How brands can maximize spend in uncertain economic times

We are in a turbulent period — tariffs, inflation and market volatility present numerous challenges for brands and marketers.

Amid economic uncertainty, marketing budgets are often the first to be cut or frozen. Research from eMarketer predicts that tariffs alone may reduce social ad spend by $10 billion in 2025. But even with cuts to budgets and changes in consumer spending, revenue goals remain, and marketers are under pressure to hit their goals despite these headwinds.

This is an opportunity for brands that stay strategic and vigilant to outperform their peers and maximize their investment dollars. Below is a playbook that Rise and our partners have been successful with to navigate these uncertain times:

1. Demand transparency with your agencies: Ensure your agency partner is putting your media dollars to work with transparent, unbiased buying decisions that prioritize your brand’s growth. To reveal hidden fees or markups, ask the tough questions. Are they receiving rebates or discounts that don’t get passed back? Are they engaged in principal media buying models that prioritize benefits for the agency at the cost of neutrality and value? We believe transparency is not just ethical; it’s a strategic financial advantage. Brands cannot afford to lose working media to incentives paid back to agencies.
2. Re-allocate spending based on performance analysis: With the right analytics framework and auditing of channel tactics, there are frequently opportunities to shift budget. Play smart by optimizing and building upon your best performing media, while reevaluating or stopping low-performing channels. Take advantage of small and big opportunities to innovate. And lean into your platform partners for alpha and beta opportunities that often carry incentives to test out new ad units and programs.
3. Eliminate fraudulent clicks and wasted spend: Per a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, ad fraud in digital advertising is systemic. We have worked with our clients to implement a number of technological solutions to identify specific sources and suppress this fraudulent activity, in some cases delivering millions of dollars back to brands to redeploy as working media.
4. Know what you are paying for by way of tech and data: Brands today face a gauntlet of “tech tolls” to operate a cutting-edge media discipline. An important practice is spending time to review your tech tools and expenditures, including fees for data and data onboarding. Ensure these expenses are necessary and provide incremental value. Optimize your tech stack to avoid unnecessary costs and maximize efficiency. Cut ties with tools that are not delivering incremental value. And make sure you are getting the best rates available at your level of volume.

In summary, this is the time to be vigilant; know where and how your dollars are being spent. Ensure you are maximizing working media. Now is the time to have a rigorous measurement framework and testing plan to identify and prioritize opportunities. At Rise, a Quad agency, transparency and trust are the foundation of every client partnership. We’re here to help you make smarter moves with confidence. Interested in learning more about these strategies? Get in touch with us.