5 Affiliate Marketing Growth Ideas to Combat the Recession

If you've ever shopped in a store that offers decorations or looked up any quotes, you've seen one of those KEEP CALM signs. You know the ones. They lightly chastise you into getting your life together. The signs that tell you how to feel (KEEP CALM) and what to do (CARRY ON). 

Those seemingly meaningless signs are all about your affiliate marketing business in today's world and hold the best advice anyone can give you right now.

This decade is ushering in one chaotic moment after the next, and you have to stay on your toes when it comes to business growth. You need to put your best mind forward, but you also need to be prepared to weather any potential storms.

It's no secret that many industries are in shambles right now. Depending on your niche, your affiliate marketing business may be nested in one of those industries. Most industries that were hit on a broader scale, including hospitality and gyms, are also seeing a decline in affiliate success. Some programs have been eliminated while businesses scramble to figure out what to cut to save the most money.

You're probably wondering what you can do to keep your affiliate marketing business from tanking in a time like this. So we've compiled five ways you can stay on top of your game and keep your affiliate marketing growth going strong. Let's get to it!

1. Be Flexible

Plenty of industries are going under, but many more are rising above. Be flexible, resilient, and adaptable.

Here's an interesting quote from an informative Forbes article:

Many affiliate marketing companies, ones which have multiple product verticals, are seeing products that weren't staples in the past now performing quite well in the wake of COVID-19. Companies whose business had centered on one or two key verticals in the past are now watching their core products overtaken by what seemed before like secondary products.

The takeaway: there's no way to tell what will sink and what will float. Pay attention and shift accordingly.

If your wheelhouse happens to be an industry that is tanking right now (hospitality, for example), it would be a great time to start delving into a new one like online courses and e-learning.

It's always a good idea to have multiple affiliate partners, but most affiliate marketers find success by becoming a thought leader in specific spaces. In times of emergency, however, you might want to start delving into industries you haven't considered before. 

If you already market to a broader audience, spend less time in industries that are seeing sharp declines in sales and interest right now. Expand your knowledge and marketing efforts. Writing guest posts can also help you expand your reach and build your influence and audience. 

2. Nurture Your Audience

Now is not the time to disappear! 

The audience you've already built is essential right now. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool when all else fails, so do your best to keep your current fans happy.

Stay on top of your email campaigns and content marketing efforts. Keep up with your SEO to reach the right people at the right time. Keep promises you've made, especially when it comes to deals and upcoming content. 

Most of all, keep being authentic. In times like this, a familiar and honest voice is a welcome part of any email, video, or social media post. 

3. Build Your Affiliate Partners

Recessions tend to get rid of risk-takers—and that includes within companies. Affiliate marketing allows companies to make sure their marketing dollars are spent in areas that offer a return. Due to this shift, you may find your options broadening as more companies see the value in affiliate marketing. As certain doors close due to budget cuts, others are opening. 

Keep an eye out for new affiliate programs and partners, and keep a running list. Scout out new opportunities for affiliate partnerships, and approach affiliate programs with an open mind. It's time to grow your list!

Try to keep your list of affiliate programs expanding even if your particular industry hasn't been affected. If this situation has taught us anything, it's that “just in case” is never a bad idea.

4. Optimize Your Site 

If you want people to come back to your home, you have to make it comfortable. For visitors, that means increasing site speeds and lessening load times. Everyone is on edge as it is, so eliminate as much frustration as possible in your site experience.

The goal here is to keep the audience you have and attract the audience you don't. Improve the overall UX of your site, including the design. Also update your calls-to-action and your links. Make sure your keywords are still relevant for their respective pages. Do a thorough rundown of your site (and even your social media), and make sure you're running a tight ship.

On that note, when it comes to affiliate programs, there's nothing more impressive than proof. 

One of the most significant ways to attract better affiliate partners is to show them how much your platform is worth. As you grow your audience and link power, keep detailed statistics.

The best information to keep for potential affiliate partners:

• Reach and engagement
• Audience demographics
• CTR
• Follower growth over a certain time
• Topics covered

5. Be Consistent and Maximize Productivity

Even in uncertain situations, you need to stay consistent with your audience to see results. Stay on top of your social media posting, blogging, and other forms of content marketing.

Consistency means posting often and continuing to engage with your audience. If you're running low on ideas, you can always freshen up old blog content.

Get your schedules as full as possible, but leave wiggle room to pivot in case you need to in the future. If there are any hot takes in all of this, it's that you always need room to pivot.

Don't stop there! You can get the most out of older pieces of content by turning them into videos or infographics, and even updating them. The key is to keep producing content that's informative and valuable to your target audience, and maybe pull in a similar audience if it makes sense. Stay top of mind, relevant, and productive by:

• Posting frequently on social media
• Updating blogs regularly
• Engaging with your audience in valuable ways
• Keeping an eye on audience desires and needs
• Expanding your influence

Need help optimizing content? Pretty Links contains innovative features that will automate much of your content strategy for you … so that you can focus on writing the content. Learn More!

Conclusion – Keep Calm and Stay the Course!

Don't let this recession stop you in your tracks. While we're all preparing for the worst, you can plan for the best by keeping these things in mind. Remember, to keep growing even in the darkest of times, you need to:

• Be flexible
• Nurture your audience
• Build out your affiliate partners
• Optimize your site
• Be consistent and stay productive!

Do your best, keep calm, and keep growing!

Do you have methods for maintaining growth in rough times? Do you have any advice on building affiliate marketing businesses right now? Comment below!

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