Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/619827
26 | Boating Industry | January 2016 [ 16 Marketing Trends for 2016 ] www.BoatingIndustry.com has optimized all of its Boat Trader listings to be cross-platform for mobile users, and its most suc- cessful paid advertisements on Facebook have been mobile optimized. "We don't ignore the desktop ads by any means – we run those as well – but we make sure that when we do run those ads, we're really focused on the mobile version," said Davis. OneWater Marine has also partnered with Pandora Internet Radio for its advertising. The company places the bulk of its ads on Pandora through the service's mobile platform, as 85 percent of Pandora traffi c comes from mobile. What makes Pandora so unique is its direct response capabilities. "Somebody who hears the ad can actually click directly from the ad through to our land- ing pages, and so we make sure that when they do that, they're coming to a mobile-friendly website," Davis said. "We're really trying to make sure we've got that user in mind from not only the time they fi rst experience the ad … but also as they click through and come down the stream." CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION Google reported a 29 percent increase from April 2014 to April 2015 in mobile conversion rates. The customers are there, and smart mar- keters in 2016 will be tracking their conversion rate optimization to better understand what is and isn't working. For a marine business, this is a bit more chal- lenging as our industry isn't selling a "click and buy" product. However, that doesn't mean it isn't worth putting in the time and effort to track. "There's a lot of technologies out there, es- pecially for tracking SEM [search engine mar- keting] ads, to really see what's working for you instead of just spending money recklessly and hoping for results," said Gyllenberg. If your website sells products that are "click and buy" items, such as pro shop gear or mainte- nance necessities, it is important to be sure your website can support moving customers. Can a customer add something to their cart on a mo- bile device and easily move to a tablet or desktop to fi nish the purchase? These are capabilities cus- tomers will be looking for in 2016. Aaron Weiche, chief marketing offi cer at GetFiveStars.com, said businesses should be sure they have the right tools to understand exactly what a customer is doing when they come to a website to accurately track CRO. CrazyEgg puts an emapping layer over a webpage to see where users are clicking and interacting, and sites like Optimizely and Lead Pages are designed to help marketers best capture those leads by going through test scenarios to ultimately improve your CRO rates with customers on the website. "NO EXCUSE" NOT TO USE VIDEO If mobile is the king of marketing in 2016, video is queen. Marketing professionals all agree that video should be integral to a business's market- ing plan as video consumption on mobile contin- ues to skyrocket in terms of engagement. The Online Publishers Association reports that 80 percent of Internet users recall watch- ing a video ad on a website they visited within the past 30 days. Of that 80 percent, 26 percent looked for more information online, 22 percent visited the website named in the ad, 15 percent visited the company, and 12 percent purchased the specifi c product featured in the video ad. "There's no longer any excuse for dealers not to incorporate video into their marketing," said Jim Rhodes, president of Rhodes Com- munications. "There are tools readily available for dealers to create their own video content without breaking the budget. Even easier, they can simply repurpose video content from their manufacturers." 64% » of U.S. adults now own a smart- phone of some kind, up from 35% in 2011. Source: Pew Research Center 1 in 3 » Americans own a smartphone, computer and tablet. Source: Pew Research Center 100 MILLION » Internet users watch at least one online video each day. Source: Rhodes Communications