Jim Jabaay

Most of today’s boat buyers are savvy and educated. They usually do earlier research on the boat they want to buy. Sometimes this exercise makes them more knowledgeable about the product than someone on the dealership floor. As an OEM, you can only take the customer so far in the buying journey before they get handed off to a local ...

In the latest issue of Boating Industry, they shared the data for the 2018 forecast. Reviewing the data points shows that we are very excited about our growth in 2018. When reviewing the concerns going into 2018, the top two were affordability of boating and lack of skilled labor craftsmen for new boat production challenges. With those two concerns, perhaps ...

Our local boat shows still drive the majority of revenue at the dealer level and in some cases, the budget to exhibit is over half of your annual marketing budget. Just exhibiting, however, and marketing your attendance with emails is not enough sometimes in today’s digital world. Leveraging Facebook with the below action plan of Pre, During and Post boat ...

As we prepare for 2018, I challenge each of you to rethink the marketing techniques you do inside of your organization. The easiest way to do this, is to look at your business through the eyes of a consumer with their online buying process. A few months’ back I wrote about my experience through the boat buying process and the ...

In a recent 60 Minutes interview, Brad Parscale, digital director for the Trump campaign, discussed that Facebook played a major role in the president’s win last November. Let’s take a look at a couple factors on how he did it and apply it to our own businesses as manufacturers and dealers. Social advertising vs. traditional “Facebook now lets you get ...

With the continued need to grow our industry and bring first-time buyers into the market, according to Grow Boating, the biggest surprise for first-time buyers are the hidden costs with boating ownership. To those familiar with boating, these are expected, but a first-time buyer is ready for the experience of boating and is not aware of the full cost of ...

As a business partner to dealers and OEMs, the boat buying process has always been a bit different for me than if I were a regular consumer. Our company, LotVantage, helps dealerships manage their online presence and in turn, strategically guides their prospects into customers. I have more insider knowledge of the full buying process than the majority of consumers. ...

Verifying your local business page (your dealership page) adds a layer of legitimacy to your social media presence can help customers feel more confident when they engage with your dealership on Facebook and increases your page’s visibility in search results. What is a verified page, you ask? For a local business page like a dealership, the verification symbol is a ...

According to Facebook, consumers spend an average of 50 minutes per day on the social network. They are also using the internet to conduct pre-purchase research. Your brand is competing for attention not only with other manufacturers, but friends, family, groups and other types of business Pages. To be seen by your desired audience and make it easier for them ...

Customers are conducting online research prior to making a purchase and it plays such an important role in the customer journey. According to Vendasta, who’s core purpose is to help drive local economies, “85 percent of customers use the internet to research before marking a purchase.” Once a customer finds your dealership online, their next thought may be “can I ...