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Marketing in a bear market kinda sucks. It’s a pretty tough time for fintech companies—there's less volume, which means less revenue, and for marketers, that often translates into fewer resources.

So how do you keep your marketing momentum when demand slows?

The answer lies in focusing on low-lift, low-cost strategies with a high return. In today's MarketMix, we'll explore some of these strategies, aiming to reduce your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), while ensuring sustainable growth.

Scaling an Affiliate Program

In the realm of CPA strategies, nothing scales better than an affiliate program. There are myriad websites dedicated to CPA deals, and they grow exponentially during bull runs. The recent wave of websites aspiring to be the next NerdWallet underscores this trend.

Affiliate programs can be a grind, but their long-term growth benefits are well worth the effort. Here's a pro-tip: The CPA rates demanded by these sites tend to dip when ad dollars shrink during bear markets. This makes it an opportune time to enter and compete. Some extra alpha for you, a few industry affiliate partner favorites include DotDash (Investopedia, etc.), Finixio (various websites), Bankrate, Investing.com, just to name a few. Take it and run.

And if you’re a startup that is still early on your martech stack, I recommend leveraging free analytics tools (like Google Analytics) and building UTM codes to track each of your affiliates. Here’s a great article to get you started.

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Leveraging Your Userbase with RaF Programs

Don't overlook the power of your existing users. Refer-a-Friend (RaF) programs can serve as potent retention strategies during bear markets. Not only do they fill your acquisition funnel, but also keep your user base engaged.

The trick here is to make the reward genuinely appealing to the user. You can offer cash, fee rebates, or milestone gifts. Some companies are getting creative with their rewards—like Beehiiv, which recently gave away a vacation to the Bahamas.

I’m not saying you have to go big to make it work, but creative thinking can provide outsized returns with the right positioning.

Deploying High-Visibility, Low-Cost Performance Campaigns

Another strategy is to deploy performance campaigns that offer high visibility at a low cost, like Cost-Per-Click (CPC) newsletter ads. This category has seen robust growth over the past year, and we've previously talked about monetizing newsletters in this past issue.

Align Tactics with Business Goals

While bear markets present a unique set of challenges, remember: they are opportunities for strategic marketing. The key is to align your tactics with your business goals and focus on sustainable strategies.

Bear markets might not be as enjoyable as their bullish counterparts for marketers, but there are a myriad of strategies we can deploy to hit our KPIs. Stay tuned as we delve deeper into bear market retention strategies in our upcoming newsletters.

Remember, even in the toughest of times, marketing strategies that are thoughtful, adaptable, and resourceful can help fintech companies not just survive, but thrive.

Who’s Hiring Marketers in Crypto?

• Senior Social Media Manager @ Circle [APPLY]

• Lifecycle Marketing Manager, Crypto @ Public [APPLY]

• Product Marketing Manager @ Bitgo [APPLY]

• Content Marketing Manager @ Chainalysis [APPLY]

• Growth Marketing Manager @ Uniswap [APPLY]

Looking for marketing help?

I’ve been advising a few companies through the bear market and am looking to take on a couple more clients. Whether you’re building a brand or nailing down your acquisition strategy, let’s chat about how I can help you reach your marketing goals.