Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/570649
20 | Boating Industry | October 2015 www.BoatingIndustry.com [ 2015 Movers & Shakers ] to promote boating through videos, social media outreach and creative partnerships. It's an effort that has paid off with continually increased traffi c to DiscoverBoating.com and, consequently, more traffi c to manufacturer sites as well. That comes after the team changed its focus from lead generation on the site to referrals for manufacturers. "On our site what people really wanted to do was get that instant gratifi cation and we would be serving consumers, as well as manufacturers, better just by offering a chance to shop directly on manufacturers' websites," Blackwell said. "This year we're going to move close to 2.5 million consumers off our sites and on to manufacturer sites." For most manufacturers, Discover Boating is now one of the top three or four sources of traffi c to their websites, he added. Another change this year is the addition of Instagram advertising – something that wasn't even possible a year ago. Now, Discover Boating can pay to have its message put in the feeds of its target audience. That will help the message reach a younger audience. "To be effective on Instagram you have to have good photography and good video and that's one of the industry's strengths," Blackwell said. "Look at what we're selling. It's a heck of a lot more interesting than a lot of consumer package goods. The platform lends itself well to our lifestyle." That focus on content carries across multiple platforms, as video content marketing has become one of the biggest successes of the Discover Boating efforts. From the "Good Run" video of a few years back to the more recent "Stories of Discovery," telling that story of boating is a key part of the marketing message. The Stories of Discovery launched with four videos last year, with two more stories added in 2015, featuring families on the water, water sports enthusiasts and anglers telling how boat- ing has impacted their lives. "We're telling stories and that's more interesting than somebody talking about some- thing that may or may not interest folks," Blackwell said. "That's three minutes of time spent talking about boating versus what used to be a 15-second ad." That's important because 70 percent of people trust that word-of-mouth ad- vertising versus the 14 percent who trust advertising, Blackwell said. The videos also easily outperform the average online video on the net- works Discover Boating uses, with viewers much more likely to watch the videos to completion. Another benefi t of the Stories of Dis- covery has been the partnership with country music star Jake Owen. He was featured in one of the 2014 videos and the relation- ship has continued this year. "Younger adults are not buying boats at the same rate their predecessors were," Blackwell said. "Jake helps us attract a younger demographic and he has a very signifi cant social media presence himself." Discover Boating signage and videos were featured in Owen's concert tour this summer across the U.S. and Canada. He also made numerous television appearances where he talked about his love of boating. "He's a true ambassador, he's very genuine," Blackwell said. CARL BLACKWELL, PRESIDENT Grow Boating/Discover Boating • Chicago The boating industry of today looks very different than it did when Discover Boating launched a decade ago. It's a smaller industry, but also one that presents a number of new opportunities in reaching a younger, more diverse consumer group. So it's only fi tting that marketing efforts have drastically changed from 2006. Most notable has been the impact of social media, something that wasn't even on the radar in the early days of Discover Boating, said Grow Boating president Carl Blackwell. Discover Boating has embraced social media like few others in the boating industry. The group has more than 750,000 followers on Facebook and large audiences on Twitter, Instagram and other outlets. "Today, it's a big part of what we do, but even social media has changed," Blackwell said. "You have to pay for your distribution on Facebook versus years past when you could put a post out and it would reach a half million people. However, it's worth it to us because we know the fans we reach are boating enthusiasts or they wouldn't like our page." Blackwell is quick to point out that the campaign's success is a team effort, with a number of people working 2.5 MILLION + » Consumers referred to manufacturer sites in 2015