Taking Your Brand Into the Digital Future
Expanding your brand into the digital space is essential for the continued success of your business.
By Kel L. O’Brien
Branding is everywhere—from shooting ranges to hunting camps. It’s not just for marketers; it’s part of our everyday lives. Expanding your brand into the digital space is essential for growth, sustaining business, and ensuring longevity.
One of my first digital marketing experiences took me to a hunting lodge in Swainsboro, Georgia. Surrounded by pet care products, hunting gear, and branded apparel, I realized early on how brands permeate the shooting sports world. I was there to reimagine how digital tools could enhance our kennel care offerings. It became clear that even in the backcountry, branding thrives, and going digital was the next frontier.
The Foundation of Digital Presence
Even without a social media account, email list, or landing page, your brand likely already has a digital footprint. If you’re established, people are talking about you somewhere online—just maybe not where you're looking. Tools like Brandwatch, Meltwater, or Google Alerts can give you insight into those conversations. And if you haven’t already, it might be time to consider hiring or outsourcing a community manager.
A community manager—whether full-time, part-time, or freelance—curates discussions that can inspire marketing campaigns, product launches, and brand messaging. This role is not interchangeable with customer support or sales. A great community manager is passionate about listening, uncovering insights, and representing your brand authentically. They act like detectives, tapping into discussions and escalating key issues to relevant teams. Their work spans PR, communications, and brand strategy, helping to steer perception aligned with your mission. This role can also help surface testimonials or reviews that evolve into marketing content. Recognizing loyal customers for their authentic advocacy builds trust and extends reach.
Open conversations about your brand can be powerful. With the proper engagement, they foster brand affinity, create ambassadors, and clarify misunderstandings. Misconceptions—no matter how well-intentioned—can mislead potential customers. Clarifying a warranty, service policy, or unique customer experience might be the difference between gaining or losing a sale.
Trent March, marketing director at Riton Optics, says “Digital strategy is a crucial part of any larger marketing plan.
Equipping Your Brand for the Future (Without Breaking the Bank)
Conversations about your brand happen on Reddit, TikTok, review blogs, and niche forums. Even small mentions can have a significant impact. Monitoring these with tools or a community manager lets you respond, adapt, and optimize. It’s a low-cost, high-return strategy that boosts brand reputation and informs future strategy.
Platforms like Brandwatch, Mention, Sprout Social, and others analyze what people say—sentiment, keywords, volume—and convert that into actionable insights. You'll know why if a product launch gets positive buzz or mixed reviews. That information can inform customer service responses, product updates, or your next ad campaign. And great reviews? They become compelling social proof on your site, in ads, or in your next or future product rollout.
Strengthen Your Brand’s Digital Foundation
Beyond managing reputation, your brand also needs to grow its online base. That means assessing your presence across search engines, social platforms, and your website. Is your SEO strategy helping customers find you—or your competitors? Is your website optimized to grow your list, drive conversions, and capture returning visitors?
Ask yourself the following three questions: Is our website supporting our growth goals? Are we leveraging backlinks and referrals? Are we capturing returning visitors with personalized content? If these questions don’t have clear answers, it’s time to regroup. Use them as a team exercise to kick off a deeper conversation about where your brand stands—and where it can go.
Bringing in an SEO expert or auditing your current strategy might offer fresh insights. This isn’t about replacing your current team but adding perspective. SEO efforts are sometimes sidelined or only revisited during major redesigns, but search behavior and technology evolve constantly. AI is now helping users find answers faster—will your brand stand out when that happens? Think small steps: updating website copy, improving image quality, or adding fresh content can boost your digital presence without requiring a complete redesign.
Digital’s Expanding Role in Brand Advancement
Start with where you are. Do you sell B2B through retailers? Do you partner with merchandisers? Then ask: how is digital influencing your sales, marketing, and customer acquisition?
Are your ads built for digital-first platforms, or are you adapting traditional creative to fit digital spaces? A truly scroll-stopping ad doesn’t just meet platform specs—it speaks the language of the medium. Like a standout trade show booth, it pulls people in. Digital transformation isn’t just about tools—it’s about mindset. Are you thinking digitally about every customer touchpoint? If not, you might be missing opportunities.
Rethinking Your Digital Shift
What’s driving demand for your business right now? And what insights do you have into customer behavior, both in purchases and in psychology? These answers will guide your digital roadmap.
Ask, “What’s our five-year plan, and how does digital support it?” If you can’t answer clearly, it’s time to realign with your team. According to ECDB (eCommerce Data Analytics), 37.4 percent of U.S. hunting and firearms market sales are already online—and that number is projected to hit 48.5 percent by 2029. That trend can’t be ignored.
Beth Shimanksi, vice president of marketing for Savage Arms and Bowtech archery brands, has long understood the importance of a digital footprint. “In today’s digital world, a strong digital strategy isn’t optional—it’s a core tenant of our marketing strategy. For our brand, it’s the most flexible way to reach customers faster, and stay in front of customers in a competitive and an increasingly data-driven market.” Gradual optimization, not massive overhauls, can get your business future-ready. Build a digital presence today that you can scale tomorrow.
Trent Marsh is Riton’s marketing director. He also understands the importance of developing a digital strategy. “Digital strategy is a crucial part of any larger marketing plan. It encompasses so many different outlets and mediums; if you aren’t focused it can overwhelm your team, and worse than that, it won’t fit the larger goals you have in play. You can use it as a path to increase visibility with a partner who has other channels of distribution or as an incubator for smaller relationships. With so many facets it requires a lot of attention, thought, and resources.”
The Digital Journey
Digital transformation is not a sprint—it’s a journey. But with the right strategies, tools, and people, you can future-proof your brand without overextending your budget or team. Start with community management, social listening, website optimization, and clear digital goals. From there, scale intentionally, based on real customer insights and market trends.
Beth Shimanski, vice president of marketing for Savage Arms and Bowtech archery brands, has long understood the importance of a digital footprint. She says, “In today’s digital world, a strong digital strategy isn’t optional—it’s a core tenant of our marketing strategy.”