If the economic outlook in 2025 makes you feel more than a little uneasy, you are not alone. The tech industry continues to face headwinds, slower B2B buying cycles, and the lingering effects of widespread budget tightening that began in 2022. And, often, one of the first places companies look to cut is marketing.
Whether you’re running solo or part of a lean team, many marketers face the same challenges: dwindling budgets, shrinking teams, and rising expectations to deliver revenue-impacting results. It’s a tough spot, but not an impossible one.
Here’s how to stay strategic, effective, and sane while navigating economic uncertainty.
1. First rule: Don’t stop marketing
When budgets tighten, marketing often feels like an obvious place to trim. But history (and data) tell us this is short-sighted. In fact, now is exactly the time to invest in smart, strategic marketing.
In a recent 2024 Gartner CMO Spend Survey, marketing budgets have dipped to 7.7% of overall company revenue — down from 9.1% in 2023. Still, the most resilient brands are reallocating those dollars toward performance-driven, content-first strategies instead of going dark.
And it works. Harvard Business School studied how 4,700 businesses fared after past recessions and found that the most successful were those who focused on operational efficiency by selectively cutting costs while investing in the future by spending on marketing and R&D.
Marketing is a long game. If you go silent now, you’ll lose valuable visibility and momentum just when your buyers are narrowing their options.
2. Embrace AI (but strategically)
AI tools have come a long way. In 2025, they’re table stakes for lean marketing teams. The key is to understand where AI can help improve operational efficiency, and where you’re better off turning to a real, live human for help.
AI tools are exceptional at speeding up first drafts, transcribing and summarizing webinars, generating SEO-optimized headlines, or building creative variations for A/B testing. But remember: AI isn’t a replacement for human insight. Pair automation with brand strategy, storytelling, and oversight to make it truly effective. Some of our favorite tools include ChatGPT, Jasper, Descript and Grammarly.
3. Focus on revenue-driving tactics
Not all marketing activities are created equal. During economic uncertainty, it’s crucial to shift your energy to efforts that directly impact revenue. We suggest:
- Optimizing your website for conversion by ensuring your value proposition is above the fold and you have strong, relevant CTAs on every page. Add quantified case studies and testimonials with names, titles and media mentions to bolster your reputation.
- Beef up your sales enablement content. This is essential in 2025 when buying committees are larger and CFO scrutiny is higher. Some of the most effective tools are battlecards, case studies, ROI calculators and email sequences. Keep in mind, however, there are many other creative opportunities to put your marketing team to work on sales enablement.
- Create campaigns that target your warmest pipeline, and use metrics to define who these prospects are. Look for stalled deals, high-intent actions and previously engaged MQLs. Then, use retargeting and personalized nurture flows to push them toward a sale.
It’s tempting to chase vanity metrics. Instead, double down on efforts that generate qualified opportunities.
4. Reconnect with your customers
Economic pressure is also an opportunity to lean into customer marketing. After referrals, one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to grow revenue is by upselling or cross-selling through your existing customers. To accomplish this:
- Lead with value and education. Instead of giving your customers a hard pitch, send targeted content about what others in their industry are doing to scale. Share reports and benchmarks or offer a free audit or optimization session. When your customers see you as a partner they can trust, they will be more likely to look to you to solve more problems for them.
- Create advocacy programs or customer referral incentives. Your happiest customers make your best marketers. Make the process easy by creating a landing page form where customers can refer someone in 30 seconds or less. Offer something valuable in exchange for the lead or introduction.
Remember: retention and expansion are just as important as acquisition right now. Your customers are your biggest asset — put them to work in your marketing.
5. Work smarter with a strategic partner
If you’re being asked to do the work of five people with one budget and half the time, this is where the right agency partner becomes your secret weapon.
The best marketing agencies don’t just “make content,” they bring strategy, efficiency, and cross-functional capabilities to your overloaded team. Agencies offer creative horsepower that helps you hit your KPIs without adding headcount.
In 2025, we’re also seeing more tech companies lean into fractional marketing support — using agencies to fill gaps in content creation, campaign planning, and digital execution. This frees in-house teams to focus on core strategy and stakeholder management.
A great agency will help you:
- Prioritize the channels and campaigns that actually drive pipeline.
- Repurpose existing content to reach new segments.
- Track what’s working so you can prove ROI to leadership.
We’re still in this together
Tight budgets and slow pipelines aren’t going away overnight. But strategic, well-planned marketing will help you come out stronger on the other side.
We help tech marketers like you build smarter campaigns, repurpose high-performing content, and stretch every marketing dollar. Let us be your partner in doing more with less.