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About Affiliate Moguls
Founded by Meghan Damico and Ryan Alarid, Affiliate Moguls is a consulting business that specializes in hiring, training, and optimizing affiliate and email media buying programs. 

With over 15 years of direct response marketing experience, they bring a wealth of experience and connections to each partnership.
How to Recession Proof Your Email Strategy
Written by Meghan Damico on June 28, 2022
The successful ability to pivot to changes in consumer demand is a critical part of running an online marketing business. 

Over the past two years our industry has been blessed with rising sales. But recent market volatility has business owners preparing for a potential recession. 

When times are easy marketers forget that booming sales aren’t caused by witty advertising campaigns. We depend on consumers having disposable income, faith and trust in a stable economy, and feeling confident in their financial future.

When these things don’t happen, consumer behavior adjusts and the fundamental way we promote our products needs to change. 

Here are four key tactics for how to market in a downturn and ultimately the recovery to follow:

1. Don’t be out of touch
There’s nothing worse than a brand that’s disconnected from its audience.

Now is the perfect time to assess your products/services, swipe copy, and editorial to ensure it’s in line with consumer’s beliefs. 

Ensure your copy reinforces an emotional connection with the consumer and demonstrates empathy. 

For example, if you’re a financial publishing business you’ll want to shift your copy from “greed” driven to “fear” driven. Two headline examples that show this:
Besides copy changes, you’ll want to re-think or scrap any projects in motion where the “big idea” has become mainstream or irrelevant.
2. Don’t cut your marketing budget
At least not immediately.

Continue to ride your winners while conducting new research and feedback among your customers. 

Focus on low risk advertising channels like CPA and guaranteed partnerships.

Cut any channels that are bringing in less than 70% new customers.

Know your numbers and be A/B testing and analyzing your results. 

3. Focus on retaining customers
Hyper focus on retaining current customers. 

This is a monetization strategy that will benefit your acquisition strategy. 

It's more difficult to retain new customers than to acquire them. But, it's much cheaper to advertise to your existing customers. 

Existing customers are more loyal to your business, have already given you their credit card information, and are willing to buy more from you. 

Offer them flexible payment plans, particularly with high price back-end products.  

On the front end, testing monthly memberships vs. annual could result in higher conversions. Someone may not be able to buy a $299 annual subscription, but would buy a $49 + free shipping monthly membership. 

4. Create “recession proof” products
There are certain tried and true products that work in a recession.

Gold IRAs, survival products like food and guns/ammo, off the grid energy solutions, and any product that protects and diversifies retirement savings convert like crazy.

Think of products that make your audience feel an overwhelming urge to have more during a time where it’s difficult to find or buy.

Yet, there are many products that consumers will always need and spend money on. Many of these products are in the health niche. Women rarely want to give up hormone replacement products, weight loss supplements, or their favorite lipstick. 

Sex will always sell.

In the end…
Recessions are a normal part of a business cycle, so it’s important to plan for them. Many times online business owners don’t even notice a recession until we’re in one. 

These tips will help you approach a recession in a more thoughtful and measurable way and allow you to insulate your business from any uncertainty to come.

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