Moving Through Layoffs: Marketing Medicine with Doctor Ryan

Layoffs mean less people in your Marketing meetings—but it doesn’t mean less work. 

So, what do you do when headcount gets cut, but growth goals keep going up?

Burnout can come for you fast if you’re taking on a larger workload (not to mention the stress of wondering if you’re next). 

As a Marketer, how can you power through and keep having an impact?

I talked to Ryan Glanzer, Director of Lifecycle Marketing at ConsumerAffairs about how to keep things in perspective.

So grab your notepad (and listen to the pod)—it’s time to earn our MDs (Marketing Doctorates)!

1️⃣. Keep It 100

“I should preface with this: I’m a deep rural South Dakota farm boy from outside a town of 10 people.

I didn’t grow up around corporate America at all. I grew up around people who spoke bluntly and in slang laced with profanities and never wasted time on meetings.

I never heard a single person growing up talk about KPIs. 

I don’t talk the talk of a typical Marketing professional.

(Yeah, me neither LOL.)

I’m the same guy in the workplace, on a Zoom meeting, or in a regular meet-up outside of work.

I talk to people in the organization from top to bottom like they’re my next-door neighbor.

(When things get crazy at work, your team NEEDs to know that they’re working with a real person, not just another corporate robot. Especially if you have direct reports.)

2️⃣. Get Good At Boundaries

It feels like there’s never an optimal time to take a day off for mental health, but we’re always encouraged to do so.

You just have to move past the guilt. Do it and come back fresh. 

(This one’s super hard for me. We Marketers are workaholics!)

I drew a line recently. I said, “I’m not going to work between the hours of 5-8 PM.”

Never.

When 5 o’clock hits, it’s family time.

Once I’m there, if there’s anything work-related that has to be done after hours, it has to wait ‘til after the kids are in bed.

Those are some things that I’ve implemented that have helped the team stay fresh.

(Just because headcount has gone down, doesn’t mean your mental health should go with it. Advocate for yourself and your team)

3️⃣. Be OK with saying “No”

I can’t do every project someone requests.

My manager has been very quick to get on board with the idea that saying “no” is OK.

Someone may have a great idea, but if it isn’t going to grow revenue or it’s going to take a lot of bandwidth, it’s not sustainable.

We just have to pass and save it for another day.

That buy-in to skip things like that is crucial.

(Steve Jobs said it, too: “Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”)

4️⃣. Help People Help YOU

I’ve been told repeatedly, “Tell me what you need.” Leadership has been extremely accommodating—they understand the importance of our team’s contribution to revenue. 

(Buy-in and trust from leadership is the first step.) 

I have an open line to the CEO, which has been invaluable for sharing wins, struggles, and needs.

(Visibility is HUGE. People can’t support what they can’t see or don’t know about.)

5️⃣. Automations Are Your BFF

“With fewer resources, I’ve worked hard to make templates much more dynamic so a single email can render differently for up to 25 different audiences.

We’ve also started using automations instead of forming multiple audiences and scheduling separate emails.

Once the framework is built, it saves a huge amount of time.”

(Ari talked about this in her ep, too! Automations let you send better, more impactful emails as a small team. Don’t be a robot, BUILD the robot. Or buy it LOL.)

If you’re a new Marketing team of 1, I see you 💔. Thanks for reading—I hope this ep makes you feel a little less alone in the trenches!