Achieving more with less: when every dollar counts

Does it constantly feel like you have been asked to do more without an increase in marketing budget? It can be frustrating to be expected to deliver results with fewer or limited resources. Luckily, marketers are resourceful and are used to delivering on short timeframes, making last-minute changes, and just generally going with the flow more. In light of new trade deals, constantly shifting market trends, and general uncertainty in the economy, we’ve put together a guide for doing more with less in marketing. In general, with summer also in full swing, it is the time to double down on what works, and spend a bit less time experimenting. Let’s dive into how to make an impact when every dollar counts.. 

Tactics that still work, even in tough times

Interestingly enough, when faced with a smaller budget, it can be tempting to try something brand new that might cost less. However, this is not the time to be trying new things. This is the exact right moment to buckle down on the things that have been proven to work in attracting leads and retaining customers. While it will vary for each business, in marketing we know that a few activities are especially effective, including:

• SEO: For multi-location businesses, localization is a must. For all other businesses, SEO is one of the best free tools you have in your pocket to get seen. The landscape is shifting a bit with AI responses in search, but the general principles about providing high-quality content and making sure your brand is easily discoverable will continue to work and deliver results. 
• Email nurturing: Email is far from dead, in fact, it’s extremely effective for nurturing leads and retaining current clients. It provides limitless opportunities for targeted and personalized communication and is a great, low-cost way to engage with your audience when you don’t have the ad spend budget. 
• Retargeting – Following up on people that have expressed an interest in your organization is a great way to encourage warm leads to become customers rather than chasing cold leads. 
• Social advertising – If you can maintain a budget for ads, social media may be the way to go. For B2C, not much outconverts social, both advertising and organic posts. It does not have to be an extensive campaign to see results, just make sure to set your budget accordingly.  

Newish tactics that you might have forgotten

1. Something that may seem obvious, that does not get enough attention even in the best of times, is current customer retention. Keeping the customers you already have is a huge source of revenue for any business. You want to build long-term relationships with the people you have already invested in! To do that, go out of your way to make your current customers feel valued, and consider investing in the following actions:

   – Provide loyalty programs
   – Offer special savings just for returning customers
   – Deliver personalized, sales-free content that addresses their needs
   – Build a community around your brand
   – Deliver exceptional customer service throughout the entire lifecycle

2. Engage your community with smaller events or promotions: While it might not feel like the right time to be running promotions, if you are feeling the pinch, so are your customers. Showing a bit of appreciation for their continued loyalty may go a long way in making sure they come back and support your brand when you need it most. After all, you’re in this together. 
3. Use AI to streamline tedious processes and tasks: AI is a very useful, inexpensive tool that can help improve your team’s processes an tasks and allow them to focus on more creative endeavors that move the needle. It does not have to be incorporated into every process, but allowing teams the luxury of offloading repetitive tasks may give them the bandwidth to do more with less. 
4. Review your budget regularly: There may be something in your budget that works for a little bit, but then trails off. If that is the case, it is perfectly fine to cut back. Reviewing your budget on a regular schedule can help you catch things that do not deliver the expected value before they suck even more money from your team. 

Things to avoid or limit right now

It might seem obvious, but when you have to cut back on spending, there are certain things you will want to avoid as a marketing team. 

1. Overextending your team: Your team is the only reason you can do anything in the first place. If they do not feel valued or are consistently overworked, they will not stick around long enough to ensure you have success as a brand. Work directly with your team to prioritize tasks and make sure everyone is aligned on the strategy for the next few weeks and months to avoid overworking any one person.
2. Hiring new people or a new agency: Hiring new people to join your team takes an extraordinary amount of time and budget. It requires time investments from team members and other staff who will be responsible for  bringing someone up to speed and answering questions as they learn their way around. If you need to cut the budget, but still have to do important things, contracting a freelancer might be a cost-effective way to get more help without having to bring someone new onto the team full time. 
3. Rebranding or changes to your value proposition: A rebranding requires time and money, both of which are in short supply when you are cutting costs. Like we mentioned above, this is the perfect time to double down on what works for your brand, and most likely your brand can wait for a bit of a refresh. 
4. Cutting the budget drastically: Making cuts a bit at a time is a more reasonable approach than a slash and burn. While it might be tempting to cut everything at once, you might want to take into account how that will impact your results. Rather, be clear on priorities and then cut accordingly. Regularly reviewing results vs budget will also help with a gradual approach and give you tangible.

Doing more with less does not have to be a frustrating exercise, it can be a great lesson in creative problem solving and doubling down on what works. And, just like most everything in this world, it won’t last forever.