Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/467551
March 2015 | Boating Industry | 19 www.BoatingIndustry.com MONTHLY RESEARCH CHANGES IN MARKETING It's no secret that the marketing climate has changed, so we asked readers what has been the biggest change in their marketing efforts in the last year. Here is some of what they had to say: "Aiming for viral social media posts. Some- times this may not even be about our prod- ucts, but anything to get more exposure." "Working harder, longer." "Increased use of Google Ad Words." "Going back to word-of-mouth." "Being able to track more." "Integration of multiple social media platforms." "Switching up from regional buys to national buys." "Extra events, larger events." "More family-oriented messages." "Targeting other local events to create knowledge of our existence." "More integrated print and digital programs." "Getting back into print. Still very effective." "We are spending less. We have marketed very aggressively the last three years." "Trying billboards because everyone still drives." "More personal contact at shows, meetings, etc." MOST SUCCESSFUL MARKETING TACTICS – 2013 VS. 2014 Percent that ranked it as most useful each year 2013 Company website 25% Boat shows 19% Web advertising 14% Email marketing 12% In-person events 8% Direct mail 5% Print advertising 4% Facebook 4% TV/Radio 4% Yellow Pages 3% Billboards 1% Other social media 1% 2014 Company website 27% Boat shows 21% Web advertising 12% Email marketing 12% Facebook 8% In-person events 6% Direct mail 5% Print advertising 4% TV/Radio 2% Other social media 2% Yellow Pages 1% TOP MARKETING TACTICS 2013 VS. 2014 Percent who used in each year 2013 2014 Company website 84% 85% Boat shows 63% 73% Email marketing 60% 70% Facebook 55% 72% Print advertising 49% 55% Web advertising 44% 48% In-person events 44% 58% Direct mail 33% 33% Yellow Pages 22% 18% TV/Radio 20% 23% YouTube 19% 27% Twitter 16% 24% Billboards 10% 11% Pinterest 6% 10% Instagram NA 14% Sources: Boating Industry surveys, January 2014 and January 2015 boat shows. Those two still topped the list of most used – and most useful – marketing tactics for the year. Eighty-five percent of readers used a company website as part of their marketing and 73 percent reported participating in boat shows. Both easily topped the list of most successful tactics as well, with 27 percent citing websites and 21 percent boat shows. That placed them well ahead of web marketing and email marketing, both cited by 12 percent as the most useful in 2014 and the only other methods to top 10 percent. Reflecting the increased focus on digital, 60 percent of readers said they plan to use their website for marketing more this year. That was second only to the 67 percent that plan to use email marketing more in 2015. Only 26 percent plan to increase their invest- ment in boat shows this year, while 16 percent intend to decrease it. But they're not abandon- ing in-person events: 51 percent plan to use their own hosted events more this year. Overall, readers are planning on increasing many of their marketing efforts this year, but aren't going to spend much more to do it. Just less than half of readers plan on a flat marketing budget for the year, while 39 percent are increas- ing their spend and 12 percent are decreasing it. There were only four categories where more respondents said they plan to spend less in 2015 than they did in 2014, lead by the Yellow Pages, with 52 percent decreasing their use of the book and only 1 percent increasing it. Billboards aren't faring much better, with 43 percent decreas- ing their use in 2015 and 5 percent increasing it. Television and radio advertising (39 percent decreasing vs. 9 percent increasing) and print advertising (34 percent decreasing vs. 13 percent increasing) rounded out the list. 55 PERCENT OF READERS SAID THEY PLAN TO USE FACEBOOK MORE THIS YEAR AND NEARLY HALF OF RESPONDENTS ARE PLANNING TO INCREASE THEIR YOUTUBE MARKETING.