Holiday Marketing Campaigns: Tis the Season to Sparkle

We just went to our first Christmas Market here in Europe, and it’s barely November 15th!  The festive piazza in Asti was packed with little wooden cottages, each decorated in red, white, and green.  The smell of cinnamon, evergreen, and fresh Christmas pastries wafts through the chilly evening air.  Personalized stockings and ornaments, mugs of mulled wine, and a little bit of holiday cheer.  Small, local brands with well-designed holiday marketing campaigns are capturing seasonal shoppers, and you can too.

We all remember those Budweiser holiday ads with the majestic Clydesdales pulling a Budweiser carriage through snowy landscapes.  The Hershey’s kisses in Christmas tree formation, ringing out ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ with the last kiss ringing the hardest, then wiping his ‘brow’ with the little Hershey logoed paper.  Or my personal favorite, the Folgers’ ‘‘I’ll be Home for Christmas’ ads, where a young man or woman makes it home for the holidays, sneaks in, and brews a pot of coffee as the whole house wakes up to the aroma and they share a holiday moment together.  Sniff, sniff.

These holiday marketing campaigns make you smile.  They make you feel something for the brand while capturing the sentiment of homecoming, warmth, and family bonding that the holidays are known for.

Shopping Holidays: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, and Giving Tuesday

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend, are still heavy hitters when it comes to holiday sales.  In Italy and the rest of Europe, Thanksgiving is not celebrated.  It’s a normal workday with no traditions, no turkey, no long weekend.  However, there are still promotions for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales!  Therefore, if you are targeting an audience outside the U.S., include Black Friday and Cyber Monday in your marketing strategies.

In addition, there are several other ‘shopping holidays’ you can take advantage of:

• Small Business Saturday:  Started by American Express, encourages you to ‘Shop Local’
• Giving Tuesday: The Tuesday after Cyber Monday is a day for non-profits to start their end-of-year campaign push.
• Women-Led Wednesday: Supporting Women-owned businesses.

With so many opportunities to create a promotion that aligns your brand with the holidays, it is time to roll up your sleeves and get creative!  Our Holiday Marketing Campaign Guide is packed with lots of ideas you can start using today.  We’ve included holiday spending projections, top advertising channels, seasonal themes, pop-up events, and more.  Don’t wait for the snow to fall to start planning.  Let’s start under the mistletoe trailhead together!

Holiday Spending Projections in the U.S. and Europe

This year’s holiday spending is expected to continue an upward trend, but this is in part due to inflation, not just increased spending.  Total U.S. holiday retail sales are projected to hit $1.01–$1.02 trillion.  That’s a 3.7%–4.2% increase compared to last year.  Spending on gifts for yourself, or ‘self-gift spending’, is up, along with spending on travel and wellness.

In Europe, holiday spending is expected to grow 3% from last year.  Europeans are favoring “affordable luxuries”, such as beauty products, travel, vintage clothing, and live experiences.

Here’s more categories expected to see an increase:

• Experiential Purchases: Consumers are prioritizing adventures, wellness retreats, and travel.
• Outdoor Gear: Hiking gear, skiing equipment, all the gear for those family adventures!
• Sustainable Gifts and Giving Back: Eco-friendly, second-hand, and gifts that give back

In addition, there is a tug at the heartstrings of consumers, and they are more likely to contribute during end-of-year giving campaigns.  If you haven’t read our giving back blog, ‘Make a Charitable Donation and Get a Tax Write-Off’, bookmark it to read next!

All these holiday spending projections indicate a prime opportunity to tap into consumer demand through thoughtful holiday marketing campaigns.  Now is the time to gather the wagons and get creative!

The 4 Best Channels to Advertise Your Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Choosing the right channels for your holiday marketing campaigns is essential for reaching your target audience.  Especially during the busy holiday period!  Here are the top options that travel operators, outdoor and lifestyle brands should consider for the holidays:

1. Social Media Ads

Save a portion of your marketing budget to run more robust ads around the holidays instead of spending on social ads year-round.  Use Meta Business Suite to set up social ads across Facebook, Instagram, and all Meta platforms.

Keep in mind, Facebook is great for reaching an older demographic (45–60+ years old) who might be purchasing high-dollar travel or tour packages as gifts.  Instagram, however, is ideal for a slightly younger demographic who may be searching for discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for items $200 or less.  Finally, use TikTok to appeal to younger audiences, with video tutorials, gear reviews, or family adventure stories that resonate.

For your holiday marketing campaign assets, begin collecting visually appealing festive product shots and holiday-themed storytelling.  Lean on user-generated content by reaching out to your brand ambassadors to create holiday collaborations!

2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As people search for gifts for mom, dad, or the family pet, using Google Search Ads, PMax Campaigns, and good SEO can help get your products in front of those holiday shoppers.  Set up ads using keywords and key phrases to target those searching for the best gifts for outdoor lovers (yes, we’ve written a blog about this!), or last-minute holiday travel deals.  Write a blog with key phrases you want to rank for, like ‘best ski holiday packages’ and ‘winter vacation spots’!

Here’s a list of some other favorite key phrases you might want to start ranking for:

Gift Shopping & Ideas

• “Best holiday gifts for [specific person: mom, dad, kids, boyfriend]”
• “Unique Christmas gift ideas”
• “Last-minute holiday gifts”
• “Personalized gifts”
• “Gift cards online”

Deals & Discounts

• “Black Friday deals”
• “Cyber Monday deals”
• “Shop Small and Save”
• “Best online holiday shopping sites”
• “Cheap holiday flights”

Holiday Travel

• “Best winter vacation spots”
• “Holiday travel tips”
• “Holiday travel deals”
• “Warm places to visit in December”
• “Christmas market trips”

3. Email Marketing

That email list you’ve worked so hard to build is priceless.  Email remains one of the highest-converting channels for holiday promotions.  Outdoor brands, travel agents, and tour operators can create segmented campaigns based on past purchases, open rates, or reward their most frequent customers with an extra discount during the holidays!

If you are running a holiday fundraising campaign, email is your best friend in this effort.  Ensure you have a holiday marketing campaign strategy for Giving Tuesday!  Create engaging storytelling around the impact someone can have by making a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year.  Read more about why end-of-year giving is so important for non-profits and learn more about the best 501c3 organizations in the outdoor industry!

4. Tap into Brand Ambassadors & Partners for Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Partnering with outdoor and adventure-driven brand ambassadors as you enter into the holiday season can be highly effective, especially when promoting travel or adventure experiences!  Ambassadors can create authentic content, showcasing their trip with you, or using your products in a festive and engaging way.  Read more about how to find the right ambassadors and content creators for your brand! 

When it comes to brand partnerships and affiliate marketing, consider partnering with bloggers, podcasters, and industry publications or websites that specialize in adventure travel.  Find out if they will be putting out a holiday gift guide!  Create a collab with a special offer for their listeners or readers!

5 Holiday Marketing Campaign Themes and Trends

Understanding the trends shaping holiday marketing campaigns can give you a competitive edge.  Here are some key themes to consider as you plan:

1. Sustainability and Ethical Marketing

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their purchases.  Highlight eco-friendly practices, sustainable materials, and ethical production in your messaging.  Emphasize durability, repair services, and recyclable packaging in your holiday promotions.

2. Personalization

Tailor your holiday promotions to individual consumers.  Use customer data in Mailchimp or your preferred email marketing platform to send personalized product recommendations based on previous purchases or browsing history.  Did you just sell someone a pair of skis?  Maybe they need a new ski bag, ski straps, or mounts for their car.

3. Early Shopping

With concerns about shipping delays and inventory shortages, consumers are shopping earlier each year.  This trend began during the pandemic and is expected to continue in 2026.  Therefore, plan and launch holiday campaigns earlier.  Offer “early bird” discounts and encourage customers to buy now to ship to their loved ones before the holiday rush.

4. User-Generated Content

Customers trust other customers.  Encourage your audience to share their adventures, and tag your products or your tour on social media!  Offer incentives, such as a special discount.

5. Experience Over Products

Many consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z, are prioritizing experiences over physical products.  If your brand offers adventure tours, guided experiences, or a coaching clinic, market them as the ultimate holiday gift.  Highlight how these experiences create lasting memories and unique moments rather than just things.

5 Unique Holiday Marketing Campaign Ideas

To stand out as a special snowflake in a crowded holiday market, consider these creative marketing strategies:

1. Gift Packages:

Bundle your most popular gear and accessories into holiday gift packages.  Create themed bundles like “Winter Biking Essentials” or “Ski Adventure Package,” offering them as ready-to-go gifts for outdoor enthusiasts.

2. Gift Cards for Activities + Experiences:

Promote gift cards, not just for gear, but also for experiences, such as guided tours, adventure trips, or lessons.  If you do not have digital gift cards set up for sale on your website yet, do it now!  This allows your customers to give the gift of adventure, which can be a more personalized and memorable gift option.

3. Holiday-Themed Giveaways:

Run a social media giveaway that encourages users to share their favorite outdoor holiday moments. This can drive engagement and increase brand visibility.  Consider offering a prize like a free tour or a premium outdoor gear set.

4. Christmas Gift Guides:

Besides pitching industry publications to cover your offerings in their gift guide, develop your own holiday gift list!  An online holiday gift guide can make it easier for customers to find you in search.  In addition, a Christmas gift guide can help you build partnerships with like-minded brands by featuring them on your Christmas wish list.  Here’s our holiday gift guide.

5. Seasonal Outdoor Events:

Host or sponsor outdoor events during the holiday season.  Ideas might include a winter hike, nighttime bike ride, polar bear swim, snowshoeing excursion, Christmas market, or outdoor photography workshop.  Make it festive by asking attendees to don lights on their bicycles or wear ugly Christmas sweaters!  These events not only promote your products in action but also create community engagement and share that holiday spirit!

Final Thoughts on Holiday Marketing Campaigns

For travel, wellness, outdoor recreation, and lifestyle brands, the holiday season offers a significant opportunity to drive sales and engage with consumers.  By understanding the expected spending patterns, leveraging the right marketing channels, and staying ahead of trends, you can create a holiday marketing campaign that resonates with your audience and boosts your brand visibility.

Set your brand apart this holiday season and be creative in your approach!  Here are a few more blogs with festive strategies and marketing campaigns that you can use this winter:

• Giving Back: Make a Gift That Supports Your Favorite Outdoor Non-Profit
• Gifts for Outdoor Lovers: The Best Gifts for the Adventurer in Your Life
• How to Promote a Fundraising Campaign
• Email Marketing: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Sending Better Emails

Thanks for reading, and happy gift-giving season!

Meredith Caccese McConvill, Top Rope Media

How AI Search Tools are Killing Website Traffic for Small Businesses

The rise of using artificial intelligence to help you discover something, like using the AI search tool Google Gemini, is transforming how people access information online.  Traditionally, small business websites relied heavily on organic search traffic from Google and other search engines to bring in visitors.  However, AI-powered tools are changing this dynamic—often reducing the need for users to click on websites at all.  In this blog, we will cover what has changed with AI search tools and what small businesses must do to compensate.

AI Search Tools: Fewer Clicks, Fewer Visitors

One of the most significant developments with AI search tools is how search engines like Google are incorporating AI-generated answers directly into search results.  Google Gemini, for example, provides AI-powered summaries at the top of the results page, answering user queries instantly without requiring them to visit a website.  This means fewer clicks for content creators and businesses that depend on search traffic!

For instance, if someone searches for the “best way to train for a marathon,” they may receive an AI-generated training outline right on the search page!  Previously, they would have clicked on a blog or a coaching website to get this information.  Now, AI-powered search tools deliver an answer in seconds, and the user moves on without ever visiting a single site.  What about travel planning?  Typically you might use a site like TripAdvisor or Kayak, but now you can have ChatGPT plan a 10-day itinerary to Italy, and you can book hotels and flights all without leaving Google!

This shift has significant implications for businesses that rely on search traffic to generate leads, sell products, or monetize their content.  Websites that used to rank high in Google’s search results may now see a decline in traffic because users are getting what they need directly from AI-generated summaries.

Website search traffic is beginning to take a hit thanks to AI search tools like Google Gemini.

Examples of How AI Search Tools are Replacing Traditional Website Visits

Beyond search engines, AI search tools are also replacing visits to specialized websites.  In many cases, these AI-powered solutions provide free services that would have previously required a paid subscription or expert consultation. Below are some examples of how these Ai-powered changes are affecting the outdoor, health & wellness, and travel industries.

1. AI Search Tools for Training Plans and Coaching

Endurance athletes—runners, cyclists, triathletes—often turn to expert websites, blogs, or coaching platforms for personalized training plans. However, AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini can now generate detailed training schedules based on an athlete’s goals, fitness level, and race date—all for free.

For example, an athlete might ask an AI chatbot:
“I want to run a marathon in four months. I currently run 20 miles per week. Can you create a training plan for me?”

Instead of visiting a website that offers pre-made or paid training plans, the user gets a customized plan instantly, with weekly mileage, speed workouts, and long-run recommendations.  This eliminates the need to browse multiple coaching sites or pay for premium plans!

2. AI Search Tools for Outdoor Gear and Product Recommendations

Many businesses that sell gear, apparel, or other products rely on SEO-driven traffic to attract customers.  In the past, someone searching for “best cycling shoes for long rides” would click on review sites, blogs, or e-commerce stores.

Now, AI chatbots can provide detailed recommendations on outdoor gear based on aggregated reviews, user preferences, and past purchasing behavior.  A user can simply ask, “What are the best cycling shoes for endurance rides?” and receive a detailed answer—without ever visiting a product review website!

3. AI Search Tools for Travel Planning

Many of us use travel websites like Expedia, TripAdvisor, Get Your Guide, or Viator to help plan our next adventure.  We get customer reviews, pricing, photos, detailed itineraries and can often book directly from these aggregate websites without a need to go directly to a hotel or adventure travel company’s website.  Now however, AI search tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini,Google Travel, and Google Flights can help you organize travel plans, create an itinerary and even book flights, often without even leaving Google!

4. AI Search Tools for Customer Support

Traditionally, people would visit company websites for FAQs, support articles, or live chat assistance.  Now, AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots can handle many of these inquiries.  If someone needs troubleshooting help with a device or software, AI can generate a step-by-step solution in real time, reducing the need to visit support pages or forums.

The Business Impact of AI Search Tools on Your Website Traffic and How You Can Adapt

As AI search tools become more sophisticated, your website will likely see declining visitor numbers.  This shift forces your small business along with content creators to rethink their strategies.  Here are a few ways you can adapt:

1. Focus on Unique, In-Depth Content:

AI can summarize general knowledge, but it struggles with deep expertise, original research, and niche insights. Create content that AI can’t easily replicate.

2. Diversify:

Instead of relying on search engine-generated website search traffic, focus on adding other ways to engage with and reach your intended audience.  Email marketing, paid advertising, social media marketing, and public relations.

3. Leverage AI Instead of Competing Against It:

Integrate AI tools into your website, like AI-generated FAQ sections and chatbots to offer personalized recommendations or interactive features that keep users engaged.

4. Offer Direct Booking Discounts:

Offer a discount of 10-15% if someone books or buys directly on your website!

Final Thoughts on How Your Small Business Can Cope with AI Search Tools

While AI search tools may reduce traditional visits to your website, it’s unlikely that your website visits will disappear entirely.  Instead, the role of your website needs to evolve.  Focus on offering value beyond what AI search tools can provide—whether through exclusive insights, interactive experiences, or personal engagement.

The key takeaway?  AI is changing how people access information, and small businesses must adapt to stay relevant in this rapidly shifting digital landscape.  For more on how to use AI Tools to your advantage along with why SEO is so important, here are a few other blogs:

• How to Use ChatGPT for Social Posts
• Using AI for Blog Posts
• How to Improve SEO and Why It’s So Important

Thanks for reading and happy searching!

Meredith C. McConvill, Top Rope Media

best email marketing for successful campaigns 

If you’re searching for the best email marketing strategy to generate more revenue for your outdoor brand or non-profit, you’ve come to the right place!  We’ve jam-packed this blog with easy, actionable steps to help you be more strategic and improve your email marketing.  

Did you know that whether you sell bicycles or board shorts, email marketing converts better than social media??  It’s also the best way to remind potential customers about a product they might be interested in, to make a donation, or if they’ve left an item in their cart!

Therefore, this email marketing blog will focus on how to design your email, the types of automated emails you should set up, when to send your emails and at what time.  We’ve also included a whole section on brand partnership emails and brand collab emails as we get this question a lot from our clients about how best to handle.  But first, got a question that can’t wait??  Drop us a line! 

email marketing fun facts

Now then, here are a few quick facts about the best email marketing campaigns:

• More than 60% of emails are opened from a mobile device

   

• The average open rate for marketing emails is 20-25%, however since the Apple iOS 15 update, we’ve seen rates as high as 45% on average!

   

• Tuesday is the best day to send!
  

Did you know that more people are opening emails from their mobile phones than from their desktop computers?

best email marketing: 10 tips to sending better emails

We are big fans of DIY tips!  And the best email marketing is often done in-house.  Therefore, here are steps you can implement today to improve your emails!

1. SET UP YOUR EMAIL AUTOMATIONS

All of the best email marketing platforms will allow you to set up automated emails.  Whether you use SalesForce Marketing Cloud, Shopify, Klaviyo, Mailchimp or others, you will have automations available.  Keep in mind, they may be called email automations, but can also be referred to as customer journeys, drip campaigns, push notifications, etc.

Here are just a few examples of email automations you can create:

• Welcome email 
• Abandoned cart email
• Reengagement email
• Repeat customer email
• Email nurture series

While email automations are labor-intensive it is worth your time to set these up!  Think about how you receive that reminder email from a brand you like, “Looks like you’ve forgot something…don’t worry, we saved it for you.”  It may seem cheesy but it is effective!

2. BEST LENGTH FOR EMAILS: Keep ‘EM short

Your readers will spend an average of 2-10 seconds reading your email.  So, keep ’em short and to the point!  If your subscribers see long paragraphs of text, will they keep reading or unsubscribe?  Will they save your email for later, but then never read it?

Therefore, here are a few tips to tighten up your email copy: 

• Use no more than 3 main sections per email. 
• Keep each section to 2-3 sentences max. 
• Create calls to action and linked text. 
• Direct traffic to your website to read a full blog or view product specs!
• Make it easily skimmable! 

finding it hard to trim that email campaign Copy? 

If you do have a lot to say, then revisit your email goals and your email frequency.  Perhaps you need to send a weekly email instead of 2x per month?

As an example of a short and sweet email we love, see AFAR Magazine‘s Daily Wander email below.  We receive 1-2 a week (you can receive them daily if you’d like), and we open them 99% of the time to read about new destinations, travel tips, and get inspired!

Other things we love about AFAR Magazine’s emails:

• There’s big, beautiful imagery
• A small amount of text
• Links to read more if you’re interested
• 2-3 main sections
• Even a weekly trivia question!

Here’s another example of a section in AFAR Magazine’s recent email that caught our attention:

As we’re in Europe at least once a year, you bet we’re clicking to Read More…especially because we want to be at Tour de France this summer!!

3. use visuals throughout your email campaign

Even the best email marketing campaign you roll out may not be as exciting and eye-catching as a travel piece.  Therefore, use visuals throughout your email. These can be graphics, embedded videos, lifestyle images, ambassador spotlights, and product shots.

In addition, unique, branded graphics at the top of each section can give your readers an easy way to identify the topics covered in your email.  Remember, your emails must be easily skimmable!  Not good with graphic design?  Or not familiar with Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop?  Try Canva! 

Remember to use alt tags and link each image in your email back to your website so your readers can learn more about that image quickly!

In addition, visuals could also mean a colorful section divider and calls-to-action (CTA) buttons.  More on these in a bit!  However, keep your paragraph text to black or grey to make it easy to read.  Lastly, leave white space to give your readers’ eyes a chance to rest! 

4. segment your email list

Segmenting your email list can help you to customize your message, target specific audiences, and improve your conversion rates!  Here are a few ideas for list segmentation for your email campaigns:

• Location segmentation: send different emails based on the location of your readers!
• Send a more personalized message, or a promotional offer from your Founder to your most active subscribers.
• Resend to non-openers: resend your monthly email (a few days later) to anyone that has not opened it. Remember to change both the Subject Line and preview text.

Here’s an example of a graphic we created for our clients at Source Endurance, a coaching company that offers training plans, camps, and one-on-one coaching.

5. include calls to action in your emails

A call to action or CTA in your email campaigns helps your reader learn more, buy your product, or make a donation.  Don’t assume they will click on your website link, and search for the items mentioned in your email.  Or make their way to your donate page, and make a gift.

Instead, give your reader highlighted (or underlined) links to click on, and CTA buttons in each section.  Include these throughout the email.

Another reason we strongly recommend adding CTA’s?  The new email privacy protections in place for Apple iPad or iPhone users!

6. Up Your Font Game

Although Arial and Times New Roman are the most common fonts, today there are thousands of options to choose from!  Use an easy-to read font for the email paragraph text.  A sans-serif is best here, one without those little ‘feet’ hanging off the letters.

A serif font, the ones with the ‘feet’ or cursive in nature, can be used for titles or headings.  But, ensure it’s legible on both a desktop and mobile phone.  All email platforms will let you preview your email before you send it!

Another tip is to play around with font size.  A 10 or 12-point font might be great for your internal text only emails.  However, for your email marketing campaigns, we suggest bumping up the font size to 14-point or 16-point at a minimum!  This is because so many readers will check their email from a mobile phone. 

Also keep in mind, if your audience skews a bit older (50+) they might find a small or cursive font very hard to read!

A sans-serif font and a larger font size makes Recreation.gov’s email easy to read. In addition, the CTAs give you even more incentive to engage! 

7. create short, intriguing subject lines

Here’s where you can really make an impact in your email campaign open rates.  Take some time to word-smith that Subject Line!  And, use no more than 6-9 words. 

In addition, you can use CAPITALS to help your email stand out in someone’s inbox.  Words like SALE, SAVE 50%, COMING SOON, and SAVE THE DATE all work very well.  Use emojis sparingly, 1 is often enough.

Lastly, make sure to include some preview text to let your reader know what else you’ve included in your email that might make them open it. 

8. best days to send marketing emails

Are you also wondering what the best days are to send a marketing email?  Well, we see the highest open rates on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. 

However, if we are launching a weekly sale or a holiday campaign, we may drop emails on other days as well.  

Here’s a quick example of why the subject line and an emoji or two can help. Which email in my inbox above stands out to you the most?  Yes, I remembered to get a Valentine’s Day gift! 

9. best times to send marketing emails

What time should you send your email?  We typically send marketing emails between 7-10am.  However, consider what time zone you are sending your email to.  If most of your opens come from the east coast or Europe, set your email campaign to drop during their early morning hours. 

If you use Mailchimp, tools like Time Warp or Time Optimization are amazing!  Mailchimp not only helps you determine the best time to send your email based on previous email results, but they can also drop your email at the same time in each time zone.  Therefore, everyone on your list will get your email campaign at say 8am their time.

10. create ways for people to sign up for your email list

Now that you’ve got lots of DIY tips to send the best email marketing campaigns, how do you plan to grow your list??  It’s okay if you haven’t thought of this yet! 

After you’ve set up a list or created a new audience in your email marketing platform, you need to establish methods to add new people to the list in the future.  Here’s a few ways we add new people to email lists for our clients:

• Social media posts that send readers to a newsletter sign-up landing page (and yes you should sign up for our newsletter if you’re not already on the list!!)
• Point of purchase option for email list sign-up (in store or online)
• iPad stations at events and conferences
• Newsletter sign-up box in your website footer (a must!!)
• Website pop-up

Whatever you decide, make it easy for potential customers to opt-in, as well as opt-out should they decide your emails are no longer relevant.

 11. EMAIL MARKETING x BRAND PARTNERSHIPS

Okay, I know we said Top 10, but this goes to eleven because it’s that important.  People know a brand partnership email when they see it in their inbox.  They can smell it a mile away.  ‘Yeti + Red Bull’, ‘Burton and Big Agnes’, ‘Surfline x Solento Tequila Collab’, ‘Tour de France and STRAVA Sweepstakes’. 

While brand partnerships can help boost your brand, and expose you to hundreds or thousands of potential new customers, tread carefully when it comes to sending a brand collab to your loyal email subscribers!  

Branded Email Partnerships

need help with your email MARKETING?

Need help getting started, or want us to create and manage your email marketing campaigns?  Let’s chat!  Also, check out other posts we’ve written about email marketing:

• How Your Email Marketing will be Affected by Apple’s iOS15 Updates
• How to Send Better Emails
• Types of Email Marketing Services 

To learn more about what we do on the regular, follow Top Rope Media’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Until next time, happy emailing!

– Meredith McConvill, Top Rope Media

Easy Website Design and Maintenance

Searching for an easy website design that you can create and maintain in-house?  Or ways to improve your current website design to make it easier for visitors and potential customers to place an order or find what they need?  

Well, since it takes about 0.5 seconds for someone to form an opinion about your website, you want to make sure you show them your best self. Think of it as a first date!  And if a potential customer does not like what they see, they will choose to do business elsewhere.

So, in this blog we’re walking you through how to DIY a more attractive and easier-to-maintain website design!  We’ll also cover the easiest website builders for beginners, easy-to-build e-commerce sites, examples from sites we’ve built, how to work with a web developer (and why you might need one), and what you should expect to pay.

HOW website design and maintenance becomes anything but easy

Does this sound like you?

• • A web developer built our website and we cannot make changes on our own
  • Our website crashes or is slow to load
  • It’s hard for customers to find what they need on our website
  • We’re paying a monthly website maintenance fee and still have issues

At Top Rope Media, we have seen all of these issues and more.  Before we dive in, if you have a question that can’t wait, let’s chat!

While we contributed all the copy, imagery, graphics, and design ideas, we still worked with a web developer to create the Top Rope Media website!

 1. DIY Your Website redesign: Start with what’s working

When we start a website redesign journey with a client, we first ask them what they love and what works well on their website.  Here’s some things to think about:

• Do you love the color palette and does it match your brand?
• Are the fonts easy to read on both mobile and desktop?
• Do you love the images and video?
• Is your main menu (main navigation) and tabs user-friendly?
• Are there certain plug-ins or 3rd party apps you can’t live without?

Make a list of everything you love or want to keep on your current website.  This will also help you determine whether you need a completely new website, or perhaps just a fresh template or theme!

During a recent web redesign for VECKTA, we learned most of their website visitors did not realize they offered a marketplace/platform where customers could shop for renewable energy solutions from vetted suppliers, and suppliers could bid on projects. So we utilized lots of shots of the marketplace in action to help them better tell their story! 

2. outline What needs to change on your website

Next, make a list of what needs to change.  You may want to sell your products or services online.  Or, you may need to fundraise and take donations.  Whatever the case may be, if your current site does not support this, or these options are not easy for the user to find, add them to the top of your list!

More things to think about:

• Do you have a simple checkout process?
• How many clicks does it take to read your latest blog post?
• Is maintaining your current website a nightmare?

Don’t forget to include things like page speed, broken links, and anything else that’s not working.

Here’s a peek at the hero image and main navigation we built for Outdoor Outreach, a non-profit organization here in San Diego!

3. Outline your ideal and easy website design flow

For pro surfer Rochelle Ballard, we built her new online learning course- Rochelle Ballard Flow on WordPress by using Learn Dash!

4. SELECT a website design platform: WordPress, squarespace, shopify or wix

WordPress websites

Are you wondering whether or not you need to build or maintain your WordPress website or if you can use something simpler?  Think about the following:

• Do you need a lot of customization?
• Will you need to integrate with several 3rd party, non-standard applications?
• Do you have someone in-house that can work in WordPress?  If not, can you pay for monthly website maintenance?

If the answer is YES to most of these, then we will recommend you build or redesign on WordPress.  The most important thing to keep in mind?  With a WordPress website YOU MUST maintain it or pay for regular, monthly website maintenance.

Unlike Shopify, Squarespace or Wix, there are theme updates, plug-ins, and security issues that need to be dealt with on a monthly basis.

If you do not have the time or the resources to maintain the site, we recommend working with a website developer.  Or, purchasing a website maintenance package.  Typical cost?  $150/month for website maintenance.  See below for more on WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com, and the costs related to each.

Shopify- THE best DIY option for easy e-commerce website design

For many of our clients, Shopify is one of the easiest e-commerce web design platforms to use!  Who does Shopify best serve?

• Brands selling products, especially those who intend to scale
• Those who want to connect with a Shipping Station to print labels, track packages and manage returns
•  Need a quick and easy way to set up an online store!
• Have access to over 5,000s of apps that you can integrate into your store

Need more reasons to work with Shopify?  Maintenance is minimal once the site is set up and running.  In addition, we are part of the Shopify Partners Program and have built and maintained several Shopify sites for clients over the years!

Squarespace or wix Web platforms- the best builders for beginners

What if you are not selling products but instead writing a monthly blog, selling services, or just want a place where people can find out about what you do?  If this is the case, and it’s your first time building a website, then try Wix or Squarespace!  

Both website builders have a variety of beautifully-designed templates that you can upload and start editing right away.  And similar to Shopify, you will have minimal maintenance once the site is built!

what all Web design platforms include

Keep in mind, all website design builders or platforms, whether Wix, WordPress, Shopify, or Squarespace, will typically have the following features available:

• A selection of themes or templates you can use
• Ability to make your site mobile-friendly
• e-Commerce capability
• Standard page templates within the selected theme: Homepage, Contact, About Us, etc.
• Image and video uploading and embedding
• Blogging capabilities
• Standard Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools
• Email marketing or the ability to connect to your preferred email marketing platform
• Social Sharing and Social Network connections

Therefore, if you’ve been told that you must stick with WordPress, we’re here to say that may not be the case.  We’ve built websites for clients on all platforms, and are happy to chat with you to help you figure out which site best suits your needs.

Whether you are a travel blogger, a personal trainer, or a budding outdoor apparel brand, we can help!

The percentage of website traffic that comes from a mobile device has soared over the past decade. Therefore, ensure your new website looks great and functions well on both a desktop and mobile phone! 

5. Choose your hosting service

During the website build or redesign process, if you already have an existing site, you will need to know where your domain name is hosted and where is your website is hosted. If you do not know the answer to either of these, do not be alarmed.  In fact, many people have their websites built for them and are unsure of where it’s hosted! 

In addition, if you have a website already and it’s built on Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify, you will not need to have a separate host as these platforms handle the hosting for you!

However, if you are using or need to use WordPress, you will need to ‘host’ your website somewhere.  What are the typical hosting platforms you might use? 

• BlueHost
• SiteGround
• GoDaddy

Why do you need to know this?  Because if you want to DIY your website design on WordPress, work with a web developer, or move your current WordPress website into a new theme that’s easier to work with, you will need access to both the domain and the hosting account.

website hosting vs. website domain: Break it Down for me

In the simplest terms, your website host stores your website’s files.  Think of it as renting space where all of your files are stored.  Everything is ‘hosted’ there to ensure your website works properly.

Your domain name is where you created and paid for the name of your website.  You will need access to this so you can point your domain to the new site when it is ready, or update ‘records’ within the site.  Often both the web hosting and domain name may have been set up with the same company, like GoDaddy. 

Things to keep in mind:

• You can move your website host or domain name provider if needed.
• Your company email address is often managed through your website host. Therefore any changes to hosting can temporarily affect your email delivery.
• You may need a private or more secure hosting server.  What factors would determine this?  How many pages your website is, what tasks people are performing on the site, and how much traffic you are receiving at a given time.

Gathering website content such as copy, images, testimonials, graphics, and product descriptions, will take up the bulk of your website development time.

From editing product descriptions to creating discount codes, swapping out images, and adding in a new team member, if you’ll be DIY-ing the new site, through this process you’ll learn how to make edits to keep your website fresh!

7. Easy Website design and development Pricing

If you decide to go the DIY route to an easy website design, there are still costs associated with a brand-new website design or a website redesign. In addition, costs can vary tremendously.  What should you factor into your budget for a website project?

Hosting service for WordPress builds:
About $10/month, unless you need a more private or robust host.

Domain name:
Depending on the name selected, average $15-25 per year.

Website builder:
Squarespace- $16-65/month
Wix- $16-59/month
Shopify- $29-299/month

WordPress is free through WordPress.org, which is an open-source platform. However, you will be charged for any paid plug-ins or 3rd party applications you add to the site. 

WordPress.com is similar to a Squarespace or Wix website builder, where they’ve bundled your typical needs, often including hosting, into packages costing anywhere from $5-50/month. 

Read more here on the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

Website Designer or Website Developer:
This is your cost to have a professional build your website for you.  Typically, you will not need a developer for website builds on Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify.  But again, if you do not have the time or the resources to build your own website, consider hiring someone to help.  Costs: $4,000-$15,000 and up, depending on the amount of customization needed.  Read more about the websites we build and maintain for our clients. 

Plug-ins and 3rd party applications:
You will want to add extra features to your website, typically via a plug-in.  Expect to spend about $5-50/month per plug-in. Typical plug-ins or apps you may want to connect include: Mailchimp, WooCommerce, Zapier, Smush, and Yoast.

Case Studies: Website Design and Web Development by Top Rope Media

beginner Website designer timeline

Building a website by yourself is comparable to home improvement projects.  Be conservative and expect delays.  As a first-time website builder, the time it takes to build a new site or redesign your old site can be anywhere from a few weeks to several months depending on the platform you use. 

However, if you have some experience, the time to complete a website build will be much shorter.  Either way, you will learn new skills that will definitely be valuable in the future!  Therefore, here are a few tips to keep you on track:

1. Be Realistic about your website Content Production

As we mentioned earlier in the blog, content production is normally where we see the longest delays in launching a website.  Updating or refreshing your content will require you or someone on your team to write copy, take new photos or videos, and then create any new graphics needed.

How can you stay on track with content creation or content edits for your website?  Dedicate a few hours each week to content production and reviewing the website flow.  Great content and an easy-to-navigate website layout will help you generate better leads, more customers, and therefore increase revenue!   Where to start?  Here is our step-by-step guide to help you generate good content for your website!

Finding it hard to come up with the right copy?  Hire a content writer!  Wishing you had better photos or videos?  Read more about how to work with a professional or learn to take better photos! 

2. Don’t Let Perfection Be the Enemy of the Good

You have your new website or redesign in place.  But, you can’t seem to launch.  Why is there always one more revision!?!  Well, we call this launch paralysis.  And we see it happen.  A lot.  And, with all kinds of projects: websites, blog posts, presentation decks, and even social media posts!

How do you get around your stagnation?  Depending on the type of site you are building, you can push it live on a separate host domain and invite co-workers, close friends, and brand ambassadors to use it.  These are your beta testers.  And instead of just asking for feedback, create an anonymous form.  Or, offer them a discount on products or services to make purchases through the new site.  Then, you can make tweaks as feedback is submitted.

Once you have a few dozen people using the site, this will get your team comfortable with launching to a wider audience! 

One of our more recent website builds was for Crypthulu Studios. Designed on Squarespace, you can see how little things like font selection and graphics really help bring this gaming studio’s website to life!

Final thoughts on an easy website design

Your website is often the first place people interact with your brand.  And on this ‘first date’, you want to make the best impression!  Therefore, set clear goals, determine your budget, pull together a team to help, and set a conservative timeline. 

We are happy to help you along the journey, so please reach out if you have questions. Let’s start at the trailhead together!

Meredith McConvill, Top Rope Media

Website updates: how to maintain a wordpress website and avoid problems

Need to make a few WordPress website updates?  Perhaps new images, fresh copy, or an update to sponsors or staff?

Well, what about the updates visitors can’t see?  Like updates to plugins, themes, php, etc.  Or what if your site is not loading, has crashed, or worse has been hacked??

Well, we’ve heard from a lot of non-profits and outdoor brands over the years that need help with WordPress website updates.  In addition, some are also concerned about their website’s vulnerability, and about how secure it is when collecting a customer’s private information during payment processing.

So, we’ve pulled together our tips from website builds this year to help you with your WordPress website updates and overdue maintenance!

Before we dive in, if you are seeking to build a new website, create new content, generate more leads, or you currently work with Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify, read both our How to Use Your Website to Generate Better Leads and Easy Website Design and Maintenance blogs first!

Why DO You need to Update Your WordPress Website Frequently?

Why make website updates periodically?  Because if it’s outdated or slow to load, it takes less than a second for someone to form an opinion and decide whether or not they want to use your services, support your non-profit organization, or buy your products. 

In addition, WordPress is very different from Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify.  In the simplest terms, you need to make updates often, sometimes as frequently as once a month, to ensure you website works correctly.  

Furthermore, here’s examples of how neglecting your WordPress website updates could create a bad experience for you and your visitors:

•  Webpages are slow to load, not working, or no longer exist
• Checkout process is not working
• Website crashes while using the site
• Your website gets hacked
• You are no longer able to collect email addresses, or generate leads

HOW wordpress website updates become anything but easy

One of the most common problems you might face when making your WordPress website updates is that a web developer or web designer who built your website is no longer part of the company.

Therefore, you need to dig up passwords, contact the old developer, or if an agency built your site, use the dreaded ‘submit a help ticket’.  However, with some careful planning you can cut through the middle man or woman and do it yourself!

Before we begin, here are a few key things we cannot emphasize enough:

• Ensure you always have access to your WordPress website, your website hosting service, and your domain name. 
• You should be the owner and admin of each of these. 
• Have one person as a backup, or a separate email you can log in with in case you lose access to the first.
• Give only essential people access. Do not turn over full admin access to an outside organization.
• Always know how to log into your WordPress site, your hosting service, and where you purchased your domain name!
• Your passwords for each of the three site should be encrypted. Or use a service like LastPass to store passwords. 

More on this in a bit, but if you have a question that can’t wait, let’s chat!

fundraising + ECommerce wordpress websites

As a small business, you may have an e-commerce shop set up to sell products or services online.  Or, if you’re a non-profit, you’ll be fundraising and taking donations.

Therefore, if your e-commerce or payment processing areas stop functioning, it could mean the loss of hundreds or thousands of dollars in revenue, donations, or bookings.

So instead of waiting for something to fail, make it a habit to check the backend of your WordPress website regularly for updates. 

Below we’ve outlined a few steps you can take to update your WordPress website and prevent future problems.

1. login to your wordpress website or domain hosting service

2. look for plugin, theme or core wordpress updates

Once you get into the backend of your website, check for plugins, core updates, or WordPress themes that need to be updated.  Critical issues such as the site failing to load or being hacked can happen if these are not kept up to date. 

Typically you’ll be looking for a red circle notification with a number in it, indicating the number or updates or notifications you have waiting. 

Before you begin, we recommend backing up your site before you begin any WordPress website updates.  Especially if you are not familiar with WordPress or how your site was constructed. 

We have our site backed up through our domain hosting service, and we also use Updraft Plus to automatically keep our website backed up.  However, as Updraft Plus is a plugin, you will need to keep this up-to-date for it to function correctly!

Once you’re ready to begin, work in this order:

• Core WordPress updates
• Theme updates
• Plugin updates
• Finally, make any updates to your images, copy, add new pages, etc.

Furthermore, you will want to remove any plugins you no longer use.  If you’re unsure whether or not the plugin is still used on your site, leave it in place until you can check with your website developer. 

Need help?  Contact us!  We can support you with website development work at an hourly rate to get you back up and running! 

3. What happens if this doesn’t fix the problem?

If you’re still having issues with your WordPress website, depending on your website hosting plan, you may be able to contact the their help desk.  Then, their support team can identify why you’re having problems and make the changes needed at no cost to you. 

However, be patient.  Helper ticket submissions may not be addressed for 24 to 48 hours, or even longer.

Another tool to use is a website monitoring service.  These services provide security and will continuously monitor your website and report to you immediately if there is something wrong.  Issues that can be detected:

• Malware
• DNS warnings
• Site being blocked or hacked
• Website down or crashing

Therefore, if you want to try a website monitoring service, to give you peace of mind, we recommend Sucuri.  Keep in mind, website monitoring services are not cheap, about $199/year to start.  However the basic plan is perfect for those with small businesses, bloggers, or non-profits that do not have a web developer on hand.     

4. Asking for help: Website development Pricing

Costs for web development support can vary tremendously based on the root of the problem, how much customization needs to be done, and when you need the work completed.  If your WordPress website has crashed or has been hacked, you need help right away!  Therefore, this is when paying for those more robust hosting plans and website monitoring services come in handy! 

However, if you continuously have small issues with your website, it may be time for a redesign.  And with the new features available with Wix, Shopify, or Squarespace, you may no longer need to use WordPress!  Read more about the differences between each in our Easy Website Design and Maintenance blog.

Furthermore, you will not need a developer for website builds on Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify.  However, if you do not have the time nor the resources to build your own website, consider hiring someone to help.  Costs vary widely from $2,000-$10,000 and up, depending on the amount of customization needed.  Read more about the websites we’ve built and maintain for our clients. 

Web Development Case Studies

Final thoughts on website updates

Since your website is often the first place people interact with your brand, you want to make the best impression.  Think of it as a first date!  Therefore, here’s our final tips to keep your WordPress website up-to-date and running smooth:

• Take an hour each month to ensure your WordPress website is up-to-date. 
• Give only the essential people access to your WordPress website. 
• You should have at least two people that have access- you plus one other, just in case you lose access. 
• Assign advertisers, marketers, or other non-essential team members limited acccess. 
• Lose a team member?  Remove them immediately from access to all of your backend systems! 
• Use a tool like LastPass to store your passwords.  We can’t stress this one enough!

We are happy to help you along the journey, so please reach out if you have questions.

 Let’s start at the trailhead together,

Meredith McConvill, Top Rope Media

HOW YOUR EMAIL MARKETING WILL BE AFFECTED BY APPLE IOS 15

EMAIL MARKETERS NEED TO PLAN FOR CHANGE

Email marketing is one of the top marketing tools for many outdoor and lifestyle brands.  Why?  Because email campaigns are more than 40 times more effective than social media!  So, when we heard about the increased privacy protection Apple was planning to roll out with the iOS 15 update, we began writing this blog post to share what we’re seeing, and how we recommend you adapt!

Yes, increased privacy policies make our job as a digital agency more challenging.  But, it helps put consumers back in charge of their data.  We saw these types of changes begin when the EU rolled out the GDPR: the General Data Privacy Regulation in 2018.  And, we’ll no doubt continue to see more of this to help individuals decide if, when, and how their private information is shared online.

When Apple iOS 15 TakeS Effect 

In June 2021, Apple made announcements of how they would be increasing email privacy protection for those that use an Apple device.  So this means iPhones, iPads, Mac computers.  Basically anyone using Apple products.  Rollout of these new email privacy protection changes began in late September 2021 when the iOS 15 update was made available for all users. 

what is changing?

With the rollout of Apple’s iOS 15 update, anyone that uses an Apple product will have the option to select 3 new and different ways to protect their identity online.  First, will be while using email through Apple Mail.  Second, will be entering email addresses to a form or email newsletter opt-in.  And finally the third privacy protection feature can be used while browsing the web.  Below is a breakdown of each. 

1. Apple Mail new privacy protection

Once iPhone, iPad and Mac computer users update to iOS 15, they will be asked to choose from 2 options upon opening their mail via Apple Mail:

1. Do you want to protect your mail activity?  Meaning hide your IP address and privately load all remote content.  Or…
2. Don’t protect mail activity.  Show IP address and load any remote content directly on your device.

Basically, Apple’s new mail privacy protection works by hiding your IP address and loading remote content privately in the background. Even when you do not open the email.  This makes it harder for businesses to follow mail activity from Apple mail users.

For email marketers, you will see a higher than normal open rate from anyone that uses Apple mail.  Even if they never open the email you sent them, your mail program may show that they’ve opened it.

2. Hide My Email

With the new iCloud+ subscription, at just an additional $0.99 a month in the U.S., users can opt-in to even more privacy features.  One such feature is titled Hide My Email.  And, it does exactly that, allowing you to use a fake email address when you sign up for a newsletter or fill out a form on the web. 

The Hide My Email feature is built into Mail, Safari, and iCloud settings.  It enables you to instantly create a fake email address that will forward to your real email address.  So, email marketers will not know your real email address, unless you choose to share it with them.  

3. iCloud Private Relay

In addition, to Hide My Email, there is also iCloud Private Relay.  This functions like a VPN so your IP address is hidden while you search the web.  

iCloud Private Relay will serve as an additional cloaking feature, so all traffic leaving your Apple device will be encrypted.  It will use two separate internet relays so that no one can use your IP address, location, or track your browsing activity to create a detailed profile of you.  iCloud Private Relay is currently still in Beta testing mode as of October 2021. 

What This Means for Email Marketing and beyonD

You can begin to see how these changes by Apple will not only affect email marketing, but also your website traffic data, and applications like Google Analytics and Google Ads. 

We’ve already begun to see this with the new Facebook and Instagram privacy policy changes that rolled out this Fall.  If you haven’t read up on the latest, the Washington Post did a great job of summarizing it in their ‘Facebook Privacy Settings to Change Now’ article.  

How will Apple iOS 15 affect my email campaigns?

increase in EMAil open rates
 

As we mentioned, emails sent to Apple Mail users that are on your email list will show as opened.  Even if they NEVER opened your email.  In addition, if you use A/B testing, or list segmentation, this will certainly skew your campaign results, automations, and other email sequences.

How to cope with inflated open rates?  Well, first of all, look more closely at your email list.  How many people on your email list are actually opening from Apple Mail or an iPhone?  Not sure where to find this?  In Mailchimp, go to Audience -> All Contacts -> Overview.  Scroll down to Top Email Clients.  Here’s where you will see what mail applications users on your list are opening campaigns from.

In the example below, 9.8% of users are opening email on their Mac using Apple Mail.  But then, look to the left for mobile opens.  34% are opening from an iPhone.  So combined that’s 43.8%, almost half of your email subscribers.  However, do not discount the other 46.2% of openers.  These potential customers will still continue to give you valuable data!           

Where to Shift Focus within your Email Marketing strategy

Since open rates are not the only data point you should be looking at, here’s a few other areas to focus on when reviewing your email marketing: 

1. Click Through Rates– Have your click-through rates changed?
2. Total number of Clicks– What does your click count or click map look like?  What items are most important to your readers? 
3. Unsubscribes and Bounces– are these the same as past email campaigns?  Higher or lower?
4. Subject Line and Preview Text- now is really the time to word-smith those subject lines and the preview text, and review your past campaigns to see which ones have performed best!

How is Mailchimp Handling this Change to Email Marketing?

While everyone is still adjusting to these new privacy features from Apple, Mailchimp has already begun to make changes that will help you dial in your email campaigns.  One of the new features Mailchimp has added to its platform to help you better optimize your email campaigns for success is called Content Optimizer. 

Within your Campaigns, click on View Report, then scroll down to the new Content Optimizer section.  Here Mailchimp will show you how your campaign performed in 4 areas: Skimmability, Text & Visuals, Links and CTAs, and finally, Typography.  From here, you can view a full report on each area, with tips on how to improve your email!

more ideas for how to cope with the change

Keep in mind, other email clients may soon follow suit with their own privacy protection changes.  So, in addition to focusing on email marketing metrics, now is a good time to review all the potential ways you can distribute your content. 

What do we mean by content distribution?  Here are a few ideas: a blog post shared to Reddit or Medium, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Podcasting…Need a refresher?  Click below to read some of our recent posts on lead generation, sending better emails, and best social media practices.

is email marketing still effective?

Yes!  Whether selling surf lessons or snowboards, email marketing is a channel that will convert your fans into customers faster than Facebook or Instagram. 

• Two-thirds of customers have made a purchase as a direct result of an email marketing message.

   

• When it comes to customer acquisition, email is 40X more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined.

   

• Globally, for every $1 spent on email marketing it returns $36. That is a 3600% ROI!

Therefore, this change that Apple has instituted will certainly affect your email marketing results.  But it should not be the only way you are reaching out to potential customers.  Need help with content creation or email marketing?  Drop us a line!

Until next time, happy emailing,

Meredith

How A Learning Management System can help your outdoor, Fitness or lifestyle brand

Want to learn how to use an e-learning platform, aka a learning management system, to enhance your customer’s experience and nurture brand ambassadors? Well with the holidays coming, and concerns still looming about the pandemic, you can bet many shoppers will be spending their time online.

So, in preparation for this, we’ve helped a few of our clients deliver content like videos and education courses in a fun and memorable way, and for viewing in the comfort of their own homes!

In addition, there are now many affordable and easy-to-use learning management systems that can help you not only educate consumers, but also open up new revenue streams for your business.

What is a learning management system or LMS?

First, LMS is an acronym for Learning Management System, but you may have heard this called online education, e-learning, virtual classroom, etc. This system, or software application, allows you to manage and deliver e-learning content like videos, courses and quizzes.

In addition, an LMS will usually include in its functionality:

• e-commerce capabilities to allow for purchasing of courses/memberships
• track student registration and course progression
• ability to message course registrants to share assignments and feedback
• 3rd party tools to extend the LMS’s capability

Before we dive in, if you have a question that can’t wait, let’s chat.

AN Example of an LMS used in the Outdoor Industry

A great example of an LMS begin used in the outdoor industry to create more knowledgeable brand ambassadors? Expert Voice.

How does it work? First, dozens of outdoor and lifestyle brands like Black Diamond, Camp Chef, or DaKine provide content in the form of videos, text, and imagery. Second, they’ll provide multiple choice questions to test the knowledge of someone that has read through the content or watched the videos.

Next, the content is organized within Expert Voice’s LMS, and once the customer passes all the quizzes, they ‘unlock’ a greater discount on their favorite brands.

Expert Voice is currently available to outdoor industry professionals such as mountain guides, retail shop employees, ski resort personnel, and brand ambassadors. And, below is an example of how Mammut is using Expert Voice to create, well, experts.

Who should be using a learning management system or LMS?

You might be surprised at the types of outdoor, lifestyle, health and wellness brands that can benefit from an LMS. Therefore, don’t eliminate a learning management system as a digital marketing strategy without doing your research.

Think creatively about the services you offer. Could all or part of those services be delivered on-line? If the answer is yes, an online learning tool might be right for you.

We’ve also seen the trend to build online courses, and e-learning resources grow as COVID-19 safety concerns have impacted small businesses.

So, if you are delivering education-based content or want to grow a brand ambassador program, you can benefit from using an LMS.

Case Studies of Outdoors, Health and Wellness Brands that Use an LMS

What benefits does an LMS provide for a small business?

Major benefits to using a learning management system

Monetization

Most LMS platforms have user registration and payment functionality built into them. Therefore, as soon as your course or program is ready to go live, you can start registering students and monetizing your services.

As an example, one of our clients, the American Avalanche Institute (AAI), uses an LMS to provide avalanche education at a rate that’s very cost-effective for the average skier or snowboarder. $30 compared to an in-person course, which starts at almost $400. It certainly does not replace the fieldwork you would do in-person, however, it gives AAI customers a great introduction to snow safety.

In addition, the LMS provides the American Avalanche Institute with potential new customers that may pay for a more extensive course in the future.

Scalability

If the program you want to create is 100% online, you can scale it quickly. And, without much additional effort. Even if your business model requires some hybrid of online and in-person interaction.

Therefore, hosting your services in an e-learning environment allows you to be more efficient. In addition, you decrease the need for 1:1 interaction with your frontline staff.

Customer & Client Engagement

First, if you use a webpage(s) to deliver your educational content, here’s one of the first challenges you’ll run into: Content organization and flow.

LMS platforms were built with these challenges in mind. Therefore, e-learning software platforms do an excellent job of providing a framework for you to organize your content and create a great user experience.

Second, an online learning application provides the opportunity to create and manage virtual events. So if you have thoughts of teaching a virtual fitness class, or hosting an online product demo, using an LMS is beneficial. Here’s more ideas for what kinds of virtual events you can host through a learning management system.

Third, we love using learning management systems to create more engaged and knowledgeable brand ambassadors. Read more about our work building brand ambassador programs for athletes and outdoor brands.

LMS Pricing and time commitment

Learning Management System Platform fees & setup

Costs for a new LMS can vary from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand of dollars. This would increase significantly for a fully custom LMS solution.

However, costs to purchase and build out an e-learning tool have come down a lot over the last few years. And, there are many feature-rich affordable options for the small business owner to choose from.

We recently used the LearnDash WordPress plugin to build engaging learning environments for Catalyst PT & Wellness. Why? It is a fraction of the cost of most other tools. In addition, LearnDash is used by some big names in Higher Education and corporate America. This provides a huge degree of confidence for our clients.

Regardless of what e-learning technology tools you choose, there will be development and integration requirements. Let’s hop on a call with you and/or your website manager before you decide on which LMS platform to use.

Content Production

Content production will be where you will spend the most time and energy as you start to build out courses. Even if you already have a ton of great content about your latest snowboard design or mountain bike glove, it will still need to be organized into a comprehensible structure for your users.

As an example, if you want to use an LMS to teach a class on how to take better photos or videos using a smart phone, you’ll need to create a content library with step-by-step images or videos that relate, and write out the copy and quiz questions to progress the user through your course.

Either way, you should have a very clear outline of what kind of experience you want to create and the expected outcome.

Marketing and Promotion

Once you have all the pieces in place, you’ll want to share the course offering with your current and potential customers. So you’ll need a distribution plan to launch across all of your channels: email, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, website, industry publications, in-store, events, etc.

Be sure to set aside some time, and budget, to create a marketing plan to promote this new online offering.

Next up, what pitfalls and roadblocks you should watch out for. However, if you have more questions about content production and distribution, check out our digital marketing services and let’s chart a course together!

What are the LMS roadblocks and pitfalls to watch out for?

Be Realistic with your Content Production Needs

Similar to home renovations, take a conservative estimate of the time and effort needed for content production. Then, add an additional 20%! Creating great content will require you, someone on your team, or your brand ambassadors to write copy, shoot photo or videos, and then design each step in the course.

We can’t stress enough how important it is to dedicate a few hours each week to content production. You and your brand ambassadors should be doing this already to help you generate better leads on your website. But, if not, here’s a step-by-step guide we wrote to help you generate good content for your website, and in this case your LMS!

Still, no matter how well you plan, things will come up. So, expect it to happen. Just like when the contractor says he’ll be done in 2 weeks. You know it’s gonna be more like 4. Be prepared. Experience has taught us a lot about content development. So, if you’ve never done this before, this is where we’d recommend hiring a content writer.

Don’t Let Perfection Be the Enemy of the Good

You’ve created an online course. Developed the content. And, you are almost ready to go. But, you can’t seem to launch. Why? Because every time you present your new e-learning course someone, they have just…one…more..change. Sound familiar?

We see this type of launch paralysis. A lot. And, with all kinds of projects: websites, e-commerce platforms, blog posts, video editing, presentation decks, even social media posts!

Here is one way to get around your stagnation and push your online program live. Once you have your content produced, have a beta testing phase built into your launch plan. Beta testing is a big deal for feedback, but it also allows stakeholders or your boss to get used to real people interacting with your business in this new online environment.

After beta testers, create a list of those who will help you promote the new program- your champions. Offer them VIP access. Provide a big discount (40-70%) in exchange for them going through the course. Ask them to provide feedback. In addition, ask them to share the program with their network. On social media. Or, through a review or testimonial. Be specific in what you expect for the discounted VIP rate, but make sure they are getting value.

Once you’ve completed both steps, this will usually help everyone get comfortable with the idea of “launching” to a wider audience.

Define a clear strategy and value proposition

You have to deliver value to your mountain biker, rock climber or skier. If not, your course, and your brand ambassador program, won’t go anywhere. Therefore, ensure you define, very clearly, what you are providing for your customers and brand ambassadors as soon as possible in this process.

As an example, the American Avalanche Institute moved most of their in-class training to an online environment due to concerns about COVID-19. They will still provide field sessions for their students. However, they can now provide the classroom portion in easily digestible online segments.

In addition, with sales of backcountry touring equipment up over 300%, we’re predicting a big season for beginner backcountry travelers. Therefore, AAI’s entry level course, Avalanche Fundamentals, is now completely online, and for just $30 bucks!

So, AAI is addressing concerns about classroom safety well before the start of their season. And, increasing students’ level of comfort. That is valuable.

The result? The kick-off of their 20/21 season was by far their busiest to date! Several courses were sold-out weeks after releasing the course schedule!

Final thoughts

We believe in the power of learning management tools to help small businesses like gyms, outdoor equipment, and apparel companies expand their offerings, educate their brand ambassadors, and better connect with their consumers. And, create new revenue streams!

Taking the steps to produce online courses and programs is a big investment. Therefore, building out an LMS shouldn’t be done without a clear strategy.

That said, if you’ve done the research, and feel like an LMS might be something that is right for your business, please reach out.

Let’s map out your e-learning strategy together!

generate better leads and grow your business

Want to learn how to use your website to generate better leads and grow your small business or non-profit?  Well, when we begin these projects with each client, we ask them to think about what a “lead” means for their company and how they plan to capture them.

A lead for us is an email address, but for some, it’s a phone call, a contact form completion or a follow on social media.  Be clear on what a lead means to you and your marketing team before you move on to the next step!

How to Spot a Good Lead: The Elusive Mountain Pika

A good lead is like the elusive mountain pika.  Rarely seen in the wild, this creature roams quietly through the rocky talus fields, making itself known only when in need of sustenance or to sound the alarm before diving back into its burrow.

When it finds a spot in the sun, the mountain pika may linger, basking in the glory of its warmth.  When spotted by the curious hiker, cameras and phones come flying out in the hopes of capturing this recluse of the wilderness.

Similarly, when we spot a good lead, we clamor for its attention.  We immediately email, call, InMail or the brave few may show up on their doorstep.  We are not providing the lead with any education or nourishment, we just want to sell, sell, sell.

And just like the shy mountain pika when it feels under attack, the lead disappears back into the wilds of the interwebs.

how do you capture a good lead?

Now that you’ve defined what a good lead is for your brand, how do you capture it?  And once you have it, where do you keep it?  This elusive mountain pika needs food and water, so be strategic with your planning of lead capture and lead nourishment.  Let’s set up your lead capture strategy first.  

Ways to capture a lead for your outdoor or lifestyle brand:  

There are a number of ways to capture a lead, but here’s the most common ways we capture an email address for our clients:

• contact form submission
• event activation
• download of gated content
• website footer – newsletter sign-up box
• landing pages

Where to store your leads

Having a good CRM or Customer Relationship Management system in place allows you to not only store leads, but also track additional information.  This might include how the lead came in and when, what their social handles are, and when your last contact was. 

We use Monday.com or Insightly at Top Rope Media, but have also worked with Blackbaud, SalesForce, Memberleap and Hubspot.  If your organization has a membership component, you seek financial contributions and membership dues, then having a CRM in place is crucial. 

Pro tip: Be wary of the ‘all-in-one’ solutions. 

Many companies will promise their CRM can not only help you track leads, but also manage accounting, do email marketing, social media planning, etc.  After 20 years of working in marketing and fundraising, we’ve learned there is no out-of-the-box solution that will do everything well.  Most larger brands and organizations will require some CRM customization.

If you need help selecting a CRM, or using a tool like Zapier to connect your CRM to say your email marketing platform, send up a smoke signal.  We offer consulting services to help get you moving quickly. 

Generate Better Leads by Producing Better website Content

Several of our clients have asked for a new website design, or major a refresh of their current site.  Why?  They want something more visually appealing, easier to navigate, and easier to help them generate better leads. 

Curious as to one of the primary ways we generate better leads at Top Rope Media?  We create better content.  Where does that content live?  On our website.

We should all be long past the days of buying lists and followers.  And yes, we certainly recommend paid advertising for many of our clients to help generate brand awareness and revenue.  However, we find the best leads come from the playing the long game and creating good content. 

Again, where should that content live?  On your website.

What types of content should you create

Now that you’re onboard with writing good content to help you generate more well-qualified leads, what type of content should you create?  Well these days content comes in many forms.  Video still rank as one the most-consumed pieces of content.  Accordingly to Wyzowl, 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.

If you’re new to video, we’ll tackle how to get started in an upcoming post.  For now, let’s talk about what other types of good content you should be creating to generate better leads:

• Case studies
• Infographics
• Blog posts
• Videos or Vlogs (upload to YouTube or Vimeo, and embed the link on your website!)
• Checklists or resource guides
• Comparisons, rankings or reviews
• How-to or explainer videos
• Articles for trade publications, or local/national news outlets
• Press releases
• Podcasts
• White papers or eBooks

How Good Content Can Improve Your SEO

Now that you’ve learned what types of good content you can produce, don’t let your content stream dry up!  By building a library of evergreen content for your readers or viewers, and having it live on your website, you can easily link to these pieces throughout the year. 

All this good content will also help you create better search engine optimization (SEO).  Not quite sure what SEO is?  Read more about it in our Website Design and SEO blog post.  So instead of paying an agency to manage your SEO, save your money and start by writing good content!

content marketing: What to write about or record on a video

What types of content should you produce and write about?  The first step should be to start a list with the top questions you are asked about your product, service or organization. 

For example, if you create a list of the 24 questions people most frequently ask you about your service or product, then an honest and thoughtful answer to each of those questions could be your first 24 blog posts or videos!

Create authentic content that focuses on your audience’s needs and addresses their pain points.  As an example, one of the most frequently asked questions we receive is a form of “What will this cost?”  So instead of hiding that from potential clients until they receive our proposal, we address it on our Services page.

Tools to Help You Write or record Good Content

Where else can you find what written or video content your audience needs and wants and therefore generate better leads?  Through your website or Google Analytics, look at the pages with the most views (besides your homepage) along with the pages people spend the most time on. 

Need help finding more keyword phrases to include in your content?  By using the tools listed below you can create a good list of keywords or keyword phrases that are often searched for in relation to your product or service: 

• Keywords Everywhere
• SEMRush
• Buzz Sumo
• Google Search Console
• Google Keyword Planner

More Tips for Writing or recording Good Content

Be consistent and stay on brand.  As an example, most people come to our website for two separate content tracks: adventure travel and marketing.  Although we personally have an interest in what the Utah snow forecast looks like for this week, or the latest puffy jacket to hit the market, we do not write about it in our blog.

We generate better leads by staying consistent with the content we produce.  So, stay focused on offering solutions to your audience’s most frequently asked or searched questions.

content creation vs. content distribution

So now you know what types of content you can produce to generate better leads. In addition, you learned what to write about or record in those pieces of content.  What’s the next step?  Distributing that content. 

Since you cannot expect people to stumble upon your great content simply through search alone, help them find it through content distribution.  That great blog you just wrote, or that video you just recorded for YouTube (which is embedded on your website) can be shared in a number of different ways. 

Here’s a few distribution channels we use:

• Email: via an email marketing platform like Mailchimp
• Social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn)
• Paid advertising
• Online forums
• Networking groups  

How do we keep track of the content we’re distributing?  We create a content calendar to stay organized and use publishing tools like Hootsuite to track when, where and what we’re sharing.  Examples of other tools you can use to organize your content: 

• Excel, Google Sheets, Buffer, Post Planner, Hubspot

Need Content Production and Distribution Help?

Need help getting started generating better leads, or want us to create and manage your content production and distribution?  If so, read more about our Services and Pricing to see if we’re a good fit for you.  Have a quick question for us?  Send up a smoke signal or leave us a comment below.

Lastly, if you’re seeking more tips on digital marketing, check out these posts:

• 7 Steps to Crafting Your Perfect Email Strategy
• Website Design and SEO for the Outdoor Industry
• 8 Steps to Kickstart Your Online Advertising with Facebook and Instagram

To learn more about what we do on the regular, follow Top Rope Media’s adventures on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Until next time, happy content writing!

Meredith