Email Marketing Benchmarks For Outdoor Adventure & Sports Publications

Purpose of This Research

To identify the top performing email marketing strategies and metrics of Outdoor Adventure & Sports Publications:

• ‍Benchmark against competitors’ email marketing metrics
• Identify top performing competitors
• Analyze top performing creatives and isolate actionable tactics

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Competitors Analyzed

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Key Takeaways

Insights

Newsletter

Email & Newsletter sign-up pages are crucial as they serve as the first touchpoint for potential subscribers, setting the tone for their interaction with your brand.

National Geographic and Outside Magazine had more interactive sign-up options, while Patagonia and The Athletic are more straightforward, simply requiring an email to subscribe to the newsletter.  World Surf League’s newsletter sign-up was difficult to find nor mentioned. 

• Recommendations
  (i) Create an inviting sign-up page with attractive visuals.
  (ii) Offer a variety of newsletters tailored to different interests, each with clear descriptions.
  (iii) Let subscribers choose which emails they want to opt into.
  (iv) Ensure the form is simple and quick to fill out, with minimal required fields.

Content

National Geographic was the most active with their emails which were segmented into different newsletters. Whereas, Outside Magazine increased their cadence by 251% only to erode trust with their viewers as 47% of their email was flagged for spam.

Patagonia actively shares about their environmental activism goals through stories, films, and blogs at the end of their emails, Additionally, they have the lowest monthly email cadence at 12.2 emails.

During important events or live broadcasts, World Surf League sends out daily emails to keep their audience informed.

• Recommendations
  (i) Allowing readers to select which types of emails they receive enables your brand to better segment its own audience list and demographics.
  (ii) Email cadence is heavily dependent on your content, niche, and seasonality.
  (iii) Send emails with a purpose, have clearly defined content categories. 
  (iii) Experiment with both long-form and short-form copy. Readers are more likely to engage with your content if key information is shared within the email instead of forcing viewers out of their inbox. 

Design

Patagonia’s thoughtful design elements make their emails feel less cluttered despite having many sections. The World Surf League’s emails are to the point, not soliciting more than they claim.

The Athletic, National Geographic, and Outside Magazine pack a lot into their emails, filled with linked articles, other suggestions, and promotional upsells.

• Recommendations
  (i) Adopt minimalist design principles in emails, using high-quality visuals and ample white space to avoid overwhelming readers.
  (ii) Keep text short, concise, and relevant. Use affirmative actions beyond "read more" to drive engagement.
  (iii) Limit call-to-action options to avoid overwhelming readers.

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Key Metrics Summary

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The Athletic (+46%) and National Geographic (+13%) saw the highest email traffic growth, on average, YoY

The New York Times acquired The Athletic in January 2022.  

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The Athletic's email traffic averaged 1.42% of their total traffic with 435K monthly visits, compared to 31.5M monthly visits overall.

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National Geographic's email traffic averaged 1.29% of their total traffic with 157K monthly visits, compared to 12.4M monthly visits overall.

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Patagonia’s email traffic averaged 0.80% of their total traffic with 57K monthly visits, compared to 7.2M monthly visits overall.

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Outside Magazine’s email traffic averaged 0.37% of their total traffic with 22K monthly visits from emails, compared to 6.1M monthly visits overall.

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World Surf League’s email traffic averaged 0.24% of their total traffic with 4.8K monthly visits from emails, compared to 1.7M monthly visits overall.

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National Geographic was the most active with their email newsletters and campaigns amongst the competitive set.

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National Geographic sent an average of 49 emails per month, a +0.6% increase from the previous period.

The most popular send date is Monday and Saturday.

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Outside Magazine sent an average of 34.6 emails per month, a +251% increase from the previous period. Despite the increase, many of the brand’s email was flagged as spam.

The most popular send date is Friday.

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The Athletic sent an average of 27.6 emails per month, a -9.1% decrease from the previous period.

The most popular send date is Wednesday and Thursday.

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World Surf League sent an average of 22.2 emails per month, a -2.9% decrease from the previous period.

The most popular send date is Wednesday.

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Patagonia sent an average of 12.2 emails per month, a +16% increase from the previous period.

The most popular send date is Friday.

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Effective newsletter tactics for sign-ups from National Geographic:

• Offer a variety of newsletters tailored to different interests (e.g., science, nature, photography).
• Provide concise descriptions of each newsletter so subscribers know exactly what to expect.
• Use attractive visuals and a clean layout to make the sign-up page inviting.
• Ensure the sign-up form is simple and quick to fill out, with minimal required fields.

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Effective newsletter tactics for sign-ups from Outside Interactive: 

• Clearly outline frequency of emails subscribers can expect (e.g., weekly updates, monthly newsletters, special promotions).
• Offer options for different types of content. For example, Velo might have newsletters focused on road cycling, mountain biking, and gear reviews.
• Let readers opt-in to their choices during sign-ups. Use this information for email segmentation versus segmenting based on newsletter activity.

*Climbing and Velo are publications part of Outside Interactive, Inc.

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Email Content Themes by Category

 May 2023 - April 2024

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Educational

Use intriguing and curiosity-evoking questions or statements in the subject line to capture the attention of the readers.

National Geographic aims to pique the interest of readers and encourages them to explore the content within the emails.

Content Tactics

• ‍Use eye-catching visuals related to the topic to engage readers.
• ‍Provide key information in an easy to consume format.
• ‍Share many different topics with an easily digestible summary.
• Use affirmative call-to-action buttons related to the content such as “get the instructions” or “get the tips”.

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Mission Driven

Share a bold mission statement that resonates with your audience. 

Personalize your outreaches into letters that inspire readers to engage with and support your mission.

Content Tactics

• ‍Utilize dates in your email subject line to showcase relevance to the viewer.
• ‍Share compelling narratives about your conservation efforts, scientific research, or impactful projects.
• ‍Emphasize urgency by highlighting the critical need for financial support to continue vital work.

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Email Content Themes by Category

 May 2023 - April 2024

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Spam

Excessive emailing deteriorates the trust of your subscribers.

Outdoor Magazine cross-promotes their other newsletters without opt-in. This is a poor email strategy as subscriber’s inboxes are suddenly flooded with irrelevant content.

Content Mishaps

• ‍47% of Outdoor’s email was flagged for spam. Outside embeds display ads directly into their emails with a programmatic ad manager. 
• The introduction of ads can devalue the design and content of your newsletters. Outdoor Magazine’s email content is quite lackluster as they are actively promoting readers to sign-up to their paid subscription.  

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Email Content Themes by Category

 May 2023 - April 2024

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Editorials & Opinions

Create a friction-less experience for readers to engage with your content. 

The Athletic updates its readers with to-the-point information related to sports: scores, wins & losses, injuries, and major announcements. 

Content Tactics

• ‍Share your content directly in the email instead of forcing readers to leave their inboxes. 
• ‍Position yourself as a key opinion leader. The Athletic uses an expert-level tone of voice to provide their readers with commentaries and opinions. 

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Email Content Themes by Category

 May 2023 - April 2024

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Informative

Content Tactics

• ‍Try short-form emails to direct readers to your website. World Surf League’s emails are the shortest when compared to the long-form emails from the competitive set. 
• ‍Leverage different media channels to further engage your readers. WSL promotes its podcast “The Lineup” and mobile app offering a different medium for their subscribers to consume content.  

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Event Broadcast

Send regular updates to promote upcoming or ongoing events to keep your audience informed.

World Surf League sends out daily email reminders when an important event is live. 

Content Tactics

• Keep the message short, promote the main call-to-action - in this case, watching the live event - stands out.
• ‍Prompt immediate engagement for the event with on-brand phrases like “get caught-up” or “tune in”.

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Email Content Themes by Category

 May 2023 - April 2024

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Product

Adopt a minimalist design in emails by using ample white space, concise text, and a simple layout. 

Patagonia lets its visuals do most of the "talking" in their emails with minimal text to convey messages. 

Content Tactics

• Use stunning visuals that resonate with your target audience.
• Maintain a clean layout and uncluttered design to enhance readability.
• ‍Diversify your content with a mix of promotional content, product features, and brand stories.

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Noteworthy

Use storytelling to connect with readers.

Patagonia frequently features original stories and community events at the end of their emails, pivoting away from the main content.

Content Tactics

• Share authentic narratives to reinforce your brand's values by providing compelling, relatable content beyond just products and promotions.
• ‍Use other content formats that cater to different audience preferences, making the emails more dynamic and interactive. Patagonia produces short stories, blog posts, and films.

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Activism Awareness

Empower subscribers to feel part of a bigger movement. 

Patagonia inspires their audience to larger missions related to environmental causes by encouraging active participation and support from their subscribers.

‍Content Tactics

• ‍Build relationships with your subscribers with blog posts and stories.
• ‍Frequently update your supporters on important issues. About 10% of Patagonia’s emails are related to environmental activism.
• Patagonia maintains consistency in their communication by integrating their environmental activism into their email campaigns and social media platforms.