Meet Our Heroes
ViewFinders World wasn’t your typical outdoor apparel startup. Sure, they sold gear for hiking, climbing, camping, and travel. But what made them different was the mission woven into every sale: pick up one pound of trash from local trails and parks for every product purchased. It wasn’t just marketing speak. It was real. And it resonated.
Founder Justin Greathouse had a vision that went beyond selling t-shirts and jackets. He wanted to build a tribe. A community of people who didn’t just wear the brand, but lived the values behind it. Think North Face meets Gymshark, but with a conservation heartbeat. The Nature Helpers program offered exclusive sales, discounts, early product access, and a private Facebook group where members could share their own efforts and organize group cleanups.
The brand had heart. It had purpose. But when Justin came to us, it didn’t yet have the traction to match.
Their Goals
Justin’s vision was clear: turn ViewFinders World into a well-known outdoor lifestyle brand that people trusted and talked about. He wanted to increase revenue, yes, but more importantly, he wanted to grow a loyal customer base that believed in the mission as much as he did.
The long-term dream? Expand the product line into beachwear, incorporate ocean and beach cleanups, and eventually reach customers across Europe and Australia. But first, they needed to prove the model in the U.S. market. They needed momentum.
The Challenge
When we first looked under the hood, the challenges were immediate and layered.
ViewFinders World was running paid ads, but the strategy was scattered. They were using traffic campaigns with a popup to collect emails. Not terrible as a standalone tactic, but without a full-funnel approach, it was leaving serious money on the table. The ads weren’t telling a story. They weren’t building trust. And they weren’t optimized for conversions.
Their monthly ad budget was $1,000. That’s not a lot of room for error. Every dollar had to count, but the current setup wasn’t designed for efficiency or scale. Traffic was coming in, but very little of it was converting into actual sales. Email capture is great, but if you’re not nurturing those leads or retargeting them strategically, you’re just building a list that goes cold.
There was no active Google Ads account. No retargeting. No audience segmentation. And while the Nature Helpers program was a brilliant differentiator, it wasn’t being leveraged in the ads at all. The mission-driven story that made ViewFinders World unique was buried.
The bigger issue? Justin was pouring 100% of the profit back into ad spend, which meant growth had to be sustainable and disciplined. We couldn’t afford to waste budget on vanity metrics or half-baked campaigns. We needed a system that could turn $1,000 into real revenue, then scale intelligently as the numbers improved.
Our Process
We knew this wasn’t going to be a quick fix. It was going to be a rebuild. A strategic, phased approach that respected the budget, honored the mission, and set the brand up for long-term growth.
Phase One: Laying the Foundation
Before we touched the ads, we needed to understand the customer. Who was buying? Who should be buying? And what was stopping them?
We dove deep into audience research. The ideal customer was clear: ages 20 to 35, driven by wanderlust, environmentally conscious, and looking for brands that aligned with their values. They didn’t just want gear. They wanted to be part of something bigger.
We also audited the existing funnel. The traffic campaigns were driving people to the site, but the user experience wasn’t optimized for conversion. The Nature Helpers program was mentioned, but not prominently. The value proposition wasn’t hitting hard enough on the landing pages. And there was no retargeting to bring back the 95% of visitors who didn’t convert on the first visit.
So we started there. We worked with Justin to tighten the messaging on key landing pages, highlight the Nature Helpers program more prominently, and create a clearer path from awareness to purchase. We also set up Facebook Pixel tracking and Google Analytics events to capture every meaningful action, so we could optimize based on real behavior, not guesses.
Phase Two: Building the Campaigns
With the foundation in place, we built a multi-platform strategy across Facebook, Instagram, and Google. Each platform had a role to play.
Facebook and Instagram became the awareness and community-building engines. We created ad creative that told the story: stunning visuals of trails, mountains, and campfires paired with messaging that emphasized the mission. “Gear that gives back.” “Join the movement.” “Every purchase picks up a pound.”
We launched a combination of cold traffic campaigns targeting outdoor enthusiasts, travelers, and eco-conscious consumers, and warm retargeting campaigns for people who visited the site but didn’t buy. The retargeting ads highlighted the Nature Helpers program and included social proof, user-generated content from the Facebook group, and limited-time offers to create urgency.
We also tested different creative angles. Some ads focused purely on the environmental impact. Others leaned into the adventure lifestyle. And a few highlighted the exclusivity of the Nature Helpers tribe. We let the data tell us what resonated most.
Google Ads was the intent layer. We set up search campaigns targeting high-intent keywords like “sustainable hiking gear,” “eco-friendly outdoor clothing,” and “outdoor apparel with a mission.” These were people actively looking for what ViewFinders World offered. We also launched Google Shopping campaigns to capture product-level searches and drive direct conversions.
The key was integration. Facebook and Instagram built awareness and affinity. Google captured the demand. And email marketing, which Justin was already doing, became the glue that nurtured leads and turned one-time buyers into repeat customers.
Phase Three: Optimizing and Scaling
Once the campaigns were live, we didn’t just set it and forget it. We monitored performance daily, testing new audiences, creative variations, and bidding strategies.
We found that the mission-driven messaging significantly outperformed generic product ads. People weren’t just buying a jacket. They were buying into a movement. So we doubled down on that angle across all platforms.
We also implemented a retargeting sequence that spanned 30 days, gradually increasing urgency and social proof. Dynamic product ads showed people the exact items they viewed. Testimonial ads from Nature Helpers members reinforced trust. And limited-time discount codes pushed hesitant shoppers over the edge.
As ROAS improved, we incrementally increased ad spend, reinvesting profits back into the campaigns just like Justin wanted. The system was working. And it was sustainable.
Results
Within 90 days, ViewFinders World wasn’t just running better ads. They were building a brand.
Revenue increased by 320%. What started as scattered traffic with minimal conversions turned into a profitable, repeatable acquisition engine. The combination of Facebook, Instagram, and Google working together meant we were reaching the right people at the right time with the right message.
ROAS went from 1.2x to 4.8x. Every dollar spent was now generating nearly five dollars back. That’s not just good. That’s scalable.
The email list grew by over 8,000 subscribers in three months, and email-driven revenue jumped by 150% thanks to better segmentation and automated flows tied to the ad campaigns.
The Nature Helpers Facebook group added 2,400+ new members, creating a self-sustaining community that generated organic word-of-mouth and user-generated content we could use in future ads.
And perhaps most importantly, customer acquisition cost dropped by 40% as we refined targeting and creative. That meant more efficient growth and more room to scale without blowing the budget.
ViewFinders World went from a brand with a great mission to a brand with a great mission and the numbers to back it up. They weren’t just surviving. They were thriving. And they were ready for the next chapter: expanding the product line, reaching international markets, and continuing to build the tribe of nature lovers who wear their values on their sleeves.
