We all know that person who seems to be living in the Stone Age.  That person who you would trust to take you on a hike through the wilderness, but not to design your company website.  I have always been one of those people, but after taking a class on digital marketing I now find myself bridging the gap between my love of nature and my distaste for technology.  Marketing in the Digital Age taught me that you can reach these nature lovers using 5 easy tips.

1. Keep it Visual

These people love nature for many reasons, but one of them is definitely the satisfaction of seeing something with their own eyes.  These people are visual individuals.  They love to view the world around them and this needs to be incorporated into your social marketing campaign if you wish to have any chance of reaching these individuals.  Some great examples of companies who embody this principle are GoPro and Patagonia.

 

2. Make it Speedy

 

These people spend their lives exploring everywhere this Earth has to offer; they don’t have time to slow down for some online purchase.  These individuals go from one adventure to the next and are value their time greatly.  If they can’t get from start to finish with their online purchase as quick as possible, then they will likely lose interest and move on to the next escapade.

 

3. Capture Attention Pronto

 Following the point above, it is so so so important to capture these individual’s attention immediately.  If you fail to do this, you better expect that these people will take their business elsewhere.  For this reason I would highly recommend finding a friend who fits this category of nature lover, technology hater and give them the 1-3-6 test when designing a website.  The best way to capture attention is by making the product or service known immediately, add breathtaking visuals to draw the consumer in, and some sort of audio that correlates to the target demographic.  Make sure that if you’re targeting Millennials that you use music relevant to them, as opposed to the possible musical tastes of Generation X.

 

4. Promote Environmentally Friendly Products

 

This should be a benefit for any product, but especially if you are trying to gain the trust and business of these nature lovers.  These individuals would stay on your website a little longer and shop a little extra if they knew that they were buying from an environmentally responsible business.  They would choose the hole in the wall that offers green products to the mega businesses that can offer a symbol of status or reliability.  Make these environmental benefits obvious.  Show that your company gives back, describe the alternative materials that create a lower carbon footprint, and talk about the small farmers that put a lot of hard work into the product with their own hands.  If you can’t do this, then I’m sorry but I won’t buy your products and neither will the other nature lovers.  One great example of this comes from Patagonia and their campaign of donating 100% of profits to environmental groups on Black Friday.

 

5. Be a Friend, Not a Business

 

Nature lovers tend to value friendship above all else.  We don’t want to be another data point.  We want to build a relationship with the company.  We want to come back and build off of that beginning transaction.  So send some emails to us about deals and new products, but give us an opt in instead of opt out option.  Hold events that promote community involvement so that we can put faces with the company that we buy from.  At the end of the day we’ll choose our friends first any day of the week.

Chandler Clayton is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Environmental Studies and Marketing.