How to Use Video Content to Actually Grow Your Outdoor Brand
Most outdoor brands know they should be creating video content. It’s what your competitors are doing. It’s what your audience shares and it’s probably the thing your marketing team keeps flagging as “something we need to do more of.”
But here’s the truth:
Beautiful video doesn’t automatically equal results.
You’ve seen it. The five-minute mini-doc that gets 243 views on YouTube. The perfectly color-graded brand film that lives on the website but never gets pushed anywhere. The glossy product launch that eats up half the marketing budget and then fizzles within two weeks.
As a branded documentary and commercial director that works with both global outdoor brands and emerging startups, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. The difference isn’t always the camera, or the budget, or even the talent. The difference is strategy.
Good strategy means the video has a purpose. It’s built to do something like drive brand awareness, push a product, build trust, grow community, or move people toward action.
When good strategy drives production, your content becomes an asset for your company, not just a deliverable.
In this article, I’m going to break down how outdoor brands can use video content not just to look good but to grow. These are the questions I ask my clients before we ever touch a camera and they’re what separate scroll-past content from work that sticks around, gets shared, and drives results.
1. Know What Stage of the Funnel You’re Targeting
The biggest mistake I see is that brands are making video without knowing why they’re making it. No goal, no target audience, no clarity on where it fits in the funnel.
Every video should serve a purpose. Not just creatively, but strategically. Here’s how to think about video through a funnel lens:
➤ Top of Funnel: Awareness
These are your big, emotional, story-first films. Branded documentaries, founder stories, mission-driven athlete profiles. You’re not trying to sell anything directly—you’re building belief.
Best platforms: YouTube, Instagram, film festivals, editorial partnerships, homepage hero slots
What to aim for:
Emotional resonance
Shareability
Brand values alignment
Broad reach and visibility
Example: We worked with an outdoor brand to create a 4-minute film following a trail runner organizing community runs on Native land. The brand was barely mentioned but the emotion and values built deep trust with new audiences.
➤ Middle of Funnel: Consideration
Now people know who you are but they want to know what you do. These videos showcase product benefits, athlete testimonials, behind-the-scenes looks at your gear, or explainer-style content that clarifies your value.
Best platforms: Website product pages, email sequences, paid retargeting ads, in-store displays
What to aim for:
Clear value propositions
Authenticity
Comparison-ready content
Education and credibility
Example: A technical apparel brand we filmed with created a 90-second BTS showing how their gear held up on a multi-day ski tour. No hard sell, just real athletes in real conditions.
➤ Bottom of Funnel: Conversion & Loyalty
These are your lean-in pieces. Social cutdowns, paid ads, influencer reels, or high-urgency promos. You’re speaking to a warm audience - the people who’ve been watching, clicking, and considering.
Best platforms: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, email CTAs
What to aim for:
Quick, compelling hooks
Brand/product recall
Clear CTAs
Retention and community building
2. Start With Story But Map It to Results
Yes, video is about storytelling. But if the story doesn’t serve the business, it’s just expensive art.
When we start planning a project, I always ask:
“What do you want someone to do after watching this?”
That single question reframes everything.
Let’s say you want more people to sign up for your seasonal trail series. Great. That means we’re building toward a CTA—showing community, connection, behind-the-scenes joy, and maybe even subtle FOMO.
Or maybe you’re launching a new product and want to stand out in a crowded field. That changes the strategy: we’ll build story arcs that tie into the gear’s origin, its unique use case, or the real people who tested it.
Storytelling isn’t just about emotion, it’s about direction. Where is this video supposed to take your audience?
The best outdoor content doesn’t just inspire. It inspires action.
3. Plan Content Ecosystems, Not One-Off Videos
This one’s big.
You don’t just need “a video.” You need a video strategy with a plan that turns one shoot into an ecosystem of content that lives across platforms, touches multiple audiences, and stretches your marketing dollars.
Here’s how we usually build it:
📽️ Hero Film (60–180 sec)
This is the crown jewel. Story-driven, visually rich, music-forward, and emotional. Perfect for YouTube, your homepage, and long-form engagement.
📱 Social Cutdowns (15–30 sec)
Quick hits for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts. They might feature a hooky soundbite, fast visuals, or one compelling micro-moment from the full film.
🎞️ Behind-the-Scenes Clips
Candid moments, bloopers, setup shots—great for Instagram Stories, reels, or community engagement.
📧 Newsletter Loops or GIFs
Short, silent clips that loop visually that are great for product drops or email campaigns without needing new footage.
📸 Frame Grabs for Static Content
Still images pulled from video, formatted for web banners, print, or paid social.
This multi-use strategy doesn’t just save you money, it makes sure your message is consistent, cohesive, and memorable across every touchpoint.
4. Repurpose Footage to Increase ROI
Here’s a not-so-secret truth in content marketing: most brands underutilize their footage.
They hire a crew, shoot for two days, post a single hero video, and… that’s it. The footage disappears into hard drives and doesn’t see daylight again.
Meanwhile, smart brands are stretching every second of footage into a library of assets that feed their channels for months.
From a single shoot, we often create:
A long-form branded doc
Multiple Reels/Shorts with different emotional hooks
A short looping video for retail displays
A series of product cut-ins for newsletters
Frame grabs for lookbooks or website banners
A BTS story highlighting the shoot day for community posts
Subtitled versions for international or accessibility-friendly content
All of that can come from the same camera roll—if you plan for it up front.
When you work with a Colorado production company that understands both the mountains and marketing strategy, you don’t just get a single video. You get an asset library built for scale, relevance, and ROI.
5. Use Video to Build Community - Not Just Hype
In the outdoor world, trust isn’t built by ads alone. It’s built by showing up consistently, telling honest stories, and creating content that makes your audience feel seen.
That’s where video shines not just as a campaign tool, but as a community builder.
Here are a few ways brands can use video to strengthen relationships:
🎙️ Athlete or Ambassador Spotlights
People care about people. Share the real stories of the humans behind your brand—why they run, climb, ski, or advocate. Go deeper than just performance.
🎒 “Day in the Life” Style Reels
Show your gear in the wild—but also show the messy, joyful, behind-the-scenes version. These are great for relatability, especially if your audience spans pros and weekend warriors.
🔁 Customer Testimonial Videos
Use video to elevate your biggest fans. Whether it’s someone completing a big trail race or an everyday user who loves your product, these clips are gold for both social proof and retention.
🎥 Behind-the-Scenes Culture Content
Introduce your team. Show how your product is made. Share your road trips. Your sourcing process. Your campfire vibes. If your brand stands for something bigger, invite people in.
In a saturated outdoor market, people don’t just want function—they want to feel like they’re part of something. Video is how you bridge that emotional gap.
Final Takeaways: Be Strategic or Be Forgotten
Video is one of the most powerful tools in your brand’s toolkit—but only if it’s used with intention.
So before you green-light another shoot, ask:
Who is this video for?
What do we want them to feel, believe, or do?
Where will it live—and how long will it be relevant?
What else can we create from the footage we already have?
Who can help us turn this vision into a full ecosystem?
When you approach video from a strategy-first mindset, it stops being a one-off spend and starts becoming a growth asset and something that drives connection, builds brand value, and generates ROI across the funnel.
If you’re tired of video partners who care more about specs than story, or who disappear after the shoot day ends, you’re not alone.
That’s exactly why I built my production company the way I did: rooted in the outdoors, driven by emotion, and backed by real strategy.
Looking for a Strategy-Led Colorado Video Production Company?
I’m Roo Smith, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and director based in Boulder, Colorado. I’ve worked with some of the most respected brands in the outdoor space to create videos that don’t just look good, they work.
My team and I specialize in:
Branded documentaries that build long-term trust
Social-first campaigns built for performance
Modular content ecosystems that stretch every shoot
Production that’s just as strong in the field as it is in the edit room
Whether you’re launching a product, telling your origin story, or building out your content strategy for the year, we’d love to help you create something that moves people and grows your brand.
Let’s Connect
Roo is an Emmy nominated commercial/documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has directed documentaries for Patagonia in California, produced films for Outside Magazine throughout Europe and Africa, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, photographed among indigenous communities in South America, and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.