Faced with increasing competition, rising customer expectations, and continued economic uncertainty, marketing teams are being asked to increase the volume of activity and content, despite an overall decrease in marketing spending and team members. A recent report from Gartner revealed 75% of CMOs report being asked to do more with less in 2023. As a result, the majority are adjusting and reevaluating their commitments to marketing channels, resources, and programs. 

This is the issue our team and partners addressed at the recent ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) trade show in an engaging professional development workshop.

The “do more with less” challenge is becoming increasingly pressing as multi-location businesses like shopping centers are faced with limited budgets, competing priorities, and an ever-evolving competitive buying process. The good news is that by focusing on targeted, integrated, and revenue-focused approaches, savvy marketers can make the most of available resources and drive measurable results.

Here are a few of our key workshop insights to help get the most out of your marketing team’s efforts:

Work Smarter Not Harder — Over the past several years the number of digital tools and platforms multi-location marketers use has exploded – however, they don’t always work together, and many are finding it is not efficient or effective to manage multiple vendors or tools and track data across numerous non-integrated platforms. Streamlining resources and having a single source of truth for data, such as our AdScience^® customer data platform, makes developing marketing programs for a portfolio of properties significantly more effective.  
 
Minimum Viable Budgets — Not too long-ago marketing was essentially a brand-building exercise. Today, however, it has become an ROI-focused numbers game. Additionally, with so many tactics to choose from, it is easy to spread limited dollars too thinly. To address this challenge, developers like Regency Centers are instituting minimum viable marketing budgets and only deploying marketing programs where there is enough funding to make an impact.  This approach helps identify potential risks and areas of improvement before amplifying marketing campaigns. And enables gathering enough data to iterate your way to a successful, sustainable, and scalable marketing strategy.

A Flexible Website Platform — A customer-focused, scalable website and a data-driven media approach focused on driving site traffic with tactics like SEO, paid search and social media are critical. If not careful, the cost to develop a website for one or multiple locations can get out of hand quickly. You may have a nice site, but your budget is gone. If you are then unable to execute website traffic-generating campaigns, then that shiny new site is of little use. Flexible, affordable website platforms like Pylot^® powered by Imaginuity^® allow multi-location marketers to develop a scalable web presence across their locations fast. Pylot’s functionality also allows for the management of digital advertising, paid search, SEO, online reputation management, and listings management—in a single, easy-to-manage platform.  
  
Make the Most of Content — Gone are the days of million-dollar multi-day shoots that only net one or two : 30-second commercials. JLL recently executed a half-day shoot for the holiday season that netted THOUSANDS of pieces of content. Regency is focused on a “no leftovers” approach by leveraging content for both B2B and B2C audiences and considers how to repurpose a message in multiple different ways across multiple different channels. 

Choose the Right Partners — With limited time and resources, finding the right partner(s) to work with is crucial to the success of your marketing programs. Here are a few of the most important criteria to consider:
 

1. Expertise & Specialization: Are partners experienced in your industry with skills aligned with your business’s needs and objectives and media types?  
2. Innovation & Creativity: Look for partners that can bring fresh, innovative, and executable ideas to the table. 
3. Data-Driven Approach: A data-driven partner will base their recommendations on sound analytics and insights. 
4. Communication & Responsiveness: Good communication is essential in any partnership. Ask potential partners about their preferred communications methods and response times.
5. Cultural Fit: Life’s too short to work with the wrong partner. Make sure your partner’s values, communication style and work approach align with your company’s culture. 

In today's challenging marketing environment, there's urgent pressure to do more with less. While daunting, you can find success by working smarter, not harder. Emphasize ROI-focused tactics and institute minimum viable budgets to iterate your way to impactful strategies that achieve measurable results. Consider a flexible and cost-effective website platform to deliver a customer-focused web presence while allowing for the management of digital advertising, SEO and social media in a single platform. Make the most of content and choose the right partners, with industry-specific expertise, innovative thinking, a data-driven approach, and the right cultural fit.

By implementing these proven strategies, you can rise to the challenge, maximize resources, and achieve outstanding results for your customers and your company.