Stretch Your Budget, Not Your Team: 5 Ways to Do More with Less
Budget cuts are stressful, but they’re not a dead end.
According to Gartner, 73% of CMOs say they don’t have the funds to fully execute their 2025 strategies. At the same time, paid media continues to command more than 30% of total marketing spend, showing that visibility is still a top priority even when budgets shrink.
Pulling back may feel like a necessary cost-saving measure, but it comes at a price: loss of relevance, weakened brand recall, and a missed opportunity to step into the space your competitors just vacated. Staying in market means staying top of mind.
If you’re feeling that squeeze, you’re not alone. And you’re not out of options.
In Part 1 of this series, “Why Cutting Ad Spend During a Downturn Could Cost You More,” we unpacked the risk of going dark when others do the same. Now, we’re getting tactical. We’ll break down how you can stay visible, hit your goals, and make your budget work harder.
Because the truth is, smarter strategies—not bigger budgets—make the biggest impact.
Here’s how to stretch your spend without stretching your team too thin.
1. Revisit Your Campaign Cadence
Running 24/7 campaigns across every channel sounds great in theory. But in a tighter climate, it’s better to ask: When are your audiences most active? Where do you really need to be?
Rather than spreading your dollars thin, optimize your flighting strategy. That might mean pulsing campaigns around peak seasons or prioritizing time-of-day targeting to catch users when they’re most engaged. With tools like automated bidding and dynamic creative, you can make these optimizations quickly and maximize performance in real time.
Pro Tip: Leverage past campaign data or platform insights to identify high-converting hours or days of the week. Then, double down.
2. Consolidate Your Creative Testing
Creative fatigue is real. But that doesn’t mean you need 15 new assets for every campaign.
Instead of running dozens of creative variants across platforms, focus on a handful of strong concepts. Build your test-and-learn around meaningful differences—different messages, visuals, or formats—and give each one enough budget to collect actionable data.
Use what works, toss what doesn’t, and keep iterating.
Stat to Consider: Google found that marketers who test just one additional creative element per campaign see 3x more conversions on average.
3. Let Automation Do the Heavy Lifting
You don’t need to manually monitor every line item or tweak every bid. Programmatic platforms are getting smarter, and advertisers who embrace automation gain time and performance.
Whether you’re using AI-driven bidding, auto-optimized creative, or smart segmentation, these tools can free up your team to focus on strategy and storytelling.
But don’t set it and forget it. Even the best algorithms benefit from a human check-in. Review performance regularly and adjust your rules or goals as needed.
4. Reframe KPIs Around What Matters Now
When budgets shrink, it’s tempting to chase the most immediate results. But beware of tunnel vision.
Not every campaign will drive an instant conversion, and that’s okay. Your audience still needs to be introduced to your brand, educated, and engaged. Instead of defaulting to last-click ROI, think holistically:
- What stage of the funnel are you trying to impact?
- How are different channels contributing to the journey?
- Are there soft metrics (like brand lift, attention time, or video completion) that signal progress?
Reminder: Efficiency doesn’t just mean cheaper clicks. It means smarter investment across the customer journey.
5. Make the Most of Your Media Partners
Now’s the time to lean on your partners. If your current team is juggling multiple roles, don’t be afraid to outsource to a managed service provider or DSP with planning, creative, or measurement support.
At Digilant, for example, our teams work hand-in-hand with clients to help stretch every dollar through streamlined planning, omnichannel media buying, creative testing, and advanced analytics. You don’t have to tackle every challenge alone.
Curious how we do it? Download the full eBook, “Tough Times, Smarter Ads: How to Maximize Your Paid Media Impact,” for expert insights and actionable takeaways. Grab your copy here.
The Smart Way Forward for Advertisers
Tight budgets are a challenge, but they also create clarity. When every dollar counts, efficiency becomes your biggest advantage.
By aligning your teams, streamlining creative, and zeroing in on the media channels that truly perform, you can build a leaner, more impactful strategy that doesn’t sacrifice results. This isn’t just about weathering a storm. It’s about setting up smarter systems and stronger foundations that will serve you long after the pressure lifts.