Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 13

Courtesy The Mountaineer

THE POSTS ALL SHARE ONE THING IN COMMON: THEY ARE
WRITTEN IN AVOICE THAT IS BOTH AUTHORITATIVE AND
ENTERTAINING, ONE THAT CAPTURES THE BIG-HEARTED
ATTITUDE OF THE STORE'S FOUNDERS, DEEK HEYKAMP
AND BRYAN KNUDSEN.
gear reviews; and Inform, which are howto videos such as how to pick out and fit a
PFD or kayak paddle. The posts all share
one thing in common: They are written in a
voice that is both authoritative and entertaining, one that captures the big-hearted attitude of the store's founders, Deek
Heykamp and Bryan Knudsen. The blog's
success has much to do with the way that
Next Adventure has made blogging part of
the store's culture and infrastructure.
Here's how it works for Next Adventure:
Employees are encouraged to write blog
posts-and rewarded for it. Ninety percent of the posts are written by employees.
The other 10 percent are written by trusted
customers who earn the title Ambassadors.
"We want our employees to use all their skill
sets," Turner says. "And we make it very easy
for them to do this."
It's as simple as logging onto the employee
portal and checking one's work schedule.
"On the employee portal, we've added a template that's ready made for blogging. They
log into their account and they click on a link
that takes them to the template. There's one
link for adding trip reports and another for
gear reviews. The template asks, Where did
you go? What was your purpose? What gear
did you use? It works. A lot of our employees
are writers, too. It gives them an outlet and a
forum for their writing."
Turner adds that a reward system ensures that employee-writers stay enthused
to keep posting. "In our monthly meeting,
the content manager acknowledges their
contribution and rewards them with store
credit. It's win-win. The website gets great
content. The employee gets a place to share
their writing and free gear. These kids are
doing the writing anyway on their own
blogs at home. Why not give them incen-

tive? And we make it easy for them. With
the template, it only takes 10 or 15 minutes.
"Some of the employees are building quite
a following. They can put their blogging on
their résumé later in life. They can say, 'I
wasn't just a sales associate. I contributed to
the business in other important ways."'
The important part is that the business
benefits even more in the form of increased
trust between customer and retailer. "The
blog demonstrates to customers that Next
Adventure has knowledgeable and caring
employees," Turner says. "The customers see
the employees' faces on the blog. They come to
trust our employees. They see the same faces
they talk to when they come into the store."
Of course, quality control is important, too.
To that end, a dedicated content manager edits all blog posts for grammar, spelling, tone,
and any other writing snafus that could raise a
customer's eyebrow. "We love, love the personalities of our bloggers," Turner says. "We want
them to have fun and we want to bring attention to their writing skills. But the blog is there
to serve the store. We've had to have a talk or
two about this." O.R.

THREE BLOGS YOU MUST FOLLOW

The following retailers create fun
entertainment that keeps customers
(and casual fans) coming back.
THE MOUNTAINEER
Keene Valley, New York
This solidly executed blog is strong on consistency and usefulness, if light on personality.
mountaineer.com/blog/
THE TRAILHEAD
Buena Vista, Colorado
This retailer excels at posting thorough reports
about excursions in its home state of Colorado.
thetrailheadco.com/blogs/blog/
WHOLE EARTH PROVISION CO.
Austin, Texas
These strong, community-minded posts
include coverage of local conservation and
music events. blogs.wholeearthprovision.
com/products/category/current/

SECRET SAUCE

writing. The trip reports must
contain accurate (and useful)
beta about the places visited.

Mike Turner, general manager
of Portland, Oregon-based
Next Adventure, identifies
three ways you can knock it out
of the park with your content.

Authoritative Voice: The
gear reviews must be written by
bloggers who understand the
product's entire category. They
must understand materials and
design. And they must be able
to speak about the product as
both an expert in the field and
an end user. "Emphasis on end
user," Turner says.

What's the key to a great
blog post?

Useful and Accurate
Information: A blog post is
only as good as the information in it. This is not creative

Honesty: "The truth trumps
all," Turner says. "We have to
prove that we're not homers.
We make sure that we talk
about both the good and the
bad. Our customer knows
that they can trust us. We're
not going to say everything's
dreamy about a product if
it's not. We are not in the
business of fluff or deception. We are in the business
of trust. Honesty is priority
number-one." -B.W.

Winter 2018 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 13

http://www.mountaineer.com/blog/ http://www.thetrailheadco.com/blogs/blog/

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018

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