Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/306360
May 2014 | Boating Industry | 15 www.BoatingIndustry.com MONTHLY RESEARCH Increasing focus Forty-four percent of businesses said they plan to increase the time and money they spend on social media this year. While 54 percent said they are not changing the re- sources they allocate to social efforts, only 2 percent said they are decreasing their social media budget. That also outpaces the small business results from the VerticalResponse survey, which found that only 24 percent were increasing their social media budgets in 2014, while 13 percent were spending less. In the boating industry, the majority of com- panies are still opting to keep their social media efforts in-house. Nearly 70 percent of Boating Industry read- ers reported that they do not use any outside help for their social media. While 25 percent do outsource some, only 6 percent completely outsource their social media. For most companies, social media is also not taking up a huge amount of time, with 60 percent spending less than fi ve hours a week on it. Twenty-two percent spend fi ve to 10 hours a week on social media, while 9 percent dedicate 11 to 20 hours and 8 percent more than 20 hours a week. SOCIAL MEDIA OPINIONS We also asked respondents to share their thoughts on social media as a marketing tool – good or bad. Here is what they had to say. "We do it, but it is diffi cult to judge effectiveness." "It has helped the business to keep the attention of our customers especially during winter months." "Great way to stay in front of customers." "I would classify it as a necessary evil." "Our social media efforts have helped our company build brand and product awareness." "I feel as though most of it is a waste of time except for YouTube." "Gets our name and services out to young future buyers; not much real revenue from the existing customer base." "The jury is still out on this. Right now I would say it has had no impact on new boat sales." "Social media is a good tool for the younger boater and technically savvy." "It has reached audiences that we would have never gotten to." "It is like the old soft sale of having your name as a sponsor of events. It helps your top-of-mind scores." "Still not sure what the net outcome is on it." "Current demo for the marine industry does not have a large interest in social media, but we fi nd that it is our avenue to new entrants." "While diffi cult to measure, it is a cost of entry now for marketing." "Not sure it's helped, but we feel like we have to do it." "It is where our customers are and we need to be there." Very important 36% Somewhat important 46% Somewhat unimportant 10% Not important at all 8% HOW IMPORTANT IS SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR COMPANY'S MARKETING STRATEGY IN 2014? Handled in-house 69% Outsource some 25% Completely outsourced 6% MAJORITY KEEP SOCIAL MEDIA IN-HOUSE Discover Boating and Hampton Watercraft are two of the industry companies successfully leveraging social media. P14x15-BI14MAY-Research.indd 15 4/17/14 10:25 AM