Whether it be fundamentals of digital marketing for the outdoor industry or helping to promote the wild and scenic rivers 50th anniversary, you need to create something memorable that your readers will want to consume. Better yet, why not create some content that is user generated. That is what we are doing.
User-generated content, or UGC, consists of any form of content that's created by users and consumers about a brand or product. UGC isn't paid for, and its authenticity makes the user the brand advertiser as well.
UGC is particularly prevalent on Instagram, where brands can easily repost and regram UGC from users' accounts. And it's worthwhile for brands to do this -- 76% of individuals surveyed said they trusted content shared by "average" people more than by brands, and nearly 100% of consumers trust recommendations from others.
Image: The DO and Daughter on Rogue River
User generated content can both grow an existing brand like Buffer did or it can successfully launch a new business. Google gives way more clout to user-generated content than to content created by brands and businesses. In fact, 25% of all search engine results for the world’s top 20 brands are links to user-generated content. Here is what we are doing.
Tom Splitt, a composer out of Colorado, has graciously offered us the use of an original composition, entitled "The River." This selection is from his album "Elan." If you would like to listen to "The River" while browsing this page, just click on the start button below. If you would like to learn more about this or other Tom Splitt CDs, please visit tomsplitt.com.
Rivers are for all of us. Rivers have provided opportunities to create some of our fondest memories and the gear provided by outdoor industry manufacturers, suppliers and outfitters have provided the means to access, experience, and create moments of enjoyment with our rivers that create the memories we recall later.
- Rivers Allow For Adventures. Adventure Fosters Stories.
- Every River Story Includes Gear That Helped Us Make The Adventure Possible.
- Share Your Story And Help Us Protect Our Rivers, So More Stories Can Be Created.
Whether your memory was created on a river in the wild or in an urban setting, whether it was created solo or with others, whether it was on calm water or in rushing water, whether it was from on shore or on the water, each of us has a river story and the gear that helped make it possible to share. We want to hear your river memory and about the outdoor gear, you associate with it to help us celebrate the wild and scenic rivers 50th anniversary.
We want our readers, their friends, family and tribe member's to share their river gear stories
Having access to rivers and public lands is essential for the outdoor industry. It is the playground in which users of outdoor gear have a place to use it. There a number of companies, organizations, associations, government agencies, and foundations promoting this significant anniversary. As we see it, the more this is promoted across multiple platforms, the more likely we are to increase the support for efforts to not only conserve our rivers, but to expand the amount of mileage designated "wild and scenic."
We need your help in promoting the efforts being undertaken by American Rivers and the USA National Wild and Scenic River Group.
Please share a story and ask others via your social and work network to share a story to help us promote saving our wild rivers through the conservation efforts associated with this year's wild and scenic 50 year anniversary (Wild & Scenic Rivers Act).
Image: The DO with Son & Friends on Westwater Canyon
Each experience we have with a river in our lives usually involves the use of some type of equipment. Originally the equipment used to cross and then travel along these waterways was made by the people who wanted to go somewhere, to explore or transport items.
Eventually, third parties provided the equipment needed. Manufacturers who sought out a better, faster cheaper way to make things in many cases created new ways to travel, cross, view or enjoy our rivers. Bill Parks and the Bill’s Bag, Bill Masters and the whitewater hard shell kayak, Jack Kloepher, and the Paco Pad, Mark Thatcher and the Teva all made river trips easier and possible in our busy worlds. Add to that list of names the outfitters who opened up the boundary waters, Georgie White in the Grand Canyon, George Wendt for the California Rivers and the Hatch Brothers on the Yampa and the Green opened these rivers with the new equipment for all to experience.
Image: Heading Out on the Colorado River for Another Day
The Role of Outdoor Gear in the Celebration
Without equipment ranging from simple hiking shoes, a travel chair, coolers, fishing pole, a backpack, tents, a self-bailing raft, and other watercraft, the opportunities would have been more significantly limited. Outdoor industry manufacturers over the years have provided equipment to allow us all to experience our rivers. These companies have provided innovation in design, materials, and construction that should be recognized and celebrated in conjunction with the 50-year anniversary. What are the pieces of equipment that have facilitated your river experience?
Fifty years ago on October 2, 1968, with foresight, Congress passed and the President signed the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act.
In the days of fur trappers and pioneers, free-flowing rivers were the lifeblood of commerce, transportation, and fisheries across America. Today, they are critical yet often-overlooked sources of clean water, critical habitat, and rejuvenating recreation for Americans seeking a break from the frenetic world of technology and reconnection with the deep flow of time and nature. The original law (PL90-542) designated 8 sections of the Clearwater, Eleven Point, Feather, Rio Grande, Rogue, St. Croix, Salmon (Idaho), and Wolf rivers for inclusion.
Join us as a promoter of this effort to increase conservation efforts for our nation's rivers and increase our wild and scenic rivers by another 5,000 miles. Every one involved in outdoor industry marketing should support this effort. It's easy. Create your own celebration promotion or.........
If you, your company or your organization would like to be a co-promoter listed on the promotion page, please let me know by messaging me via my LinkedIn account or sending me an email (ron@thedigitaloutdoorsman.com).
