2 minute tips for boating companies

By Rebecca Whitlocke

🔷 2-MINUTE TIPS FOR BOATING COMPANIES 🔷

Six months ago, I was a guest speaker at a yachting event in Croatia where I shared tips focused on how your content can put your customer first.

Effective marketing needs data analysis and tactics, however, my aim was to get away from these overdone marketing strategies where people talk about how great their company is, rather than their customers and their pain points.

I’ve never met a marine industry CEO yet who is happy to sit down and haul through a 35-page marketing overview filled with bar graphs and outdated acronyms that nobody understands!

Marketing professionals will tell people WHY they should do marketing, but they don’t give specifics about the HOW.

You need to work smart if you want to improve your brand awareness, customer service, and lead generation.

✅  7 WAYS TO GROW AND BUILD TRUST IN YOUR BOATING BUSINESS:

1. WORD OF MOUTH / REFERRALS: It’s like passing Go in Monopoly – you get an immediate boost, so treat referrals like gold dust because direct introductions give you the chance to convert customers who are researching options.

2. CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS / CHARTER FEEDBACK: Your customers can be great cheerleaders for your business and help to build trust in your company’s reputation.

3. THIRD-PARTY REVIEWS (GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, TRIPADVISOR): With all companies, you should exercise due diligence checking 3rd-party reviews, however, they can give your company credibility. And it’s valuable especially for geolocation purposes when customers are searching online for businesses nearby.

4. MEMBERSHIPS / PARTNERSHIPS / EVENT NETWORKING: Teaming up with boating or marine industry associations and organisations validates your commitment to commercial activities. Event networking is helpful because you can meet other industry professionals and grow your connections.

5. PRESS COVERAGE: Media coverage is a great way to build brand awareness and develop your industry profile via interviews, editorials, and articles. Don’t forget to add the backlinks to your website!

6. AWARDS: I’m going to do a separate story about the merit of boating industry awards soon (which might open up some discussion!) Industry awards can boost your reputation and highlight your company’s achievements – either regionally, nationally, or internationally.

7. CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA: This gives social proof that you exist as a company, lets you find new customers, allows you to engage with customers, gives you the opportunity to share your insight/thought leadership, builds brand loyalty, allows you to control your messaging in the places you want (targeted audiences).

Follow ANTIBES YACHTING on LinkedIn here for no-nonsense marketing tips.