Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/459961
www.BoatingIndustry.com 6 | Boating Industry | February 2015 AT THE HELM JONATHAN SWEET jsweet@BoatingIndustry.com Boating Industry EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jonathan Sweet (jsweet@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR EDITOR: Liz Keener (lkeener@boatingindustry.com) MANAGING EDITOR: Brianna Liestman (bliestman@boatingindustry.com) ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Nicholas Upton (nupton@boatingindustry.com) DIGITAL PRODUCTION EDITOR: Heather Brown (hbrown@boatingindustry.com) MANAGING ART DIRECTOR: Dodi Vessels PRODUCTION ARTIST: Kelsey Houle (khoule@epgmediallc.com) PRODUCTION MANAGER: Angela Schmieg PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Cherri Perschmann NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR: Kathy Johnson 480-988-3658 (kathyjohnson@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER, EAST: Chris Pelikan 954-964-8676 (cpelikan@boatingindustry.com) CEO: Marion Minor SR. VICE PRESIDENT/FINANCE & OPERATIONS: Gerald Winkel SR. VICE PRESIDENT/MARKET DEVELOPMENT: Joanne Juda-Prainito VICE PRESIDENT/MARINE, POWERSPORTS, BEVERAGE: Amy Collins AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Tim Morgan MARKETING SPECIALIST: Geoff Christ SENIOR SALES ADMINISTRATOR: Bernadette Wohlman BOATING INDUSTRY (ISSN #1543-4400) is published nine times per year – January, February, March, April, May, July, August, October and December – by EPG Media, LLC, 3300 Fernbrook Lane N #200, Plymouth, MN 55447. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Free to qualified members of the boating industry. Annual subscription rate is $99 per year for U.S., Mexican and Canadian residents and $149 for residents in other countries. All paid subscriptions must be paid in advance and in U.S. funds only. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Boating Industry, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Visit www.BoatingIndustry.com, call (847) 763-9565, fax (847) 763 9569, email BoatingIndustry@halldata.com or write to Boating Industry, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. EDITORIAL: All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submitted are at mailer's risk and must include self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage for return. No responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited materials. Boating Industry is a registered trademark of EPG Media, LLC. © 2014 by EPG Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by publisher. For more information on e-prints or reprints from Boating Industry, contact Bernadette Wohlman, 763-383-4400 x2464 Printed in U.S.A. YOU WANT TO BE where your customers are — that's a pretty basic tenet of advertising and marketing. Putting your message in front of those most likely to buy isn't exactly rocket science. So embracing social media makes more and more sense everyday. The Pew Center's Social Media Update 2014, released in January 2015, only reinforces that: Social media users are more likely to be college educated, more likely to be female, younger and, oh yeah, they make good money. The good news is that most smart dealers and manufacturers have figured that out, although we still hear "My customers aren't on social media" a little too often. (For the record, if your average customer is over 75, male, not college educated and makes less than $50,000 a year, I'll concede your point and you can skip to the next page.) Facebook is still king, with 71 percent of Internet users using it. Its largest growth has come in the 50-plus age groups this year, with 63 percent of those 50 to 64 and even 56 percent of those 65-plus being regular users. Other services are well behind but continue to grow, especially Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. (To see the full report, go to PewInternet.org.) If you've been paying attention, you already know a lot of this. The question becomes what do you do about it. It's not 2010 anymore – simply making the occasional Facebook post or Tweet isn't enough to get by today. So this month, our associate editor Nicholas Upton took a deep dive into "Social media that sells" and talked to some leading experts on how to make the most of your social media efforts. You can see the full article starting on p. 30, but here are some key takeaways: Make an engagement plan and stick with it Don't be the used car guy – tone down the sales pitch Take advantage of Google Plus's search engine optimization Use video. We've got a visually pleasing industry – make the most of it Content is King. Share information people want to read – tips and trends, for instance In other words, engage. Be part of the conversation. Embrace the "social" in social media. It's where your customers are today and tomorrow. Embracing the social