CMO Playbook: 6 High-Leverage Marketing Investments When Budgets Get Tight
Let’s skip the fluff. If you’re a CMO right now, you’re not just being asked to do more with less. You’re being asked to deliver record-breaking growth with a budget that wouldn’t cover snacks for a strategy meeting. The board wants miracles. Your team is holding it together with Slack threads and caffeine. And every week, some platform changes the rules just to keep things spicy (looking at you Meta!).
This isn’t business as usual. It’s budget Tetris with real consequences.
But here’s the silver lining: lean seasons can sharpen strategy. The right investments can stretch your dollars further than a brand refresh stretches your team’s patience. The right strategy doesn't just help you stay afloat. It helps you lead from the front when everyone else is playing defense.
Here’s where to focus when the money’s tight, the pressure’s high, and playing it safe is no longer an option.
1. Audit Before You Add
Before you invest in a new platform or channel, pause and assess what you’re already running. We’ve seen brands waste five or six figures on campaigns that haven’t been touched since before Instagram Stories existed.
Ask yourself:
What’s actually driving revenue?
Where are people dropping off?
Which platforms bring in your highest-value customers?
Auditing gives you clarity. Clarity gives you control. Make sure your foundation is solid before building anything new. Whenever we bring on new clients we audit to see if there’s any black holes sucking up ad spend. One client’s old agency was spending big on Meta but most of their budget was going toward content no one was clicking on. With our audit and a few smart tweaks, we turned wasted spend into a 40% lift in return—same budget, smarter execution.
2. Go Deep, Not Wide
Trying to be everywhere at once is like planting seeds in five different gardens and wondering why nothing's blooming. TikTok, Meta, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Threads, email, podcasts, text messages, and everything in between—none of it matters if the strategy is shallow.
Focus on the channels that are already showing returns. Build better content. Double down on what works. Being intentional will always outperform being loud.
3. Invest in Creative That Converts
Creative should be more than just pretty. It needs to perform. That means ads that stop the scroll, messaging that speaks directly to your customer’s needs, and landing pages that get the job done. Don’t spend your whole budget sending traffic to creatives that flatlines. Put money into testing, optimizing, and building content that connects. The algorithm plays a role, but the people matter more. You can have the best product in the world, but if your creative doesn’t spark curiosity or trust, it’s just noise.
One of our clients was relying on polished product shots that looked beautiful but didn’t resonate. We swapped them out for low-lift UGC, added strong hooks, and tested everything…format, voice, visuals, you name it. Turns out scrappy and real makes people stop scrolling and push the buy button. Clicks got cheaper, conversions went up, and we had the data to back every decision.
Creative doesn’t have to be expensive. But it does have to be tested. Otherwise, you're just throwing spaghetti at the algorithm and hoping it sticks
4. Prioritize First-Party Data and Owned Audiences
Building your business solely on paid ads is like renting a luxury apartment—you look good until the landlord changes the locks. That’s why investing in your owned audience is non-negotiable. Email and SMS lists are your digital safety net, especially when platform costs rise or algorithms decide to ruin your week.
We helped a DTC brand shift from "buy now" campaigns to a simple list-building funnel using paid ads. We created a lead magnet that actually solved a problem, paired it with a mobile-friendly landing page, and ran low-cost Meta ads to drive traffic. Within three months, their email list grew by 8,000, and they started driving 30% of their revenue from email alone.
Want to build your list with paid ads? Start here:
Offer something valuable: A quiz, guide, discount, or free resource that feels worth the email exchange
Make the opt-in simple: Fewer fields, more conversions
Warm them up: Use a welcome sequence to turn new subscribers into buyers within the first 7 days
Don’t forget retargeting: Follow up with people who clicked but didn’t convert
When done right, paid list-building is like putting your future revenue on layaway. You might not get the sale today, but you're building leverage that pays off month after month aka future-proofing your business against any changes like a sudden social media ban.
5. Build Repeatable Systems, Not Just One-Off Campaigns
Campaigns are great, but systems are what help you scale without burnout. If your team is reinventing the wheel every month, that’s a red flag. Create templates, workflows, and processes that make execution easier. Think content calendars, reporting dashboards, and testing frameworks. When you build systems, you create space for strategy instead of stress.
Want to streamline your systems? Start here:
Project Management:
Tools like ClickUp, Asana, or Notion let you template launches, track tasks, and collaborate across channels without Slack chaos.
Asset Libraries:
Use Airtable or Google Drive (plus strong naming conventions) to organize ad creatives, landing pages, UGC, and reporting by campaign. You’ll thank yourself later.
Reporting:
Centralize performance metrics in Looker Studio, Triple Whale, or Supermetrics so you're not chasing screenshots on deadline day.
Testing Calendar:
Block dedicated time to plan, launch, and analyze A/B tests. Document what worked, what flopped, and what to try next.
dGreat systems don’t kill creativity—they protect it. They give your team a rhythm. A process. Breathing room to scale without burning out.
6. Get the Right People in the Right Seats
Your marketing efforts are only as strong as the team behind them. And “do everything” generalists burn out fast. Whether you hire in-house, bring in contractors, or partner with a boutique agency that works like an extension of your team (oh hi, that’s ME!), make sure the right brains are on the job. One experienced strategist will always outperform five underpaid interns with conflicting directions. Too many marketing teams are held together by duct tape and good intentions. One person juggling paid media, email, organic, creative, and reporting—plus trying to keep up with platform updates—is not a strategy. It’s a slow march to burnout.
That’s where we come in.
At Take Flight Marketing, we plug into your team like an in-house growth engine. No bloated agency fluff. No handoff nightmares. Just smart strategy, clean execution, and clear results.
Here’s what we do best:
Paid Social: We create, manage, and scale high-converting campaigns across Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest
Paid Search: Google, Bing, and Amazon are our playground—we handle strategy, bidding, and scaling
SEO: From technical audits to content optimization, we help you show up when it matters most
Organic Social: We build content systems that drive real engagement and consistent growth
Creative Strategy & Testing: We design testing sprints and creative systems that actually tell you what’s working
Full-Funnel Audits: We break down your current marketing engine and help you rebuild stronger
We’re not here to throw buzzwords at your problems. We’re here to help you build something that works and keeps working as you grow.
Doing more with less means focusing on what actually works. CMOs who thrive during lean seasons are the ones who prioritize with intention. The goal is not to survive with scraps. The goal is to outperform the competition by being smarter and faster.
If you’re ready to shift from chaos to clarity, we’ve got two client spots open. Book a call with Kristin and let’s get your marketing strategy in shape.
“Kristin is a force! I have gotten to see her and her team in action with a variety of D2C brands, and each time I am even more impressed. There is literally nothing this woman can’t sell. She is knowledgeable, results-driven, creative and an absolute delight to work with.”
