It takes a village to raise a child—and it takes a lot of platforms to help a marketer get through the day.

We asked: Last week, Marketing Brew surveyed readers, asking them to share which platforms and tools they rely on to do their jobs—as well as which ones they miss, could do without, and more.

You answered: About 150 of you responded, sharing all sorts of thoughts (and, let’s be real, grievances).

We’ve recapped some of the highlights, and we’ll be spending some more time this month covering tools and resources used by marketers.

By design

Canva got a lot of love across the board. Several respondents—including a customer experience manager, an administrative office assistant, and a VP of marketing—cited the graphic-design platform, which is expected to make more than $1 billion in revenue this year, as a tool they rely on most.

Zoom in: Emily Loof, development and marketing manager at nonprofit Colorado Youth for a Change, told us she uses it “every single day to make our social posts, emails, and more stand out more and look clean.” Loof said the nonprofit pays $13 per month for Canva, which offers various plans (including a free one).

• “As Marketing Manager, graphic design is a big part of my job, but I detested art in school and dropped the one graphic-design class I signed up for in college. I like to joke that I got a graphic-design degree from Canva University because it really is that helpful. It does so much of the work for us—I use what they’ve already created and add our spin,” Loof said.

Keep reading to find out what else readers had to say.—MS

Skin-care brand Peace Out used to spend more money running ads on paid channels like Google search and Meta. But these days, as the economy inches toward a possible recession, some of its budget has been reallocated to influencer marketing.

Why? Peace Out CMO Junior Pence told Marketing Brew it’s just more effective.

• Pence said that when Peace Out promotes influencer content on Instagram and TikTok, it sees a sales bump that’s higher than what it’s seeing across other forms of media.
• “You’re basically barely making back what you’re spending in paid media anymore, where influencers are now beginning to generate what paid media was during the pandemic,” Pence explained. Peace Out has increased its influencer budget by about 20% year over year.

Looking ahead: As marketers plan for a potential economic downturn, some are funneling more money into influencer marketing, both organically and through “whitelisting,” which involves putting ad spend behind influencer content they’d like to promote more widely. It’s a trend that’s already in motion as privacy-related changes and other factors make other forms of media less reliable.

On the up and up

Ali Fazal, Grin’s VP of marketing, told us that increasing spend on influencer marketing during economic downturns has become the norm. “When any sort of recession hits, consumer behavior shifts,” Fazal explained, adding that people may decide to no longer engage with “clickable and shoppable” Instagram ads in an effort to save cash, but they’re not going to unfollow their favorite creators.

“We’re actually seeing brands find a lot of stability in influencer marketing, especially since ad costs have been really turbulent...making it very unclear what you get for your spend in other parts of marketing, whereas the influencer landscape is relatively stable,” Fazal said.

Making changes: Lindsey Kling, VP of partnerships for baby-care brand Coterie, told us that it’s doubling down on its influencer strategy given the financial climate. Influencer marketing is a particularly high-ROI channel for Coterie, she explained.

• The company, which recently partnered with Ashley Graham for a campaign, increased its influencer marketing budget from around $300,000 in 2021 to nearly $500,000 in 2022, according to Kling.

Continue reading here.—PB

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

The ’gram: 12 tips on how to build a growth strategy on the platform that will keep followers around for good.

Prime time: It’s time to start thinking about Amazon Prime Day. Here are a few pointers for brands participating in 2022.

Checkup: Daily, weekly, and monthly checklists for SEO maintenance year-round.

Unlock a money mindset. Are your spending habits leaving you, er, spent? Find oodles of smart strategies and tips for making better decisions with your dough on The Money with Katie Show, a podcast dedicated to helping you achieve your version of the #RichGirl mindset, hosted by Katie Gatti. Listen here.

Looking to get your start in the marketing industry? Check out these junior level positions on the Marketing Brew Job Board!

Today’s featured openings:

• Email Marketing Specialist at impact.com
• Marketing Intern at Informa
• Marketing Coordinator at Taking Root

See more jobs or post your job opportunities here.

• Lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee are requesting an FTC probe into TikTok following allegations that the company has misrepresented its data-privacy practices.
• McDonald’s became the first major brand to sponsor gaming collective OfflineTV.
• Panera has a new look—and sound—under VP of brand building Drayton Martin.
• Authentic Brands Group and Bolt Financial have reached a settlement in the breach of contract suit brought by the former in April.

Snap poll: Is your brand (or are your clients) spending more on influencer marketing?

• Yes
• No
• I don’t know

Marketing agency Boathouse recently took a quantitative look at the relationship between CEOs and CMOs. Here’s what two surveys of 150 CEOs revealed:

Letter grade: When asked to grade their CMOs based on criteria like overall performance, trust with other execs, and innovation, most CEOs assigned a “B” letter grade.

• In terms of overall performance, 55% of CEOs gave their CMOs a “B.”
• CMOs earned the highest grades with regard to topics like their relationships with CEOs and other C-suite execs, but ranked lower in terms of their ability to drive growth and generate new ideas.

Alarm bells: Only one-quarter of CEOs surveyed said their CMO’s decision-making ability is above average, a figure Boathouse described as “alarmingly low.”

• 63% of CEOs said their CMOs are average at decision making, and 12% said they’re below average.
• 36% of CEOs rated their CMOs as “best in class,” while 57% said they’re “average,” and 9% said they’re underperforming.

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Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• How one LinkedIn post sparked a network of pro-choice, pro bono marketers
• Should brands keep advertising through a recession?
• One School has 100 alumni and wants to continue growing