MADE IN COLORADO: OSPREY
Osprey Packs is a company offering innovative, high performance gear for adventurers and outdoor seekers. Osprey was founded over forty years ago by outdoor aficionado and mad hatter, Mike Pfotenhauer. The company calls Cortez, Colorado home where the pace of life is slower and they sit in the grandeur of the San Juan Mountains.
Osprey is a brand I have admired for years and I am currently the owner of several Osprey Packs, four to be exact. When looking at the company’s marketing strategy I found myself being a little bias because they have truly created extensive brand affinity and integrity with their market. Being in operation for over forty years is a testament of their brand and products. In this edition of Made in Colorado, I will focus on Osprey’s website, SEO, email and social strategies.
When you name your company after a Hawk you’d better have a good SEO strategy! When Osprey first began the internet did not exist and I am pretty sure no one thought the world wide web would, nor would they be needing a strategy to rank higher than a bird you’d learn about in an encyclopedia. But here we are in 2018 and Osprey Packs has the top ranking for general Osprey related terminology.
Osprey is using general keywords that are inclusive of the product they offer. Looking at their source code, meta descriptions and keywords are clearly optimized for search engines. This strategy is very much in line with what you’d expect any company to be doing. Where Osprey excels is with their actionable SEO techniques. Osprey’s link building is phenomenal! From their website you can access inspirational content which builds authority in their target niche, increases referral traffic, is relationship building, develops powerful contacts and directly contributes to their site’s organic rankings. This is a smart strategy that has been executed well!
You can’t talk SEO/website without talking about UX. It appears Osprey has invested in the user experience. From the site’s load time (load time of 2.99 s) and navigation structure everything is at a user’s finger tips. The level one navigation gives you the nuts and bolts, once you select your interest a monster nav not only gives you information but provides inspirational stories to stoke your imagination of where you can take your Osprey pack.
More often than not you generally see product placement higher up on a homepage for companies in this space however Osprey hasn’t used this strategy. Instead, they have opted to let imagery speak for itself with subtle product references and only if you keep scrolling down the homepage will you see a carousel of products. What is also enjoyable and inspirational about this site is how Osprey has included a social media feed into the lower section of their site. Clearly the feed is influencer created content but it fits well with the entire site and gives Osprey additional SEO power.
Osprey has taken advantage of a visually focused site however they haven’t named their images appropriately which is a slight miss and could affect ADA compliance and potential SEO rankings. I also don’t see any personalization. I would expect to see some type of personalization based on how often I visit the site, knowledge from email sign up and online interaction with the brand. Additionally, I have noticed that Osprey doesn’t take advantage of featured snippets and quick answers which would help their site, consumers and their SEO.
Overall, Osprey’s website is inspiring and shows you where you can take their packs. The design is clean, information is easily accessible and their integrity to high quality products shines through.
When it comes to email, Osprey opted to have their email sign up at the bottom of their site which isn’t a bad strategy because of the layout and the exploration nature of the site. When signing up for email you are encouraged to create an account (Osprey, use this information to personalize my experience!) From there, Osprey goes a little over the top asking for billing information (Slow your roll Osprey; I am not that type of girl!) Once signed up you will begin to receive emails comprising of product and inspirational content, exactly what an outdoor adventurer wants! The email design isn’t anything to write home about, but does their product justice. One area of improvement would be the option to ‘snooze’ my account and adjust the frequency of emails I receive. Overall Osprey does email nicely.
Now for social! I have a big ole crush on Osprey’s Instagram account. What they have done so well is that the product is a sub message to their imagery. The content of the post focuses on inspirational quotes and information about the outdoor industry whether a release of a short film or political changes affecting the outdoor landscape. Content is from around the world showcasing a community of adventurers and explorers of ALL AGES. Osprey’s hashtag is #OspreyPacks and this tag has been used over 110k times on Instagram alone. This immediately tells me there is much brand affinity and the Osprey story telling is resonating with their consumers.
Most humans have an 8 second attention span and I do think Osprey could use a little more video on their feeds. I have definitely noticed Osprey is seasonality based within their feeds and they don’t need to be because all adventurers are looking for their next exploration and they do have the attention of a worldwide community!
When just looking at these four marketing components I would say Osprey is doing a great job digitally. To last forty years in this industry is not only a testament to their product and the quality of those products but to the talented folks they have hired to do their marketing. Osprey is following many new SEO trends, their website, email and social tell the story of the brand and their community is clearly engaging with this story telling. What a great job Osprey is doing in Cortez, Colorado! Mad props and kudos, Osprey!
*Please note I have not been paid by or sponsored by Osprey Packs. All thoughts and opinions are my own. But… if you want to throw me a new backpack, I would not complain!