unless the person is an existing customer who bought a similar product from you and had a reasonable opportunity to opt out at the time. Otherwise section 69 of POPIA requires prior consent in the prescribed form, and you may only ask once.
What is the opt-out registry and does it apply to a small business?
It is a central register of consumers who have blocked direct marketing, administered by the National Consumer Commission under the Consumer Protection Act Amendment Regulations of 2026. Direct marketers register annually and cleanse their databases against it monthly. The obligation attaches to the activity, not the size of the business.
Does an influencer have to label a paid post?
Yes. The ARB Code of Advertising Practice requires commercial communication to be clearly identifiable as advertising, which means a prominent label such as #Ad or #Sponsored. Gifted product and affiliate arrangements count.
Can I sell directly inside TikTok?
Not through TikTok Shop at present. South Africa is not on TikTok’s list of open Seller Centre markets and no local launch date has been announced. Send traffic to your own store or catalogue instead.
Which channel should a business with a small budget start with?
WhatsApp Business, because it is the most used platform in the country and costs nothing to set up properly. Add a Google Business Profile if you serve customers in a specific area.
Further reading
Originally published in November 2023. Updated September 2026 with current direct marketing rules, regulator guidance and platform availability. Consent, registry and advertising requirements change, so confirm the current position with the Information Regulator, the National Consumer Commission or your attorney before launching a campaign.
