If you run in tech circles, you would have to be living under a whole landslide of boulders not to have noticed the news about layoffs. Marketing departments are often the first to see cuts. From our vantage point, though, it’s clear that many of these shrinking marketing teams are being asked to continue bolstering companies' growth at the same — or even at increased — rates with fewer resources. And so marketers are asking that age-old question, “How do we do more with less?”

During good times and bad, small marketing teams need to get creative. We have many thoughts about how they can get big results with limited resources. Here are our best ideas.

1. Reuse (and refresh) older content

If your website is anything like ours, you know which pieces of content consistently drive the most traffic — and it’s probably not always your newest, shiniest post. More often than not, there is an old workhorse in your stable of content that consistently drives traffic and engagement. Use it to your advantage. Give it a good dusting, and make sure your data is up to date. Also, be sure it’s still hitting all the right SEO notes. 

We’ve had clients where our entire job was refreshing their old content to make it perform better based on new SEO guidance. It’s tedious but it’s important, and it’s usually easier than coming up with ideas and producing new content. 

Once your workhorse content is up to snuff, start promoting it again. Content promotion is just as important as creation. We love to promote popular content at especially busy (or slow) times of the year, such as the holidays or the dog days of summer. If you create new content and no one is around to consume it, did you create it all? (I know, I’m really stretching that one…)

2. Make your content work smarter, not harder

Content marketers often fail to think about — and document — their strategy before they start churning out content. This often means there is no plan for how to turn blog visitors into leads. So while you’re revamping that old content, think about ways you can use it to capture visitors. It may be as simple as adding a call to action. 

Ask visitors to subscribe to a newsletter or download a case study. Offer them a free demo or a discount. (Or, in our case, a checklist!) Whatever you do, don’t let your chance to capture an email or other information slip by.

3. Outsource your content creation

Hiring people is expensive. In fact, “The average cost of hiring an employee is around $4,000...” That doesn’t even take into account their salary, benefits, and other employment costs. We will often approach companies that have unfilled positions to offer our services, even just as an interim solution — and you would be surprised how often it works. 

The truth is that outsourcing work is cheaper. If you don’t absolutely need someone who is entrenched in your company full-time, consider hiring freelancers or agencies to help fill a role. And before you decide to hire, ask your other employees what they think. How many of us have had jobs where we spend 10 hours a week twiddling our thumbs and trying to find ways to fill our time? You may think you need a full-time employee, but your other team members (who are more entrenched in the daily grind) may see that the full-time position you’re looking to fill is really a part-time role.

This solution also works if you just need to create more content but have recently lost your team to layoffs. Fill in the gaps with contractors and freelancers until you get the budget to hire another full-time employee. (Here’s our advice on how to find the right freelancer fit for you.)

Ongoing content creation challenges

Creating content day after day can be tough, especially in a narrow niche. It’s always helpful to get an outside perspective on what you could be doing better. Do you use too much industry jargon without enough explanation? Are you answering questions no one is asking? Are you forgetting about the funnel? Whether your team is big or small, it’s useful to have a second set of eyes that can ensure you don’t have any blind spots. When in doubt, ask for help.