Email Marketing for Outdoor Ecommerce: Strategy and Setup

Email marketing delivers an exceptional return on investment for ecommerce businesses: $45 for every dollar spent in the retail and consumer goods sector. For outdoor brands looking to build lasting customer relationships and drive consistent revenue, a well-executed email strategy is essential. But the outdoor industry presents unique challenges—your audience values authenticity over aggressive sales tactics, and seasonal factors heavily influence purchasing behavior.

This guide walks through everything you need to build an effective email marketing program for your outdoor brand, from technical setup to automation flows to campaign strategy that respects your audience while driving results.

Why Email Marketing Matters for Outdoor Brands

While social media platforms come and go, email remains the marketing channel you actually own. You’re not subject to algorithm changes, and you can reach customers directly without paying for each impression.

The numbers back this up. Email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing tactic for direct-to-consumer brands, with the average ROI reaching $36 for every dollar spent globally. Even more impressive, automated emails drove 37% of all email-generated sales in 2024, meaning you can generate revenue while you sleep.

For outdoor brands specifically, email provides a platform to share the educational content and community storytelling that resonates with your audience—not just product pitches. You can time campaigns around weather patterns, seasons, and outdoor activity schedules in ways that other channels don’t support as effectively.

Technical Setup: Getting Your Foundation Right

Before you send a single email, you need to establish the technical infrastructure that ensures your messages actually reach the inbox.

Domain Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Email deliverability depends on proving to email providers that you’re a legitimate sender. Three authentication protocols—SPF, DKIM, and DMARC—work together to verify your identity and prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) verifies that emails come from authorized servers by checking against approved IP addresses listed in your DNS records.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your emails, verifying that the message hasn’t been altered in transit.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) tells receiving servers what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail—whether to deliver, quarantine, or reject the email.

Setting up these protocols requires adding TXT records to your domain’s DNS settings. Your email service provider will typically provide the specific records you need to add. This step is non-negotiable—Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft now require proper authentication for bulk senders, and emails from unauthenticated domains are increasingly filtered as spam.

Choosing an Email Service Provider (ESP)

Your ESP is the platform you’ll use to design, send, and track your email campaigns. For outdoor ecommerce brands, you need a provider that integrates well with your store platform and supports the automation flows you’ll build.

Klaviyo has become the go-to choice for ecommerce brands, offering deep integrations with Shopify and other platforms, sophisticated segmentation capabilities, and pre-built automation flows designed specifically for online stores.

Omnisend provides similar ecommerce-focused features at a lower price point, with additional channels like SMS built into the platform. Their free plan includes automation workflows and ecommerce features that make it accessible for smaller brands.

Mailchimp remains a popular option due to brand recognition and ease of use, though its pricing can become expensive as your list grows, and it’s less specialized for ecommerce compared to Klaviyo or Omnisend.

For larger outdoor brands generating over $5 million in annual online sales, Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers enterprise-level capabilities with extensive customization options, though it requires more technical resources to manage.

When evaluating providers, consider:

Integration quality with your ecommerce platform
Available automation flows and triggers
Segmentation and personalization capabilities
Deliverability reputation
Pricing structure as your list grows
Email design tools and templates
Analytics and reporting depth

Most platforms offer free trials, so test 2-3 options with your actual data before committing.

Essential Automation Flows for Outdoor Ecommerce

Automated email flows run in the background, triggered by specific customer actions. They consistently outperform one-off campaigns because they’re timely, relevant, and personalized to each recipient’s behavior.

Welcome Series

Your welcome series is the first impression new subscribers receive from your brand. Welcome emails generate 320% more revenue per email than other promotional messages, making this your highest-performing automation.

For outdoor brands, use the welcome series to:

Email 1 (sent immediately): Welcome the subscriber, introduce your brand story, and set expectations for what types of emails they’ll receive. If you offered a discount for signing up, deliver it here.

Email 2 (sent 3 days later): Share what makes your brand different. For outdoor companies, this is where you talk about your sustainability practices, how your products are tested, or the outdoor community you’re building. Education over selling.

Email 3 (sent 3 days after email 2): Now you can showcase products. Highlight bestsellers or new arrivals, but frame them around solving specific outdoor challenges your customers face.

The key for outdoor brands is establishing that you understand and share your customers’ values before pushing products. A technical outdoor enthusiast wants to know about materials, testing, and performance. A weekend hiker wants to know these products will work without requiring expert-level knowledge.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Cart abandonment averages around 70% across ecommerce, but abandoned cart emails can recover 10-20% of those lost sales. The economics are compelling: abandoned cart emails achieve a 45% open rate and 10-15% click-through rate, far exceeding standard email performance.

Timing matters significantly. Send the first email within 30-60 minutes of cart abandonment for maximum impact, while the purchase intent is still fresh. A second email 24 hours later catches people who needed more time to decide, and a third email 72 hours later serves as a final reminder.

For outdoor brands, abandoned cart emails work well when you:

Include product images and details from the abandoned cart
Address common objections (shipping costs, return policy, sizing concerns)
Provide social proof through reviews or user-generated content
Avoid being pushy—frame it as a helpful reminder rather than aggressive selling

Consider offering assistance rather than immediately discounting. Many outdoor purchases involve technical decisions, so offering to answer questions can be more effective than a blanket 10% off.

Post-Purchase Flow

The sale isn’t the end of the customer relationship—it’s the beginning. Post-purchase emails achieve a 61.68% open rate, the highest of any automated flow, because customers are actively engaged with your brand.

Structure your post-purchase series to:

Immediately after purchase: Send order confirmation with tracking information. This is table stakes, not marketing.

After delivery: Send a “how’s it going?” email asking if the product arrived and met expectations. For outdoor gear, include care instructions, usage tips, or links to helpful content.

2-3 weeks post-purchase: Request a product review. Social proof is crucial for outdoor brands, where customers rely heavily on others’ experiences before buying technical gear.

4-6 weeks post-purchase: Suggest complementary products based on what they bought. If someone purchased a tent, they might need sleeping pads, stakes, or a footprint. Frame recommendations around completing their outdoor setup rather than just upselling.

This series transforms one-time buyers into repeat customers by providing value beyond the transaction. It also sets up your next automation flow—win-back campaigns for customers who haven’t purchased in several months.

Browse Abandonment

Not everyone adds items to their cart. Browse abandonment emails target customers who viewed products but left without adding anything to their cart.

These emails perform best when you:

Reference the specific products they viewed
Include reviews or ratings to build confidence
Suggest similar products if their viewed item is out of stock
Keep the tone helpful and conversational

For outdoor brands with higher price points or technical products, browse abandonment emails work particularly well because customers often research extensively before committing to a purchase. Your email serves as a gentle nudge when they’re already considering the product.

Campaign Strategy for Outdoor Brands

Beyond automation, you’ll send regular campaigns to your full list or segments. The challenge for outdoor brands is balancing promotional content with the educational and community-focused content that builds trust.

Seasonal Campaigns

Outdoor brands naturally align with seasons and weather patterns. Plan your campaign calendar around:

Pre-season preparation (late winter for spring/summer, late summer for fall/winter): Educational content about preparing gear, training for upcoming adventures, destination planning. Weave in product recommendations as solutions to the challenges you’re discussing.

Peak season: Share customer stories, trip reports, and user-generated content. Feature products in action rather than on white backgrounds. This is when your customers are most engaged with outdoor activities—meet them where they are.

Off-season: Shift to equipment maintenance, off-season training, planning for next season, or alternative activities. This keeps your brand top-of-mind without pushing products that don’t align with current needs.

Avoid the trap of constant promotion during peak season. Your customers are busy actually using their gear—they don’t need daily sales emails. Focus on staying relevant and helpful.

Product Launches

New product announcements work well for engaged subscribers, particularly if you:

Give email subscribers early access before the general public
Explain what problem the product solves and why you created it
Include technical specifications for gear-focused audiences
Show the product being tested in real conditions
Share the development story

For outdoor brands, the story behind the product often matters as much as the product itself. Why did you design it this way? What conditions did you test it in? What makes it different from existing options?

Educational Content

Educational emails build trust and authority while keeping your brand relevant between purchases. Outdoor brands have abundant content opportunities:

How-to guides for activities related to your products
Gear maintenance and care instructions
Destination recommendations
Skills development (navigation, backcountry safety, etc.)
Seasonal preparation checklists
Environmental and sustainability topics

The key is ensuring educational content is genuinely useful, not just thinly veiled product promotion. If you’re writing about “10 Essential Items for Your First Backpacking Trip,” focus on the knowledge first and mention that you sell some of those items second.

Community Building

Outdoor brands thrive on community. Use email to:

Share customer stories and trip reports
Highlight user-generated content from social media
Announce brand-sponsored events, cleanups, or meetups
Partner with conservation organizations
Feature athletes or ambassadors

These emails might not drive immediate sales, but they build the brand affinity that leads to long-term customer loyalty and word-of-mouth growth.

List Building and Growth Strategies

Your email list is only valuable if it’s growing with engaged, interested subscribers. Multiple strategies can build your list sustainably.

Exit-intent popups convert over 3% of visitors, capturing email addresses from people who might never return to your site. Time the popup to appear when visitors show exit behavior or after they’ve spent a certain amount of time on your site.

Gamified popups, like spin-to-win wheels offering different discount levels, add an element of fun that can increase conversion rates beyond standard popup forms.

For outdoor brands, the value proposition matters more than the discount. “Join our community” or “Get expert outdoor tips delivered weekly” can outperform “Get 10% off” for customers who value expertise and authenticity over bargain hunting.

Lead Magnets

Offer downloadable resources in exchange for email addresses:

Trail guides or destination recommendations
Gear checklists for specific activities
Skills guides (knot tying, navigation, safety)
Seasonal preparation guides
Product comparison charts

The lead magnet should provide immediate value and be directly relevant to your products. A “Complete Guide to Choosing a Backpack” works well for a brand that sells backpacks—it attracts qualified leads already interested in making a purchase.

Order Confirmation Pages

Customers who just completed a purchase are more receptive to additional requests. Add a newsletter signup form to your order confirmation page, explaining what types of emails they’ll receive and the value you provide beyond promotional content.

Since they’re already receiving transactional emails, this is low-friction and captures highly engaged customers.

Referral Programs

Encourage existing subscribers to refer friends by offering incentives to both parties. Outdoor brands can frame referrals around sharing the community rather than just earning discounts—”Help your friends discover their next adventure” resonates better than pure financial incentives.

Content Marketing

Blog posts, YouTube videos, and social media content should all include email capture opportunities. If someone reads your 2,000-word guide on choosing hiking boots, they’re clearly interested—give them an easy way to continue receiving that expertise.

Segmentation for Outdoor Audiences

Sending the same email to everyone on your list is a waste of the data you have. Segmentation allows you to send more relevant, targeted messages that perform better.

Activity Type

Outdoor brands can segment audiences by the specific activities customers participate in—hiking, climbing, skiing, cycling, camping, water sports, etc. Product recommendations and content should align with their specific interests.

A trail runner doesn’t need emails about your new climbing harnesses, and a skier doesn’t care about your summer hiking collection in January.

Track activity interest through:

Purchase history (what products indicate what activities)
Browsing behavior on your website
Preference center where subscribers self-select interests
Content engagement (which emails and blog posts they interact with)

Experience Level

Segmenting by experience level—beginners, intermediate, expert—allows you to adjust both product recommendations and content complexity.

Beginners need educational content and products that are forgiving and versatile. Experts want technical specifications and performance details. The messaging, tone, and product selection should reflect these differences.

Geography and Climate

Where your customers live affects what products they need and when they need them. A customer in Colorado has different seasonal needs than someone in Florida.

Use geographic segmentation to:

Time seasonal campaigns appropriately for different regions
Recommend products suited to local conditions
Share destination recommendations for nearby locations
Adjust imagery to reflect local environments

Engagement Level

Separate highly engaged subscribers from those who rarely open emails. Send your most engaged subscribers more frequent communications and exclusive offers. For less engaged subscribers, reduce frequency and focus on win-back campaigns designed to re-engage them before they become completely inactive.

Purchase Behavior

Segment by:

Recency: When they last purchased
Frequency: How often they purchase
Monetary value: How much they spend
Product preferences: What categories they buy from

High-value repeat customers should receive VIP treatment—early access to products, exclusive content, special offers. First-time buyers need nurturing to encourage their second purchase. Customers who haven’t purchased in 6+ months need win-back campaigns.

Balancing Promotional vs. Value-Driven Content

The outdoor industry attracts customers who are skeptical of aggressive marketing and value authenticity. Bombarding them with sales emails backfires.

A sustainable ratio is roughly 60-70% value-driven content and 30-40% promotional content. Value-driven content includes:

Educational how-to guides
Destination recommendations
Customer stories and trip reports
Gear care and maintenance tips
Environmental and conservation topics
Skills development
Community highlights

Promotional content includes:

Product launches
Sales and discounts
New arrivals
Abandoned cart reminders
Browse abandonment
Re-engagement offers

Even promotional emails can include value. A sale announcement can feature a guide to how to use those products. A new product launch can include the testing story and development process.

The outdoor audience responds well to storytelling and authenticity. They want to know:

Why you created this product
How you tested it
What problem it solves
How other customers use it in real conditions
Your brand’s values and environmental practices

When in doubt, ask yourself: “Would I find this email valuable if I received it?” If the answer is “only if I was already planning to buy something,” it’s probably too promotional.

Email Design for Outdoor Brands

Email design should reflect your brand identity while prioritizing readability and mobile responsiveness. Over 50% of emails are opened on mobile devices, so test every design on various screen sizes.

Visual Elements

Outdoor brands have a significant advantage in email design—your products naturally lend themselves to compelling imagery. Use:

Lifestyle photography showing products in use outdoors rather than studio shots on white backgrounds. Customers want to envision themselves using the gear.

User-generated content from customers’ actual adventures. This builds authenticity and community while providing social proof.

Scenic imagery that captures the outdoor experiences your products enable. Just ensure images don’t overpower the message or slow load times.

Layout Best Practices

Keep layouts simple and scannable:

Single column designs work best for mobile
Clear hierarchy with prominent headlines
Plenty of white space
Obvious call-to-action buttons
Alt text for all images (in case they don’t load)

Brand Voice

Your email copy should reflect your brand personality. Outdoor brands often adopt a conversational, enthusiastic tone that reflects the passion of the outdoor community—but avoid over-the-top hype that feels inauthentic.

Technical brands serving expert audiences can use more specialized terminology. Brands targeting weekend warriors should keep language accessible and welcoming.

Measuring Email Performance

Track these key metrics to understand what’s working and what needs improvement:

Open Rate

The percentage of recipients who opened your email. Industry average for ecommerce hovers around 15-25%, but automated flows like welcome and post-purchase emails often exceed 40%.

Low open rates suggest problems with:

Subject lines that don’t create curiosity or value
Sender name that’s not recognizable
Sending frequency (too many emails leads to fatigue)
List health (too many inactive subscribers)

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of recipients who clicked a link in your email. Ecommerce averages typically range from 2-5%, with automated flows performing higher.

Low CTR indicates:

Content not relevant or engaging
Unclear or weak calls to action
Poor mobile design making links hard to tap
Mismatch between subject line and email content

Conversion Rate

The percentage of recipients who completed a desired action (usually a purchase). Email conversions for ecommerce average 5-10%, with automated flows significantly outperforming broadcasts.

Track conversion rates for:

Individual campaigns
Automation flows
Segments
Product categories

Revenue Per Email

Total revenue generated divided by number of emails sent. This metric helps you understand the actual business impact of your email program.

List Growth Rate

The rate at which your email list grows, accounting for both new subscribers and unsubscribes. A healthy list should grow steadily without relying solely on purchased lists (which you should never use).

Unsubscribe Rate

The percentage of recipients who opt out of your emails. Industry average is typically below 0.5% per email. Higher rates suggest you’re sending too frequently, content isn’t relevant, or you’re being too promotional.

A small unsubscribe rate is normal and healthy—it removes uninterested people from your list and can actually improve your overall engagement metrics.

Maintaining List Health

A healthy email list is engaged and clean. Poor list health damages your deliverability, as email providers track engagement metrics to determine if your emails should reach the inbox.

Regular List Cleaning

Remove subscribers who haven’t engaged (opened or clicked) in 6-12 months. Before removing them entirely, send a re-engagement campaign asking if they still want to hear from you.

This feels counterintuitive—why remove people from your list?—but inactive subscribers hurt your metrics and deliverability. A smaller, engaged list outperforms a larger, unengaged list.

Manage Bounces

Remove hard bounces (permanent delivery failures) immediately. Monitor soft bounces (temporary delivery issues) and remove addresses that continue to soft bounce.

Easy Unsubscribe Process

Make it simple for people to unsubscribe. Include a clear unsubscribe link in every email and process requests within 10 business days (required by CAN-SPAM law).

A frustrated subscriber who can’t find the unsubscribe link will mark your email as spam instead, which damages your sender reputation far more than a simple unsubscribe.

Preference Centers

Give subscribers control over email frequency and content types. A preference center allows people to choose what emails they receive rather than unsubscribing entirely.

Someone might not want daily promotional emails but would appreciate a monthly newsletter with outdoor tips. Give them that option.

Email marketing is regulated to protect consumers from spam. Violating these laws can result in significant fines and damage to your brand reputation.

CAN-SPAM (United States)

The CAN-SPAM Act requires commercial emails to:

Include a clear, functional unsubscribe link
Process unsubscribe requests within 10 business days
Include your physical business address
Clearly identify the email as an advertisement (though transactional emails are exempt)
Use accurate “From,” “To,” and “Reply-To” information
Use truthful subject lines

Violations can result in penalties up to $50,120 per email.

CAN-SPAM does not require opt-in consent to send emails—you can email someone who hasn’t explicitly subscribed, though best practices strongly recommend against this.

If you have subscribers in the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies. GDPR requirements are stricter than CAN-SPAM:

Obtain explicit, informed consent before sending marketing emails
Clearly explain how you’ll use subscriber data
Allow subscribers to access, download, and delete their data
Report data breaches within 72 hours
Keep detailed records of consent

GDPR violations can result in fines up to 4% of global revenue, making compliance critical for any brand with EU customers.

Best Practice: Opt-In Only

Regardless of legal requirements, only email people who have explicitly opted in to receive your emails. Purchased lists, scraped email addresses, and adding people without permission damages your deliverability, frustrates recipients, and doesn’t generate quality leads.

Quality over quantity. A small list of engaged subscribers who want to hear from you is infinitely more valuable than a large list of people who never asked for your emails.

Cost Considerations

Email marketing is affordable relative to other channels, but costs vary based on list size and platform.

Most ESPs price based on number of subscribers or emails sent:

Entry-level: Free to $50/month for lists under 5,000 subscribers. Platforms like Omnisend and Mailchimp offer free tiers with basic features.

Mid-tier: $50-300/month for lists of 5,000-25,000 subscribers. You’ll have access to advanced automation, segmentation, and analytics.

Enterprise: $300+ per month for large lists or high email volumes. Enterprise plans often include dedicated support and custom integrations.

Factor in additional costs for:

Email design (if you’re hiring a designer)
Content creation (copywriting for campaigns)
List growth tools (popup software, lead magnet creation)
Advanced analytics or integrations

Despite these costs, email marketing’s average ROI of $36-45 per dollar spent makes it one of the most cost-effective marketing channels available.

Getting Started

Email marketing for outdoor ecommerce doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Start with the fundamentals:

Set up domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to ensure deliverability
Choose an ESP that integrates with your ecommerce platform
Create your first automation flows: welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase
Build your list through website signup forms and lead magnets
Send your first campaign to test the waters and learn what resonates

As you build momentum, add:

Advanced segmentation
Additional automation flows
Regular campaign calendar
A/B testing to optimize performance
Preference centers and list management

The key is starting. Email marketing is a long-term strategy that builds value over time. Your first campaign won’t be perfect, and that’s okay. You’ll learn from every send, gradually improving your strategy and results.

For outdoor brands, email marketing provides a direct connection to customers who share your passion for the outdoors. Use it to build community, share knowledge, and grow a sustainable business that respects both your audience and the environment you all value.