Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/467551
www.BoatingIndustry.com 18 | Boating Industry | March 2015 MONTHLY RESEARCH 2015. We surveyed dealers, manufacturers and others in the industry in January about how they marketed in 2014 and their plans for mar- keting in 2015. The most immediately identifi able trend is that readers spent more effort and money on almost every type of marketing in 2014 than they did in 2013. In fact, there was only one category – the Yellow Pages – that fewer respondents re- ported using in 2014. Only 18 percent of read- ers said they marketed through the Yellow Pages last year, down from 22 percent. Direct mail was fl at at 33 percent from year to year, but every other category was up. Social media surge Facebook saw the biggest jump in use in 2014, with 72 percent of readers reporting they used it in their marketing, up from 55 percent in 2013. Eight percent of readers said it was their most effective marketing tactic last year, dou- bling 2013's 4 percent. Other social media sites gained as well: 27 percent said they used video site YouTube to market their business in 2014, up from 19 percent. Twitter was used by 24 percent of businesses, up from 16 percent, and Pinterest increased from 6 to 10 percent last year. Insta- gram, which we didn't ask about in 2013, was used by 14 percent of readers in 2014. Only 2 percent, though, cited any of those sites as their most useful marketing method in 2014, ahead of only the Yellow Pages and billboards in our survey. Despite the increase in social media use, a signifi cant number of readers are plan- ning to ramp it up even more in 2015. Most notably, 55 percent said they plan to use Facebook more this year and nearly half of respondents are planning to increase their YouTube marketing. Some 40 percent are planning to increase their use of Instagram, while about a third of readers plan to use Twitter more. Pinterest, on the other hand, seems to be waning in popu- larity for the industry, as only 26 percent plan to use it more – just ahead of the 23 percent who plan to use it less in 2015. Websites, boat shows still top the rankings One trend that didn't change from last year is the importance of company websites and Many companies still rely on traditional methods BY JONATHAN SWEET While marine industry companies have em- braced digital marketing, especially social media as a prime part of their marketing, they aren't abandoning the tried-and-true. That's according to the latest survey of Boating Industry readers, conducted in January Digital marketing gains ground MARKETING PLANS FOR 2015 Use more Unchanged Use Less Email marketing 67% 29% 4% Company website 60% 39% 1% Facebook 55% 40% 5% Events 51% 43% 6% Web advertising 49% 45% 6% YouTube 47% 44% 9% Instagram 40% 43% 17% Twitter 32% 48% 20% Pinterest 26% 51% 23% Boat shows 26% 58% 16% Direct mail 23% 55% 22% Print advertising 13% 53% 34% TV/Radio 9% 52% 39% Billboards 5% 52% 43% Yellow Pages 1% 47% 52% Source: Boating Industry survey, January 2015 CURRENT CONDITIONS January 55.4 December 53.7 FUTURE EXPECTATIONS January 69.7 December 65.7 We also asked readers about their views on the current health of the market as we do every month. In this regular monthly feature, we track the optimism of Boating Industry readers to help us get a read on the industry. A reading of zero means equal numbers of people are ex- periencing or expect growth as contraction, so any number above zero is a positive. This month's results show dealers see- ing slightly more growth year-over-year than they were in December, and feeling more optimistic about the next quarter. BOATING INDUSTRY INDEX