If your CEO hasn’t yet told you that your budget is cut…they will. Regardless of whether it’s because they’re being cautious, or they’re seeing a drop in orders, it will happen. So as a marketing executive, what should you do?

The bravest souls, the strongest CMOs, the most strategic marketing leaders, will argue against making cuts (see Recession Marketing: What the Best Companies Do).

However, most of you, for one reason or another, will need to deal with the cut. So, let’s assume that’s the situation you’re facing. And so, here are some ways to proceed:

1. Freeze hiring: Hiring is a big commitment. If you hire now and you have to reduce headcount later, you’ll seriously regret the hire you just made

2. Let your questionable performers go now: If you were thinking they might need to go, they probably should

3. Monitor and understand your competitors’ moves: see Responding Competitively during a Recession

4. Consider contractors: Contractors give you the ultimate flexibility. You can use them part-time. You can use them on a project and let them go once they’re done. You can always let them go at any time for any reason, and the termination process doesn’t cost you anything

5. Cut back on your areas of biggest spending: (after headcount) For you, it could be advertising, tradeshows, reseller programs or something else. The simple point is that your greatest dollars exist in certain categories. You can make relatively small percentage changes in those categories without changing your overall strategy, or your overall marketing mix

6. Automate some of your marketing activities: The options available can be overwhelming, but there are many excellent solutions out there. (More on marketing automation to come at a later date)

7. Ask your team the hard questions about what’s giving you value: It’s absolutely the case that a lot of marketing is very difficult to measure. That will always be the case. But just because it’s hard to do doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make decisions based on the information you can gather 8. Get smarter about your markets: Let’s face it. Very few of you know what you should know about the markets you serve and the markets you are attempting to serve (the new markets). There are lots of ways to make this happen, and I’ll bet you’ve under-invested in this area

This list could go on forever…What do you think is the best way to proceed in this climate?