Outdoor industry marketing is evolving at a fast pace in response to global factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, technological progress, and changing consumer demand. 

Below, you will find an overview of the current trends that are forecasted to give direction to the advertising efforts of brands operating in the outdoor industry for the near future.

5 Current Major Marketing Trends in the Outdoor Industry

It’s been several hectic years, with unexpected events seeming to occur one after another. In such a rapidly changing environment, the companies that wish to maintain a competitive edge should be agile, flexible, innovative, and attentive to details.

This is especially true for businesses within the outdoor industry, as spending time outside and traveling have been debatable topics throughout the pandemic. Even as the influence of the virus decreases, there are still long-term consequences that remain. For instance, the resulting shift in consumer behavior and preferences require an adjusted marketing approach with innovative advertising ideas.

Here are the main trends to inspire campaigns for marketing outdoor products, services, and activities:

Hosting Online Events

Throughout the pandemic, it was impossible for outdoor brands to host live events, which made industry players shift their focus to the virtual space. That’s when online product launches, conferences, courses, and webinars have gained momentum.

For instance, the legendary sportfishing trade show, ICAST, hosted a virtual event in 2020 which turned out to be a great success. According to ASA President Glenn Hughes, despite transitioning to an online event, there were tens of thousands of attendees at ICAST 2020 Online. He mentioned that no matter whether in person or online, ICAST’s goal is to be the cornerstone venue uniting the industry. 

Another excellent example of an outdoor business adapting to the online environment was a brilliantly executed idea of FIREDISC Cookers. The company launched the Fired Up Live show with Claudia Hoyser, featuring different guests, entertaining conversations, and musical performances. The online show still continues, with new episodes being released on the second Wednesday of each month.

Even though the social distancing measures are being relieved, the tendency for online events doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. This is due to the fact that they offer various advantages for outdoor brands, including:

• Wider target audience outreach
• Reaching brand awareness
• Requiring less financial investments
• Providing potential for reusing recorded content

It’s also important to note that hybrid events are also likely to prosper, giving the audience a choice to attend the event in person or to participate virtually.

Brands’ Audience Ownership

It’s highly likely that the shift of the privacy and cookie policy in Google and Apple will inspire other brands across industries to take ownership of their consumer information. Such a step toward cutting out the middleman and building their customer databases has plenty of advantages, namely:

• Being able to use email marketing to directly reach consumers directly
• Lowering advertising costs by implementing direct-mail marketing and the like
• Ensuring that the users are receiving marketing messages
• Having increased control over the measurement of the promotional messages’ reach and impact

The list goes on!

Thus, if your outdoor brand still doesn’t have its own robust database of target-consumer info, 2022 is the perfect time to hop on this trend.

Tendency to Personalization

Speaking of marketing communication, it’s easy for a brand to come across as too pushy when bombarding the users with generic promotional messages across channels. The solution to this is personalization that enables brands to grab the consumers’ attention and drives sales effectively.

According to the statistics published by Forbes, personalization is an extremely powerful marketing practice:

• 80% of users are more likely to conduct purchases from a brand offering personalized shopping experiences.
• More than 70% of users get frustrated by non-personalized shopping experiences.
• Over 90% of consumers are more likely to patronize companies that provide them with tailored offers and guidance.
• 70% of shoppers claim to engage only with personalized brand messaging.

As you can see, personalization truly is a winning tactic, being adopted by marketers across industries. 

Thus, outdoor brands wishing to optimize their marketing communications and keep them up-to-date should definitely look into personalization. Some examples of such tactics are:

• Using consumer profiles and purchase and browsing histories to recommend relevant products.
• Sending personalized emails to potential and repeat clients.
• Developing tailored offers for valued customers.
• Providing consumers with content relevant to their purchases.
• Creating targeted landing pages with customized messaging depending on the target group.

Implementing such an approach is sure to make an outdoor company’s new marketing strategy more relevant to consumer needs.

Inclusive Campaigns

While outdoor enthusiasts come from different backgrounds, the market is currently dominated by white consumers, accounting for up to 75% of people participating in such recreational activities in 2021. Besides, 54% of these consumers are male. This often leads to a prominent lack of diversity in outdoor marketing campaigns, with brands targeting the largest consumer groups.

However, in the era of globalization, it’s crucial to shift the focus to inclusivity. For instance, brands like Hoka and REI are making notable efforts in diversifying their advertising campaigns that represent a diversified range of sizes, races, and orientations. Other great examples include the following outdoor brands:

• Black Girls Trekkin
• Melanin Base Camp
• Outdoor Advocacy Project

These companies have gone to great extents at diversifying their campaigns, sharing a message that resonates across people of different gender, racial backgrounds, and age groups. Inclusivity is not just a trend but rather an integral part of the philosophy adopted by an increasing number of brands worldwide. Thus, as you build out campaigns, make sure your marketing communications, ad creatives, persona development, and channel strategy are inclusive. 

Sustainable Practices

More and more companies nowadays realize the need to introduce or intensify sustainability efforts in their operations. Recycled materials, charity donations, plant-based fabrics, and many other solutions represent this tendency. Besides, tools like the Higg Index are gaining increasing popularity.

One great example of sustainable practices among outdoor brands is the Patagonia Worn Wear campaign aimed at repairing used apparel and reselling it. Also, the Burton brand set annual goals for 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging already in 2020. Notably, the brand’s snowboarding factory runs solely on renewable energy using responsibly sourced materials. Another excellent representative of the sustainability trend is Cotopaxi, which sources non-virgin and alternative materials for their products.

The shoppers are also becoming more conscious about consumption. Thus it’s extremely important to incorporate sustainable practices on all levels of your outdoor brand’s operations.

Is Your Outdoor Brand On-Trend?

Following current outdoor industry marketing trends is inherently important. Understanding them enables you to adjust the company’s operations and advertising strategy to be more relevant to the consumer needs and conscious about the modern environment. 

Are you already adapting to the trends above, or are you just getting started? No matter at which point of this journey your brand is, Algofy Outdoors is happy to bring your efforts to a new level - reach out to us now and receive a custom quote in no time!