The Internet Marketing Genius of REI

The Internet Marketing Genius of REI

From their website to their Facebook page, to their YouTube page and Twitter page, REI gets Internet marketing right by delivering content that is easily consumable and interesting to their audience. They don't advertise all of their social marketing efforts on their website for some reason, but they are involved elsewhere on the web, including Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Flickr.

They've gone regional with their Facebook accounts Twitter feeds, with accounts set up for regions all over America, including in the Puget Sound, the NYC Tri-state area, Los Angeles, Chicago, and many more, to give their local audiences a better sense of being connected specifically to their local REI stores.

As far as advertising is concerned, they do a great job of targeting their audience. I fit nicely in their box of customers, so I frequently see their ads pop up as I navigate my way through the Internet. They buy ads and placement on Google, but apparently not on Bing. 

REI has also extended their reach to mobile with several different apps to engage their customers expand their brand, including their REI Shopping App, REI Visa App, REI Snow Report App, and a mobile web app for any phone.

They have created a massive amount of content (more than 350 articles) that is directed at their audience and customers in their Expert Advice area of their website, complete with original video that accompanies many of the articles, which helps anyone interested learn about everything from rocker for skis to backpack fit adjusting.

REI has also created online projects led by their audience, namely their REI 1440 Project, which allows outdoor enthusiasts to upload their own picture of something they did in the outdoors to a certain minute of one day and browse all of the other pictures that others had uploaded. The project is still running, so it will be exciting to see what they do with it when all the minutes are full. The project allows people from all over the world to add their pictures, like them on Facebook, and share them with their friends, a great Internet marketing and branding effort.

For other insights into REI's Internet marketing efforts, please see a few of my past post on their Facebook page.