“If it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen” - a common sentiment for the avid athlete, but does it apply to brands?
The platform and its users
Strava receives over 40 million uploads a week and has over 125 million users [Strava]. Originally launched as a niche website for cyclists, the platform's user base has more than doubled since 2020 [Source], as global lockdowns drove people outdoors and into their running shoes. Many out there will have run 5 and nominated 5 for the NHS during 2020….
It’s an environment to easily connect with friends and strangers with a common interest whilst tracking your health and fitness goals. Seemingly a refuge from social media behemoths, users long for the “real” connection that affinity-based platforms can offer. Yet this high concentration of like-minded individuals offers an opportunity for the right brands to seize - it’s not often that the audience targets itself for you.
With the platform introducing the ability for athletes to message directly within the app last year and soon forum-style discussion channels, intimate interaction within the app is only going to grow. Strava isn’t alone in its proliferation of intimacy. Other platforms, such as Goodreads and Letterboxd, that service a specific interest and bring together highly connected and similar communities are also rising.
The opportunity for brands on Strava
With such powerful forces of connection at work, any brand looking to leverage the opportunity must do so with person-to-person relationships at the core of its approach. That means either a) facilitating these intimate connections or b) becoming part of the interaction through brand ambassadors.
Facilitating connection
Strava offers brands the opportunity to create group pages and sponsored challenges.
With upcoming changes to the platform facilitating more open style discussion, these digital refuges will likely become increasingly significant - conversations between brand and friend will coexist in the same intimate space to an even greater extent. Sponsored challenges not only let users track their progress in a brand-attributed environment, they also prove an invaluable source of first party data…
Take Hoka for example, who’s recent “Born to Fly” challenge was completed by almost 140,000 athletes, all in a bid to win a free pair of their top shoe for the sake of a measly 15km. Whilst not all finishers will have entered their email address, that’s still potentially 140,000 highly qualified marketing leads, all interested enough in a pair of Hoka’s to give their data away. These challenges start at €20,000. Yet that level of data capture will still have made a few marketing managers stop in their proverbial tracks… we just hope they’ve paused their Strava…
Looking closer to home, and in a space outside sporting equipment, Mind UK has also developed a presence on the platform to raise both funds and awareness. The charity recognised the link between physical and mental health, setting up a sponsored challenge to run a total of 50km, raising over £70,000 from nearly 137,000 participants [Source].
It goes to show that a brand occupying an adjacent space in the audience's minds, with a disproportionate crossover of interests, can leverage the platform as a fresh channel for growth. It’s not just the running shoes and cycling gels that people will sign up for. The key again is giving people a reason to complete the challenge - here completing the challenge (which then notifies the users friends in their feed) clearly signals something about the individual.
Becoming part of the conversation
As the age old saying goes, if you can’t beat them join them.
The second way that brands can look to leverage the platform is through an ambassador program, making the most of existing follower bases from pro athletes or running creators, and injecting their brand into the conversation. With multimedia functionality and the ability to detail the kit you’re using, products can be seamlessly integrated into workouts and your brand into the conversation.
Take, for example, previous Tour de Femmes winner Demi Vollering, a Nike-sponsored athlete who’s amassed over 146,000 followers on her Strava profile.
Her recent ride in the Tour de France amassed over 11,000 kudos and 104 comments… with content featuring Nike sports gear as well as a personalised pair of AirForce 1’s at the end. Her bio has that she’s a Nike athlete, yet there’s not an #ad in sight…
Why should I care?
If your brand is in sports or any adjacent fields, tapping into a highly targeted audience of people actively looking to establish connection is too good an opportunity to miss. If you’ve not already, it’s time to insert yourself into the conversation.
Yet for most, your brand will have no real reason to be on Strava, and it shouldn’t be. It will feel disingenuous and inauthentic.
You should however take heed of the platform's rise… alongside a boom in other affinity-based platforms it’s a signal of user intent to come together with those that have shared experiences. Other affinity-based platforms have also seen a recent rise in popularity, with apps such as Goodreads amassing over 150 million members, and Letterboxd growing its user base by 55% in the past year.
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