More with Less: How AI Can Augment Marketing Teams Impacted by Job Cuts

Literally every day recently there’s been a news story about layoffs happening in healthcare and higher ed. At the Federal level, there are sweeping reductions at Health and Human Services and the Department of Education. At the local level, healthcare behemoths like Mass General Brigham and Penn Medicine recently announced major staff reductions. And universities like Johns Hopkins and the University of Southern California are making their own cuts.

Marketing and communications teams at these institutions have not been spared. In fact, during recent conversations with senior marketing leaders in both healthcare and higher ed, I’ve heard that these reductions have cut deep into their teams, forcing already-lean departments to get creative about how to get all the work done.

It seems unlikely this trend will end soon (if ever), so what can communications and marketing leaders – who have already been “doing more with less” – do today to meet their goals and help their organizations thrive?

To me, it’s the perfect opportunity to adopt AI in ways that maximize its potential while leaving critical strategic and creative work to the humans.

How AI Can Support Lean Marketing Teams

I’ve compiled a list of 12 areas where AI can tangibly and positively impact the work of thin-stretched teams. They’re arranged from simple to complex, so no matter where you are in your AI adoption journey, you can find at least one way that AI can help.

Ready? Let’s get to it.

Simple Ways Marketing Teams Can Start Using AI:

1. AI-assisted Writing and Editing
   • Tools like Jasper, Writer.com, or ChatGPT can speed up proofreading, writing emails, newsletters, social posts, and basic content creation.
2. Social Media Scheduling and Optimization
   • AI-driven platforms like Hootsuite or HubSpot help teams automate social posting, suggest optimal posting times, and recommend hashtags to maximize reach and engagement.
3. Meeting Note-taking and Summarization
   • Tools like Otter.ai or Microsoft Copilot automatically transcribe, summarize, and share meeting notes, freeing marketers to focus on strategy rather than admin.

Intermediate AI Applications for Stretched Marketing Teams:

1. Content Repurposing
   • AI tools can quickly repurpose existing content into multiple formats (blogs into social posts, videos into blogs, etc.), allowing smaller teams to expand their reach with minimal additional effort.
2. AI-Enhanced SEO and Content Planning
   • Platforms like Semrush or Surfer SEO analyze content trends, keywords, and competitors, making SEO and content planning less guesswork-intensive and more effective.
3. Personalized Email and Marketing Automation
   • Using HubSpot’s AI-powered email capabilities or Mailchimp’s predictive send-time optimization to personalize outreach, segment audiences, and increase engagement with fewer resources.

Advanced AI Use Cases for Lean Marketing Departments:

1. Automated Reporting and Analytics
   • AI-powered dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, HubSpot's reporting tools) automate performance analysis and predictive insights, significantly reducing manual data crunching.
2. Predictive Audience Segmentation
   • AI-driven CRM platforms use historical data to predict audience behaviors, helping small teams prioritize high-value segments and drive conversions more efficiently.
3. Chatbots and Conversational AI
   • Implementing conversational AI solutions enables teams to automate customer interactions, answer frequently asked questions, and pre-qualify leads without expanding headcount.

Expert-level AI Strategies for Marketing Transformation:

1. Generative AI for Advanced Creative Campaigns
   • Using generative AI tools (e.g., Midjourney, DALL·E, Adobe Firefly) to design creative visuals and campaign concepts rapidly, allowing small teams to produce sophisticated, high-quality creative content at scale.
2. AI-Driven Market Research and Customer Insights
   • Using AI-based insights tools (such as Google Deep Research or ChatGPT Deep Research) to analyze customer sentiment, competitor movements, and market opportunities faster and more accurately than traditional methods.
3. End-to-End AI Workflow Automation
   • Combining AI agents, automation platforms (Zapier, Microsoft Power Automate), and CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce) to fully automate lead nurturing, content delivery, and task management, essentially giving small teams the power and efficiency of much larger departments.

Thriving with Smaller Teams: Embracing AI for Marketing

AI is not a solve-all, but there are things that it’s really good at. And at a time when belts are getting tighter every day, finding new ways to get it all done is the name of the game.

Feeling the pinch? Schedule a free 30-minute AI strategy session to identify quick wins tailored specifically to your marketing team’s needs.