Social media makes it easier for industries to advertise their products. Here are tips for companies trying to marketing outdoor gear with social media.
Have you ever been influenced to purchase a product because of social media?
You can admit it. You saw that company selling swim apparel and summer was only six months away. You spent the money and proceeded to anxiously wait for the arrival of the package.
Have you ever wondered what ways could your company do that? Could you turn social followers into customers? Can this work for marketing outdoor gear?
I want to share seven steps on how to do just that.
1. Set a Goal for Marketing Outdoor Gear
As with any marketing effort, it is important to have a goal for the outcome of your social media initiatives.
Once a goal is set, you can focus on the audience that you are aiming to reach. A common strategy for setting goals is designing a SMART goal. Below is a breakdown of what that looks like:
Specific – What are you trying to accomplish with this effort?
Measurable – How will you determine if you were successful? For example, you could be trying to gain 500,000 new followers or have a 20% conversion rate from people going from your social media to purchasing on your website.
Attainable – It should be something that you think you can realistically achieve.
Relevant – Does this goal match your overall marketing initiatives? What effect could this social media marketing have on your business as a whole?
Timely – Set a deadline that the goal must be achieved by.
Using this strategy, you can move from a desire to increase revenue to figuring out exactly what ways you will use social media to do so.
2. Capitalize on User Content
There are two components of social media marketing – you as the business (content creator) and the potential customer (consumer). A standard outreach may be you posting images and videos to promote your products and the consumer interacting with the content.
What if you allowed the consumer to create some of the content?
Social media contests can be tied back to your original goal and engage your following in a competitive battle for a prize. The key is to offer something that will be irresistible to your audience, so that they will be motivated to participate.
Featuring customer social posts is another way to demonstrate that you are communicating with your customers and notice when they post about you. Instagram story tags or retweeting a positive tweet are simple steps that you can take with the content they are giving you (for free).
3. Use Brand Ambassadors and Influencers
Take user content one step further with brand ambassadors or social influencers that represent you.
An example of this would be advertising snowboarding gear by having a top social influencer wear the gear on a trip and share their experience with their audience. They could have thousands of followers that may have never been exposed to you before but now become interested because they see that person using the product.
Marketing outdoor gear has also made brand ambassadors a must-have part of business.
YETI is a company who has taken this idea to the top of the mountain. They highlight all of their ambassadors on their website and include a photo, bio, and Q & A to learn more about them.
Through their ambassador program, they take the outdoor industry into new places. When you search, you can filter by pursuit of what area that person represents the brand in – from food & beverage to ranching & rodeo.
4. Be Consistent
There are so many social media platforms, it can be hard to keep track of them all and always be posting new content to each one.
Consistency in posting is important to growing your presence. Whether you are marketing with Facebook or delivering regular blog content, the customer is receiving a piece of content from you.
This doesn’t mean you need to post on every platform for 7 days a week. You can change up where you post and the type of content based on the platform.
A customer testimonial may excel on Facebook, while a product photo may do better on Instagram.
Product reviews can also be used to educate the customer. This Mac mini review is an example of the content that can be shared on social media, bringing value to the customer directly to their preferred social channel.
Learning what content works best for you on each platform will help when you are determining what and when to post.
5. Use Video!
Today, video content is a must for any social media effort – especially when marketing outdoor gear.
Companies are constantly striving to be transparent through social media and 67% of consumers consider video to be the most transparent form of post.
You can use video to highlight customer stories and bring excitement to certain products through targeted video efforts. A short Instagram story with someone wearing a your product by a campfire or hiking, along with a link to “swipe up” to the product page is one simple, yet effective way to use video in your social efforts.
It’s time to hit record and start talking to your customers!
6. Start a Loyalty Program
Do you have a group of customers that are loyal to you? Do they buy your products consistently and promote you to their friends?
If this is true, a loyalty program could be a targeted way to keep those customers engaged and reward them for their repeated purchases with you. Gathering the essential information from them at the point-of-sale, along with their consent to participate in your loyalty program, is important.
Once you have this information, you can design targeted emails to them and offer different rewards or discounts than the general public can receive. Promoting your loyalty program on your social sites can help you transfer them from a follower to a customer that you now have more demographical information about.
7. Guide Them to a Gift
Have you ever had trouble figuring out what gift to buy someone for their birthday or Christmas?
Producing a gift guide for your customers could go a long way in helping on their gift shopping journey. It can take someone who is unfamiliar with your products and educate them on options that you offer.
There are many ways to organize this guide, such as: gifts for men, gifts for women, gifts under $50, and most popular gifts to name a few.
Get Started Today!
You are now ready to be marketing outdoor gear on every social channel. Comment below or email us with your success stories. We look forward to hearing from you!
