• by Chris Noble , August 1, 2025

Sometimes I feel like the Count from “Sesame Street” when I’m reading the headlines about layoffs this year:  1% at BlackRock. 3% at Microsoft. 5% at Meta. 6% at CNN. 10% at Kohl’s. 15% at Southwest Airlines.

Across the corporate landscape, leaders are sharpening their pencils – and their axes. In 2025, major downsizing is announced nearly every week, and marketing always seems to be on the chopping block, all in the pursuit of that elusive “efficiency.” It sounds strategic – we need to save money. 

But laying off staff just to save money is not a strategy. It’s usually executed as a reactive, impulsive cost-cutting measure. It’s an exercise that’s often more about optics than outcomes.

In a marketplace where real efficiency is more important than ever, short-term cuts won’t deliver results. Without a roadmap, shrinking your marketing team just shrinks your future.

Layoffs rarely generate real efficiency

Efficiency is about maximizing outcomes with minimal waste. But in marketing orgs without operational rigor, it ends up just defined as “fewer people.” So when the time comes to start cutting, it usually goes like this:

Which people should we let go?

I don’t know. Who’s not working on priority work?

Which work is a priority?

I don’t know.

OK, well, pick 5% of the people to cut, and we’ll figure it out later.

This scenario isn’t uncommon, and inevitably, the remaining team is left doing the same work as before, on the same deadlines – with 5% fewer people. Sure, it saved money, but in the long run, it just set the team up for failure (or another round of layoffs next quarter…).

Instead, marketers who prioritize operational efficiency can save millions, sharpen team focus, and boost engagement -- all driving greater impact. Achieving that takes cross-functional alignment, process discipline, platform governance, and outside perspective to avoid drinking your own Kool-Aid. It takes time, commitment and a plan!

We’ve seen it firsthand, and so has Harvard Business Review, which reports that 50% of leadership teams spend zero hours per month on strategy. That’s not just inefficient – it’s irresponsible in a market that shifts monthly and consumer behavior hourly.

Four critical steps to efficiency:

Set an 18-month vision, strategy, and measurement plan tied to business objectives. Define where you're going, how you’ll get there, and how success will be measured. Without this foundation, any org decisions risk becoming arbitrary and misaligned.

Create a holistic marketing plan, highlighting initiatives and priorities. In tighter times, you’ll already know what falls to the bottom of the list, making tough calls easier.

Establish financial rigor and prioritize investments. Hold your team accountable for where dollars and hours are spent. Resources should flow to the highest-impact efforts, and if something isn’t in the plan, it shouldn’t be consuming budget or bandwidth.

Centralize operations with a standardized workflow. Once priorities are aligned, focus on execution. A consistent process – evaluate, agree, kickoff, concept, produce – ensures nothing makes it to the CMO’s desk that doesn’t belong there. Operations should provide visibility and accountability at each step in the process.

Real efficiency takes work – but spares a lot of pain

Executing layoffs without a marketing plan that defines prioritization and creates visibility to workload and assignments is like driving with the headlights pointed straight down. By putting in the time and effort to clearly define strategies, plans, priorities, and processes, marketing leaders can find clarity, focus, and real savings, creating a proactive and efficient organization.