With all the Yacht and Boat shows that have been cancelled around the world, there is a surplus of budget that yachting businesses will have already allocated for marketing, but are not sure how to go about getting the best ROI. Steve Crowe, Marketing Director of Yachting Pages, wrote an article this past week on that very subject. And no, it's not all about investing it in Yachting Pages. Well worth a listen if you are one of those businesses.
This is Steve's Article that brought about the discussion:
How Are You Using Your Boat Show Budget?
By Steve Crowe, Managing Director of Yachting Pages. https://www.yachting-pages.com/
The superyacht industry survives and thrives on its boat shows and events.
The global threat of Covid-19 has led to the cancellation of many if not almost all the high profile events this year including the Monaco Yacht Show, METS, Palm Beach International Boat Show, Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, Palma International Boat Show and the Cannes Yachting Festival.
The cancellation of these shows represents a significant saving on marketing spend, with the major exhibitors spending hundreds of thousands of euros sending their teams and exhibition stands, not forgetting their latest yachts, halfway around the world.
However, whilst having more money in the bank may appear like a good circumstance, not being able to showcase your yachts, missing out on boat show “walk ups” and losing all those entertainment and networking opportunities will be having a dramatic effect on many companies sales this year.
Companies have been looking to fill these sales gaps and these are some tips for ways you can use your marketing spend, be front of mind with your customers, and get those sales leads in.
· Make sure your website is working for you.
This is a great time to make sure your website is working well, up to date, and doing everything it can to showcase your products and services. To get to the top of the search rankings requires expertise in the ever-changing world of SEO. Bringing in a specialist here can pay dividends.
· Use digital wisely.
Blogging, email newsletters and online business listings are all excellent ways to reach your audience digitally. Social media can have amazing results for your business and its worth getting tips from an expert. Are you getting results from Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram? Video is a superb channel to showcase your products and services and will boost your SEO too.
The key to all marketing is consistency, so building a clear strategy with regular activity is of importance here.
· Deliver your brand by hand.
Many companies have a quantity of marketing materials, brochures and promotional items that will end up gathering dust unless you get them delivered to the yachts. Look into getting these items delivered by hand. By using this direct approach you can guarantee that you get your information to the hands of those who need to know about it.
· Consider print.
In this predominantly digital age, many have said that print is dead. Think again. We now find ourselves in a place where print once again has a prestigious place in yachting.
· Keep Communicating.
Are you Zooming, Slacking or WhatsApping? Make sure you are using the latest communication tools, it’s not difficult and the results are impressive.
A Zoom video call is almost as effective as a face to face meeting, and with Covid it’s a safer option too.
· Are your systems slick?
When did you last upgrade or update your CRM, telephone system, stock control, ordering or invoicing process?
Perhaps now is the time to invest money, time and effort in making your operations smoother - in the long term it will save you time and money.
· Use PR.
All companies have a story to tell. A well written, efficiently distributed and solidly sold in press release can work wonders.
