CEO Reflections: AI and Verticalized Online Communities
For over a decade, The Dyrt has been more than a platform—it’s been the heartbeat of the camping community in the United States. Ten years flies by when you’re having fun, and working with the largest camping community has been exactly that.
Every year, I take time to reflect on the big “aha” moments, and in 2024, the biggest one was clear:
Verticalized online communities (like The Dyrt) thrive when all stakeholders can pitch in.
In 2024, we found that collaborating with outdoor brands to create authentic product integrations for campers furthered the vision of our verticalized camping community at The Dyrt and was a major win-win for both campers and brands.
Our community thrives on campers supporting other campers. At the same time, when brands help develop new features for our users, they gain meaningful engagement while adding real value to the camping experience.
Last year, for example, Toyota supported the development of our brand new free camping collection, State Farm supported our new RV collection, and more—and the brand lift showed a win-win for the brands as well.
As a co-founder, I’ve had the privilege of watching this incredible ecosystem evolve—not just in how people camp, but in how they connect with the world around them. For smart outdoor brands, the days of generic advertising are over. Instead, these brands are looking to deeply engage with focused, passionate audiences like ours, and The Dyrt is leading this shift. When brands and communities work together to create meaningful experiences, everyone wins.
The Numbers That Defined 2024
This past year was nothing short of extraordinary for The Dyrt. Here’s what stood out:
- A different camper visited The Dyrt every five seconds, providing brands with a dynamic and ever-growing verticalized community to engage with.
- >700% growth in ad sales revenue from partnerships with leading brands like Toyota, State Farm, and Danner that enabled our team to create new features for our campers.
- Advertising click-through rates and email open rates crushed the industry average, proving that our community is not only highly engaged, but also showing that our brands are aligned with our campers interests.
- Over 25 million visits to our platform in 2024—showing that campers helping campers is real at The Dyrt.
Looking Ahead: 2025 and Beyond
The digital landscape is shifting fast. Here’s what we see on the horizon:
- AI and ad tech changes will continue to disrupt advertising, making traditional organic search and paid ads less effective.
- Verticalized online platforms like The Dyrt will become even more essential for both communities and brands seeking relevance and results.
- Community-focused platform integrations will continue to emerge as the new frontier of advertising as brands move beyond static programmatic banners to direct storytelling and consumer connection.
What made me most excited about 2024 and moving forward in 2025?
Our community-driven #1 ranked camping app. Campers on The Dyrt are more active and engaged than ever. After 10 years of building this camping community, it’s amazing to see this theory of campers helping campers come to life—and to see how brands can add to the experience while growing themselves in a way that everyone wins.
Warm regards,
Kevin Long
CEO & Co-Founder, The Dyrt
2025 Advertise with The Dyrt
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Source: https://thedyrt.com/magazine/press/ceo-reflections-on-2024/
