Social Media Presence
Brand Ambassadors
Leverage Influencers
Inclusivity
High Quality SEO Blogs
Email Marketing
Networking
When it comes to outdoor industry marketing, there are a few different marketing strategies you can use to create a plan. Marketing strategies for the outdoor industry differ from other businesses due to the unique lifestyles that many outdoor fanatics have. Through specific content and digital marketing strategies, outdoor brands can promote their outdoor gear and outdoor businesses in a few specific ways to captivate their audience, turn leads into sales and build a welcoming outdoor oriented community.
Social Media Presence
Social media marketing through a variety of different channels is essential for the outdoor industry. It is how you highlight your brand, create community and draw adventurous people in. Your social media and online presence should be the framework for your entire outdoor industry marketing strategy. Showcase high quality images and reels of people summiting mountains, surfing around the world, backcountry skiing and van camping. Creating a captivating instagram account with people recreating outside and using your product is one of the best marketing strategies for the outdoor industry. Using Instagram posts and reels as your main tool for content planning and sharing the posts through other channels will broaden your reach. If you don’t have the time for social media and want to outsource it to a professional, consider hiring a social media manager.
Brand Ambassadors
Continue your outdoor marketing strategy through social media by having brand ambassadors support your business and promote it. This will give you the opportunity to use like-minded individuals with similar values to represent your brand by displaying clothing, gear or services to your followers. Utilizing people who are professional, have significant followers and show up for the outdoor industry are ideal brand ambassadors. It is important to not just have one demographic for outdoor brand ambassadors- have a wide variety of diverse brand ambassadors from all different walks of life. Make sure to hook up your outdoor brand ambassadors with some swag and give them some other benefits to keep them on your team!
Leverage Influencers
One of the best marketing strategies for the outdoor industry is to reach as much of your target audience as possible. Leveraging influencers is a smart tactic to expand your reach quickly. Many outdoor industry influencers are a huge inspiration for people and can bring in a lot of sales if you choose the right influencer for your brand. By being creative and investing in the right influencers, this can be a very effective form of outdoor marketing. Use influencers for social media story takeovers, contests, giveaways and shoutouts. Do your research ahead of time to make sure the influencers you invest in have an audience that represents the values and mission of your brand.
Inclusivity
It’s 2023, all bodies, genders and people of color are recreating in the outdoors- make sure you are being inclusive! Utilize diverse brand ambassadors and influencers of all different levels of outdoor recreation skills. Not every customer is going to be able to ascend the highest peak, surf a point break or run a marathon. It’s important to not just represent professional athletes, but also people enjoying the outdoors in a more leisurely way. Make sure to be a welcoming and safe space for all people by representing diversity in your visual content, written content and on the team of your outdoor industry company.
High Quality SEO Blogs
Outdoor industry marketing can’t be complete without high quality written content that will excite your target audience. The outdoor industry is an adventurous field full of education, pushing yourself and inspiring stories. Having high quality SEO blogs will help you rank higher on Google and grow the authority of your website. Investing in an SEO blog writing service to help your brand rank highly on search engines is a smart investment to bring more organic traffic to your website. SEO blogs for the outdoor industry are a great way to build trust in your community and market outdoor products and services.
Email Marketing
Whether you provide an outdoor industry service or are selling outdoor gear through e-commerce, email marketing is an excellent strategy for marketing in the outdoor industry. Send out monthly or bimonthly newsletters promoting new ski gear in your store, special deals on bikes or the next yoga and surf retreat you are hosting. Outdoor industry email marketing with targeted campaigns can help drive more traffic to your website, build engagement and drive conversions.
Networking
This might be one of the best marketing strategies for the outdoor industry! Nothing is better than word of mouth or “knowing people”. The outdoor industry is huge, but it’s very niche and can feel a lot smaller than it actually is sometimes. You will be surprised at the connections you can make quickly and connections other people have that can help grow your business. Take advantage of networking events, connecting with people at outdoor industry events and carrying around your business cards for strategic marketing for your outdoor brand. Even if connecting with someone doesn’t lead to a new client or a sale, that connection may be able to help you in the future. The outdoor industry consists of so many different fields, but we all have a passion for getting outside, moving our bodies and self growth. The more people you connect with, the more opportunities will naturally come to you.
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