Columbia Sportswear Digital Marketing Strategy Analysis

Table of Contents

Section Title

Page Number

Company Analysis

3

Buyer Personas

4

STEPPS Analysis

6

Competitor Analysis

8

Social Media Analysis

9

Email Marketing Strategy

12

Mockup Marketing Email

13

Landing Page Checklist

13

Recommendations

16

Company Analysis:

Columbia Sportswear was founded in 1938, starting out selling exclusively hats before smartly diversifying to the general outdoor gear market in the 1950s after recognizing that they already had a customer base coming in to buy hats to hike and fish in, and figuring they may as well offer a one-stop shopping experience. According to their website, they employ just over 10,000 employees across over 100 countries, serving largely the U.S. but additionally having a presence in Canada, Europe, China and Japan.

In the twenty-first century, Columbia has become synonymous primarily with fleeces and heavy winter jackets, two items which are often genericized, or referred to by the name of their manufacturer rather than an individual item name, as “Columbias”. On the other end of the product spectrum, Columbia is also well-known for its PFG (Performance Fishing Gear) line of products, such as rashguards, waders, convertible pants, button-ups, shoes and hats; all of which capture an entirely different market segment to the more outerwear-focused main brand segment.

Columbia’s digital marketing strategy is largely focused on sites like Instagram and Facebook, as they not only run their own ads showing off new collections and products, but also sponsor influencers that create content that is focused on outdoor activities, such as camping, fishing and hiking. In doing this, Columbia is making a concerted effort to reach a younger generation that is more active on social media; they, like many other brands in the digital age clearly want to be viewed as trendy. This is additionally evidenced by the content on the brand’s social media page, which shows off the product in ways that are often both comedic, to attract people who may not know anything about the product, and set in locations that evoke a desire to be outside, such as beautiful mountain ranges or rugged trails, to put their brand in the minds of people when they think about these types of activities. Noticeably, the Columbia social media presence is, somewhat humorous as previously stated, but also filled with posts that attempt to disguise the fact that they are advertisements, rife with phrases like “POV”, “when you… but…”, and “me when…”, which also serve to qualify the product as accessible, and those who wear it as relatable to the digitally-minded audience they are clearly trying to reach.

Columbia also engages in email marketing, though focused primarily on repeat business and returning customers, as when visiting the company’s online store, one is instantly greeted with an offer for 10% off of your purchase when you sign up for their e-newsletter, along with a blurb about how members of their rewards program get free shipping on an online purchase.

Given the fact that there is A) a top flight university, B) a record label, C) the capital of South Carolina, and D) a country that shares the same name, it only seems logical that as the entity out of those five that is most predominantly oriented towards ecommerce, that they would look into search engine optimization to not only push their results to the top of the first page of Google, but also to ensure that any queries also containing words geared towards clothes, shoes or outdoor activities would return their links.

Buyer Personas:

Mark Johnson

Age: 66

Gender: Male

Occupation: Retired

Education: College Graduate

Annual Income: ~100K between social security and investments

Relationship: Married

Location: Miami, Florida

Mark Johnson has been buying Columbia products for multiple decades, as he and his wife are both outdoorsy people, and found Columbia via magazine ads that were run predominantly in the 1990s. Mr. Johnson represents someone who has needs that are fit by a large range of Columbia products, whether that be the Performance Fishing Gear Line of sunshirts, boat shoes, sunhats and UPF-protectant shorts for the sunny days on the beach in his home state of Florida, or the core product line that spans leisurewear, hiking-focused clothing, accessories and footwear for when he and his wife visit the mountains on trips during the unbearable Florida summers, as well as ski pants and snow bibs for the Johnsons’ trips to places like Aspen, Alaska or Appalachia for ski trips or winter sightseeing.

One specific need that Mr. Johnson has based on his demographics, is that, since he is getting older, he’s looking for footwear and socks that have better arch support and cushioning for everyday use. In Columbia’s current product line, the technology being produced to best fit this need is the new Omni-Max cushioning system being deployed in all types of shoe, from the aforementioned boat shoes, to running shoes and even to boots for this upcoming winter. Omni-Max is purported to be “lighter, faster cushioning”, and additionally for someone like Mr. Johnson, who isn’t particularly interested in anything flashy, does so without adding additional bells and whistles to the shoes, unlike a product like Nike’s Airmax technology.

Another reason that Columbia has become a go-to brand for Mr. Johnson is, since he is now retired he has to be more careful with his money; and while brands like Patagonia, Arc’teryx, Carhartt and Cotopaxi offer products that are in some ways superior to Columbia’s, whether that be in form or in function, they lack the affordability of Columbia and its affiliate brands, as they have outlet stores all around both his home in Florida and the Appalachia region he and his wife vacation to each year, something that cannot be said for many other outdoor brands.

Stephanie Charles

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Occupation: Student and Barista

Education: Attending College

Annual Income: <50K

Relationship: Single

Location: Chicago Illinois

Stephanie is a new Columbia customer who figured that, despite the fact that she is highly occupied between her classes and her job, that she needed to spend more time outdoors. She saw Columbia’s viral marketing strategy that shows off their product in funny, bite-sized pieces of content and decided to explore their ecommerce website. As she browsed, not only did she find the outdoor clothes she was looking for, but to her surprise she also stumbled across some leisurewear that was not plastered with the brand’s logo and was sort of respectfully stylish. She also found herself looking in the footwear section of the website and decided to purchase a pair of sneakers with non-marking, non-slip and cushioned soles for her job at a coffee shop, where spilled liquids and slip hazards, as well as long days on her feet are not uncommon. Not only did Stephanie find a fair amount more than she expected, she also was given 10% off for being a student, as well as an additional 10% off for signing up for the email newsletter/loyalty program, which, even though e-newsletters are viewed by most young people as something of a nuisance, legitimately interested Stephanie due to her lack of prior knowledge about the brand’s offerings and interest in what they may have coming out.

One possible hurdle to Stephanie’s desire to be outside more is her location, as despite the fact that Chicago has many beautiful green spaces, it is also often cold and rainy due to its midwestern climate, so Ms. Charles is in need of a windbreaker that also doubles as a light raincoat. Columbia offers a few different options for waterproofing, such as Omni-Shield for barebones, cost effective, water-resistant fabric that is suitable for anything short of a full downpour, OutDry, fully waterproof, seam-sealed and lightweight, and Omni-Tech, Columbia’s answer to Gore-Tex; heavier, tear-resistant and fully waterproof as well. Due to Stephanie’s financial situation and own personal perceived needs in her windbreaker/jacket, she opts for an Omni-Shield windbreaker, something relatively inexpensive that will keep her mostly dry and block the wind, while being light enough to be carried around in her car or purse without hamstringing her.

One unique factor that Stephanie has in mind when purchasing her clothes is their perception by others, as Stephanie is a highly social person who likes to dress to impress. While Columbia isn’t exactly a boutique or designer brand, even in the outdoor-wear space specifically, it does have something of a recent history of being a go-to for celebrities; as names like Jennifer Garner, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kristen Bell have been spotted wearing Columbia coats walking through New York winters. Additionally, Zac Efron, Luke Combs and the viral YouTube creators Dude Perfect have been brand ambassadors and have even designed collections for the brand in the past, which helps Stephanie to not feel “uncool” or ashamed for wearing a brand that may not be as popular as Nike, Adidas or New Balance,

STEPPS Analysis:

STEPPS is a framework created by Jonah Berger for analyzing six aspects of a marketing strategy, being social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories respectively. While there are many ways of looking at a company’s marketing strategy, STEPPS is unique in that it focuses on the things that a company can use in its content specifically to onboard a customer, and the following is a STEPPS analysis of Columbia Sportswear.

Social Currency:

Columbia’s digital marketing strategy seems to falter somewhat in terms of social currency, as, even though they routinely collaborate with influencers in the outdoorsy/hiking space, these are still relatively niche creators in terms of the wider digital space. One recommendation is that they make a concerted effort to collaborate with more generally popular influencers, possibly even ones that make really different content, to showcase their messaging that outdoors is for everyone. One example could be taking a makeup influencer, often the most popular, trending, or, importantly, trusted for their recommendations on products, and decking them out in Columbia gear before sending them out on an outdoor adventure before allowing them to give their honest feedback on their experience. This not only speaks to one of the company’s key objectives in making the outdoors accessible, but also provides a completely unreached base of customers with a trusted, though financially backed, source to get them interested in their product.

Triggers:

Columbia uses a lot of triggers to do with outdoor terrain, mountain scenery, etc; which makes sense as that is first and foremost what they want to market towards, at least in the current season. It stands to reason that in the summer they would more so push the PFG line of products in their shortform social media content, but they also engage in a common strategy; pruning their posts online to only what is particularly relevant currently, to give off the impression that they are an ever-changing presence online, it gives a degree of urgency to their posts in order to push their product.

Emotion:

The main emotion that the Columbia social media focuses on is wanderlust; as a lot of their content is geared towards inspiring people to get out and experience nature; with their product being simply a symptom of someone reconnecting with the outdoors. The comedic elements of their posts obviously are trying to create joy and happiness and what not but according to the logic Jonah Berger laid out in his talk, the emotion that keeps someone hanging on to a product should be less general than just happiness, which is why it seems the focus is put upon appealing emotionally to people who feel cooped up at home and want to be outside.

Public:

Content creation wise, Columbia falls slightly short in branding their content with their logo; however it seems as though this is intentional as they try to disguise their marketing content as regular posts on social media, which makes sense. Additionally, the majority of Columbia’s products and especially the ones that are featured in the shortform content they post online are clearly branded with either their text logo or just the square logo. One recommendation is to either open or close their content with the logo fading onto the screen, to sort of anchor the things they post as being theirs. A more radical recommendation is to completely rebrand their image, as despite their long history of success, Columbia’s logos are not as immediately recognizable as others within the clothing industry.

Practical Value:

Practical value is where the Columbia product line shines, as the various technologies it encompasses are extremely click-worthy; for example, if someone truly thought that Columbia’s newest Omni-Max shoe cushioning system was revolutionarily comfortable, they would logically share it around to their friends because that’s something that’s a net positive. Or, if a group of people was wanting to start a hiking club and one of the members of the group was in love with their Omni-Shield light rain and windbreaker, it would probably get recommended and passed around the group. Practical value is somewhere that a clothing brand should easily be able to put across and take advantage of in their marketing strategy, as everyone needs clothes and the way that they stand out is what’s gonna attract customers.

Stories:

Similarly to the social currency aspect, Columbia uses influencer marketing in having brand ambassadors give their testimonies and user experiences of various Columbia products, a lot of the time it isn’t even given to them for free to review (which could be biased/partially untrue since that comes from their posts), they just wanted to show a product off to their audience. Stories are another elements of STEPPS that a clothing brand is easily able to capitalize on as people have a tremendous amount of brand loyalty to a company that makes stuff they enjoy and that suit their needs, and oftentimes these people will put their experiences with the product out into the world completely for free and unprompted by a company, which also allows for the content that is paid advertising to blend in and feel less forced and more relatable.

Competitive Analysis:

Company:

Size (Stores):

Over 170

~280 Between Saloman and Arc’Teryx

Over 100

Around 40

Size (Employees):

Around 10,000

Around 6,000 Combined

Around 3,000

Around 5,000

Revenue:

$3.37 Billion USD

$5.18 Billion USD

$1.47 Billion USD

$3.67 Billion USD

Instagram:

676K

3.2M Combined

5.4M

5.5M

Facebook:

2.7M

2M Combined

1.9M

6.7M

Products:

Hiking clothes and shoes, Fishing clothes and Shoes, Snow and Ski Clothes and Shoes, Athleisure wear, Everyday fashion, Winter Clothing, accessories for camping, hiking, winter sports

High-End Winter gear, running/hiking/trail-running shoes, some leisure wear, some collaborations with other brands

Very limited amount of footwear, athleisure wear, camping equipment, winter clothing, everyday outwear

Very limited amount of footwear, athleisure wear, camping equipment, winter clothing, everyday outwear

Email Marketing

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Loyalty Program

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Celebrity Endorsement or Collaboration

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Analysis:

In my research, the most surprising thing to me was the information on Patagonia, as, other than perhaps The North Face, it is the most culturally relevant and almost ubiquitous in some circles of the four brands of interest. Not only does Patagonia have the least employees, but shockingly the least revenue as well, although it is certainly possible that this is due to it being the least segmented of the four companies, not having any radically different business segments.

As far as Columbia is concerned, the most glaring weakness in comparison to its competitors is clearly Instagram followers, which, taking into account the fact that Columbia has a bit of a reputation for being an old person’s brand, is not ideal. One benefit that Columbia has though is the higher product diversity of their offerings, as being known as a “one-stop shop” when it comes to ecommerce is quite an opportunity, and one that, at present, the other companies in the space will not always have.

Social Media Analysis:

Social Post #1: This post shows a Columbia brand ambassador, Robert Irwin, posed up in a very obscurely-logoed Columbia button up. This post is playing hard into the Social Currency element of STEPPS, as Robert and his partner won Dancing With The Stars a couple of weeks ago, which caused a massive stir online. It is extremely savvy influencer marketing to emphasize Robert’s connection to the brand at a time where his star is bigger than ever. It is also possible that seeing Robert Irwin wearing Columbia creates a trigger in a prospective customer’s mind, as he is all over the place in the zeitgeist right now, especially among younger people, a demographic that Columbia’s posts on social media very clearly aim themselves towards, and if those people think of the brand when they see Robert, it could very well lead to a bump in their interest in the product. Some areas where this post falls short though is in placing the actual product; you can barely make out the Columbia logo above one of the shirt pockets, but influencer marketing is somewhat meaningless if it gives off the impression that the influencer in question only wears/cares about the product when they are being paid to. In the same vein, this post does nothing to play into the practical value of the product line, which based on its function-first design is a strength that it seems natural to play into. Obviously Robert is covered in mud, but including a blurb about how it will wash right off or better yet showing it, would go a long way to show the aforementioned young people brought in by seeing someone they recognize that there is value to the product beyond someone famous wearing it.

Social Post #2: This post is a photoshoot at a mountain range of models doing some light hiking decked out in Columbia gear. This post is heavily focused on practical value, as the consumer is able to see the product in its natural setting. Obviously this photo is staged, however it does subliminally get the comfort and breathability of the product across to the audience by not showing the model drenched in sweat or clearly struggling to hike up the grade. It showcases the product and what it does without being too in your face about it, while not feeling too much like an ad, which is a trait that some consumers look for in advertisements. Some weaknesses here continue to be the lack of focus on the company’s logos on the product, as when looking at the online store or the product in person, a clear focus is made on the branding, however in the Instagram posts, you would have to zoom in to get a clear look at it, which, especially on a mobile device, is far too much to ask of someone who may have seen this post on the explore page. Obviously they can see that the post is from Columbia Sportswear, but as a company marketing on social media, you have precious seconds to get the point of your ad across as someone is scrolling mindlessly, if you are not capitalizing on that time by putting your logo or company name somewhere in what your audience is seeing, you are wasting those seconds.

Social Post #3: This post is another staged photo that again shows the product in its natural element, though this time in an extreme way. One thing this post does extremely well is that it is unbelievably eye catching, from the stark white of the snow to the scale of what is happening in the photo, it almost evokes the extreme sports videos that the Red Bull accounts are always posting in the way that you almost have to look for a second and see what is going on. When you take that extra second here, you see the true subject of the photo with the puffer coat-clad warrior consenting to all that snow being dumped on them. In what is becoming somewhat of a theme, while this post is amazingly eye-catching, and showcases at least in a zoomed-out sense what the product does, it is not nearly branded enough, as while there is a Columbia logo on the jacket, it is mere pixels wide, and especially on a cell phone where most people are using Instagram, that may as well be invisible. Yes, it is a cool, extreme photo, but it falls short of selling the audience on buying anything Columbia because unless they bother to notice who posted the picture, a big ask for someone aimlessly scrolling, they have no idea that it is from Columbia at all.

Possible Post #1: This post features an AI-Generated image (only the image was made by AI and is properly credited) of a man wearing Columbia ski gear who has been stuck in a snowslide. The caption fixes an issue found in the real ads as unlike them, it features a clear call to action to buy the product, as well as a secondary incentive to visit the website and sign up for the loyalty program. It also features the company logo somewhat prominently without beating the audience over the head with it. As far as STEPPS goes, this ad puts a focus on practical value, showing that the clothes and goggles are fine despite going through an avalanche, emotion, as it is supposed to be a funny situation and caption while also having an air of danger to it, and public, with the logo being clearly visible on both the ski goggles and in the corner of the post. If there was a real person in this situation in the advertisement it would also be an example of using stories, as while it is one thing to show a fake situation in which the gear survived something wild happening, for the audience to see the real proof of that would be one step further to legitimizing the product and creating an interest to try it for themselves.

Possible Post #2: This post also features an AI-Generated image (again, only the photo is AI, the caption, logo and further graphic design are my own work), but this time trying to sell the audience on the Performance Fishing Gear line with an absurdly large fish being hooked by a fisherman. In actuality, Columbia really is trying to move a lot of the more summer-focused fishing clothes and accessories on clearance now that it is firmly winter, so continuing to put a focus on it as people are doing their holiday shopping only seems to make sense. This post again appeals to Public within the STEPPS framework by putting an emphasis on the logo, but again makes an emotional appeal with the comedic caption and gigantic fish. This ad also features a strong call to action to go shop on the website, as well as even more incentive to drive traffic from the Instagram page to the site with a unique promo code, another tactic more social media-savvy brands than Columbia tend to put into practice

This post is an attempt to be slightly less overt with logos and marketing while still putting a focus on the product. The vision board/checklist subliminal advertisement is something that many companies put into practice, especially around the holiday season when people are looking for gift ideas. On their website, Columbia does put out a gift guide, however what this post does uniquely is tie the wants and needs of the customer into the product line without any heavy-handed explanation by placing the technology symbols that are found on the items themselves and on the website listings with the pictures of the items, and using the captions as a short blurb about what they do, creating the association that omni-heat=warm, and omni-tech=dry. The hot chocolate also serves to trick someone into not immediately recognizing that it is sponsored content in order to build more trust in the post’s legitimacy. As far as STEPPS is concerned, this post is all about practical value, as it capitalizes on the limited time and space that social media posts have to make their mark in order to tell exactly what the products do. There is also something of an emotional appeal, tying in the wants/needs of the customer during a cold winter with products that Columbia makes, as well as using the hot chocolate and the snowflake background to bring in good feelings associated with the winter time, along with the little blurbs attached to the products having an element of relatability to them as far as the language goes.

Email Marketing Strategy:

Columbia’s emails tend to be a weekly newsletter, although there are exceptions to this as obviously you receive confirmation emails when you purchase things, notifications that you have earned points in the loyalty program, and occasional coupons, that shows off the same things seen on the front page of the online store. Typically, the email takes a more concise form, with a subheading like “Up to 40% Off of Winter Coats When You Shop Online!” with a “Start Shopping” button that is hyperlinked to a section on the website, rather than showing an individual showcased item and its price, in order to encourage the customer to further familiarize themselves with the product line as a whole. The “Start Shopping” button is an absolutely indispensable tool in giving a call to action, as not only does it tell the customer exactly what to do, it also takes them immediately to the site if they choose to click on it, which takes even more effort and steps out of the way for them to make a purchase. On a negative note, there is a pretty sizable disconnect between Columbia’s email marketing and their social media presence, with the social media side seemingly being more focused on brand awareness than people making purchases, while the email newsletter is the exact opposite. There is certainly room for improvement with the synergy there, and in the mock email that is exactly where the biggest changes were made.

In order to add some emphasis to the social media marketing within the email marketing, not only are the images from the Instagram posts used as a point of focus with the preexisting sale notifications and links to the website, a link to the Instagram is included as well with an offer for 10% off any purchase for customers who follow Columbia there. The purpose of this discount is twofold, with it both attempting to make the brand more present in the mind of a customer by allowing them to have posts from Columbia on their feed, but also it hopefully serves to increase the company’s Instagram presence and following, which, as mentioned earlier in this report, lags significantly behind its competitors. Additionally, the same comical caption style seen within both the actual and the mockup Instagram posts shown earlier in this report is carried over into the email header, and an emphasis is again placed on discounts as price is one area in which Columbia outshines its competitors nearly every time, as their manufacturing far outstrips Patagonia or Arc’Teryx, and is at the very least comparable to The North Face, and they can therefore offer better deals, especially on a previous year’s product that functionally is not anything particularly different from the current offerings.

Landing Page Checklist:

The landing page of the first Columbia Sportswear-related result brings the user to the front page of their ecommerce site. Given the fact that a sizable portion of their total sales take place online, this makes sense, however it does mean that their performance when held to the checklist is somewhat unique. On the page, the first two-thirds or so are dedicated to advertisements for Columbia’s current product lines and advertising focuses, which at the time of writing is winter gear for the former and appealing to Christmas/holiday shoppers for the latter. Of the final third of the landing page, half of the space is given to the promotion of Columbia’s rewards program and the perks you get for signing up for it, as well as the e-mail newsletter, and a short blurb about the company’s long history, and the final sixth of the total landing page area goes to the typical boilerplate navigational links to customer service and “about us” links, as well as the website’s terms of service and trademark information.

1. Does your headline say what the page is about and relate to your PPC ad?

No, The headline: “GIFTS TOO GOOD TO STAY WRAPPED”, does not say what the page is about, although having seen PPC ads for Columbia, it does mirror the imagery and call to action in order to persuade people to do their holiday shopping

2. Does your sub-headline further refine your message?

Sort of, The subheadline: “The holidays are here. Get gear for epic adventures and misadventures.”, does not exactly refine the message put forth in the headline, however it does clarify the call to action that is suggested at in the hook-style headline

3. Is your landing page focused on a single purpose and persona?

Yes, The LP is focused on the singular purpose of selling Columbia products, however there are a number of different smaller panels featuring advertisements for a diverse range of products that seem to appeal to the broad spectrum of the buyer personas Columbia looks to capture.

4. Could someone understand the message in 5–10 seconds?

Yes, The message on the LP, put simply, “buy Columbia stuff” could be understood by any buyer immediately, and generally speaking is more than likely mirroring their purpose for coming to the page.

5. Does the visitor understand what they will get in exchange for contacting you?

Yes, All throughout the landing page there are notices of the benefits you get for giving your email address for the loyalty program, such as free shipping and points for shopping

6. Does the copy focus on benefits rather than features?

Yes, even when the landing page pushes technologies or features of the product being sold, it is always framed as what it does for the customer rather than anything aesthetic. For example, at the moment one blurb says “Our best ski and snow gear for wipeouts, whiteouts, and staying warm when the mountain wants you gone.” where there is a very clear framing on the “you” being the customer reading it.

7. Are you using a unique image that tells the story (no generic stock photos)?

Yes, the very first image is the full shoot from the Instagram post shown earlier with the snowplow that blasts snow all over the man in the puffy jacket, which is certainly unique, but even the other glamour shots of the products are very diverse, well-staged and clearly show the actual Columbia products.

8. Do you have an obvious call-to-action?

Yes, the first two elements underneath the main image box are both calls to action, to either “Shop Omni-Heat Infinity” or “Watch the Video”, and throughout the page are similar links to other pages within the site that are labeled “Shop X, Y, or Z new product”

9. Does your landing page look professional?

Certainly, the layout is standard, the images are well shot and perfectly feature products, there are no broken links or elements even when using an adblocker, and the LP is equally accessible on mobile devices as well.

10. Is your opt-in form visible without having to scroll down the page?

No, the email sign-up is within the last third of the page in most of the layouts that have been posted over the course of writing this report, however it seems this is a reflection of the internal mindset that getting someone’s email is less important than them buying things, and in fairness, the checkout section of the website, once someone is already looking to make a purchase, is no less than half taken up by enticements for the membership program and email list.

11. Did you eliminate extraneous navigation from the page?

For the most part, yes, some of the elements on the landing page are mirrored within the dropdown menus at the top, but giving the customer a place to start without them having to dig through those menus for what they are looking for has merit as well.

12. Are you asking for the minimum amount of contact details?

No, to sign up you have to give your first and last name, email and zip code; which is unnecessary because if the customer does end up buying something, the main goal of ecommerce, they are going to have to give their name and billing address to verify their debit/credit card.

13. Is there continuity between your landing page and your advertising messages?

Yes, the same advertising campaigns that Columbia’s PPC advertising is using at the moment are mirrored and expanded upon in the elements and fields on the landing page.

14. Do you have a privacy policy link or statement near the submit button?

Yes, it is close enough to the submit button to not seem misleadingly placed

15. Is your submit button more interesting than just “submit”?

Yes, the main submit button is labeled “Join for Free” which puts an important emphasis that the rewards program is not a credit card or a paid service, just a set of benefits you get for shopping and sharing your information with Columbia

16. Is your landing page as focused as your elevator speech?

No, the landing page itself does not exactly say anything, it is more of an implied pitch to buy the product, while obviously an elevator speech is more direct

17. Did you articulate the value of your giveaway item (whitepaper, discount, etc.)?

Yes, the biggest giveaway being pushed is this free shipping you get for signing up, and while this value is not fully apparent until you get to the checkout page and are shown how much it would have been otherwise, unlike other sites it does not have a maximum on it which is more of a comparative statement of value.

18. Did you use trust icons and testimonials where appropriate?

Not on the landing page, though they are shown elsewhere.

19. Did you offer multiple contact options (phone, email form, live chat, etc.)?

Yes, there is an AI assistant box at the bottom right that follows the user’s scrolling as well as a phone and email contact in the lower section of the page.

20. Did you use light boxes (pop-outs) to offer additional information without the visitor having to leave the page?

Yes, across the top of the page there are multi-level light boxes that can get extremely specific in order to show the user that the website will have everything they may be looking for, and allow them to specialize their search while remaining on the LP and being shown a product they may not know exists just yet.

21. Are you using your thank you page to present a secondary offer to the visitor?

Yes, the expedited holiday shipping is shown on the thank you page, though it is not included in the free shipping members get.

22. Is your offer time-sensitive enough to create urgency?

Yes, there is an offer for expedited holiday shipping if you order by a certain date depending on what it is you buy.

23. Are you creating separate landing pages to segment your leads (PPC, display advertising, email, print, etc.)?

Yes and no, some of the PPC ads and emails direct you to the specific department or type of item they were advertising rather than the main website’s landing page, but those sites are still accessible through the main landing page as well.

24. Have you designed your page as a template so that you can repurpose the page in the future?

Yes, just throughout the writing of this report, the tiles on the landing page have changed no less than three times while continuing to follow the same format.

25. If you have a multi-step process, have you been clear about how long it will take to complete (for example, “take our two-question survey”)?

No, there is not a section that emphasizes the quickness of giving your information although there are a lot of blurbs about it being free instead.

Recommendations:

One major recommendation that Columbia would be suited to take heed of is to better integrate their social media into their ecommerce page. Their competitors, such as Arc’Teryx, North Face, Carhartt, and Patagonia are all considerably more popular on Instagram, and definitely have a larger place in the cultural zeitgeist, especially among younger people. Now, that is a bit of a chicken and egg situation as it is equally possible that they are more popular because of their big social media presence as it is that they have a bigger social media presence because they are more popular, however in either case, Columbia lags behind. As mentioned before, the easiest, most ready to implement solution is to offer something to people who follow the Instagram at the checkout, whether that be more discounts, questionable due to the fact that some items are absolutely being sold at loss as is, free items, or extra points for the loyalty program, something absolutely has to be done in order to grow their following. It would be easy to say something more general like “post more” or “make better content” but truly neither of these seem to be problems, their content is incredibly regular and hugely high effort most of the time. Here is a quick mockup of what could be given at checkout to try to push customers to follow the Instagram.