Outdoor Industry Digital Marketing Insights: How to Win on Social Media in 2025

In 2025, outdoor brands navigate a challenging landscape: inflation, rising tariffs, and disrupted supply chains have led to revenue shortfalls and layoffs for many. Yet, consumer passion for outdoor recreation is at an all-time high. The OIA’s 2025 Outdoor Participation Trends Report reveals a 3% increase in outdoors participants, reaching 181.1 million people. Despite financial pressures, the outlook for consumers getting outside and active remains strong.

Digital marketing is critical for outdoor, travel, and adventure brands to thrive. Winning on social media requires more than beautiful product shots of mountains. It demands strategic, value-driven content, authentic partnerships, and seamless sales integration. 

This guide, crafted for brand managers and owners, provides actionable strategies to lead on social media in 2025.

1. Break Through With Consumer-First Content

Let’s be real: your audience isn’t hanging on your every update. Your audience is flooded with content: memes, viral reels, and creator posts vie for their screen time. To stand out, outdoor brands must create content that educates, entertains, or excites, positioning your brand as a go-to resource. 

To break through the noise, brands must shift from broadcasting information to delivering genuine value: content that educates, entertains, or excites. People are watching content all day on their devices, might as well be your content! 

📝 Educate: Teach your audience something new

When you teach your audience something new (whether it’s how to waterproof a tent in or the secret to breaking in your hiking boots) you’re instantly elevating your brand from seller to trusted guide. These moments build credibility, spark conversation in the comments and create long-term value as people will save and share this content, coming back to it over time. 

👀 Entertain: Make it fun

There’s been a huge shift in social media use over the past few years, from a way to connect with friends and family towards an entertainment platform. People are turning to apps like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube with a sit back and watch mentality, sometimes even binging entire seasons of television shows or 50-part creator content series. 

Entertaining content humanizes your brand, it invites followers to build an emotional connection that they wouldn’t from simply viewing ads. 

✨ Excite: Inspire with your content

Inspiration is the spark that turns interest into action. A sunrise time-lapse over your flagship store or a high-energy montage of paddlers carving rapids can ignite your audience’s desire to get outside. When you layer beautiful visuals with an emotive call-to-action like “Tag someone you’d hike this with,” you’re not just showcasing products, you’re selling the next great story your followers will live. When people share that content with their friends because they feel so inspired, it drives both engagement and the kind of word-of-mouth marketing that money can’t buy.

By embedding real value into every piece of content, you give people a reason to actually follow your brand. So before you hit publish, ask yourself: why would my audience save or share this? If the answer’s shaky, rework it until the value shines through.

When you lead with consumer-first content, customers will stop scrolling—and start following.

2. Creator Partnerships That Build Loyalty and Lift

In 2025, creators have unmatched influence over consumer behavior and have redefined the entire purchase journey. According to LTK’s 2025 Creator Marketing Trends Report, creators have cemented themselves as trusted figures for consumers, treating their reviews like advice from a close friend with 73% of Gen Z and 57% of Millennials relying on creators to make purchase decisions.

These creator endorsements build brand credibility and loyalty. But this trust isn’t built overnight, it’s cultivated through authentic, ongoing relationships. One-off sponsored posts might spark a momentary boost, but long-term loyalty comes from ongoing collaborations where creators feel like true brand partners, not paid billboards. 

Popfly can help you weave creators into every stage of your funnel from building awareness to driving in-store foot traffic and online conversions. Tap into the world's largest community of trusted outdoor and adventure creators to elevate your brand – from backcountry skiers to desert van-lifers to alpine photographers. 

3. Turn Scrolls Into Sales with Social Commerce

Social media has transformed into a vital sales channel for e-commerce brands. The 2025 Social Commerce Trends Report from DHL found that 70% of global shoppers buy directly through social apps. And social media isn’t just influencing purchases, it’s increasing them with 37% of people saying they shop more frequently and 31% saying they make more impulse purchases. 

What’s interesting though is that consumers don’t show up on social looking to buy—they come for inspiration, stumbling upon products they didn’t even know they needed. That’s why leading with consumer-first content is key.

To capitalize on this shift, brands need to deliver easy, frictionless shopping experiences:

• Integrate shoppable tags across platforms for one click shopping
• Showcase UGC on your website, turning peer reviews into shoppable galleries
• Offer augmented reality try-ons to let customers virtually “test” gear
• Connect your Shopify account to Popfly to seamlessly manage creator gifting campaigns to get your products in the hands of adventure influencers

4. Think Bigger, Move Quicker with AI as Your Creative Companion

AI is no longer a distant, futuristic concept, it’s become a critical tool increasingly integrated into our everyday lives. When it comes to outdoor brands, we like to think of AI as your brainstorming partner, supportive collaborator and trusted sidekick. Use it to help guide your content creation process by sparking ideas, shaping narratives, and streamlining execution.

We see AI not replacing creativity or human connection but as amplifying it. Whether you're crafting a campaign, managing a retail operation, or designing gear for the backcountry, AI is becoming the co-pilot that helps you move faster, think smarter, and connect deeper.

Let AI support your:

• Content Ideation: Brainstorm content ideas by sourcing emerging trends and surfacing fresh ideas.
• Personalization Engines: Sift through customer data like past purchases and browsing behaviors to deliver relevant product suggestions.
• Ad Optimization: Use AI to personalize ads and A/B test different creative versions. Tools like Meta’s Advantage+ will optimize your creative, targeting, placements and budget automatically.

Of course, guardrails are crucial. Always layer in human touch to maintain authenticity and ensure factual accuracy. When used correctly, AI can transform your digital marketing—making it faster, smarter, and more resonant with your audience.

5. Lead With Purpose

Consumers are craving trust and authenticity after years of global disruption. In 2025, brands that clearly articulate their mission and values are pulling ahead. Younger generations are leading the charge with 94% of Gen Z consumers believing companies should address social issues according to Forbes.

It’s not about taking sides or weighing in on polarizing topics, it’s about consistently showing up in alignment with your values to build trust. According to the Salsify 2025 Consumer Research Report, 87% of consumers say they will pay more for a product because they trust the brand. 

Trust isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s the foundation of modern commerce. Shoppers today aren’t simply buying products; they’re choosing brands they want to connect with, align with, and return to again and again.

So spotlight your environmental initiatives, share authentic stories from the field, and host fundraisers or volunteer events that align with your company values. 

Purpose unites communities and elevates brand value beyond just the gear they sell.

In 2025, winning on social media isn't about shouting louder, it’s about connecting deeper. Outdoor brands that combine meaningful content, authentic creator collaborations and seamless shopping experiences will do more than just capture attention, they’ll build lasting relevance and brand affinity.