Features

Take a look at the statistics and it’s pretty obvious why diversity has become such a buzzword for the marine industry. • The Hispanic population in the United States, already 17 percent of the total population today, is expected to double in size by 2050 • The Hispanic luxury market niche has grown by 221 percent in the last decade ...

From websites to social media to online reputation management, digital marketing is rapidly evolving. With its recent acquisitions and product releases, ARI is increasing its investment in those areas. This month, we talked to ARI president & CEO Roy Olivier about what’s driving that growth strategy and why it’s so important to the company’s future. Boating Industry: When you look ...

New survey shows companies increasing focus on social sites Boating industry businesses are increasingly making social media a part of their marketing strategy, the latest Boating Industry reader survey shows. We surveyed dealers, manufacturers, marina owners, service providers and others via the Internet in March to find out how they are using social media and how important it is to ...

Saying engaging the growing Hispanic market is crucial to the industry’s future, the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation has officially launched a Hispanic outreach program. “Our current participants are aging and we need to replace those customers with new ones,” said RBFF President Frank Peterson in a webinar introducing the five-year program. According to statistics shared by RBFF, Hispanics now ...

As the northern lakes lose their ice, major indicators generally suggest the American economy continues to gradually gain momentum. New orders for manufactured goods increased 2.6 percent, unemployment claims and new home sales remained within recent trends, and the stock market has mounted a late-week surge in response to positive earnings in multiple sectors, including big-ticket tech stocks. Let’s take ...

A continued focus on video and digital efforts will highlight Discover Boating’s plan to spread the word this year. Discover Boating president Carl Blackwell shared the group’s marketing plans for 2014 during a webinar this week. There are three major industry challenges for 2014, Blackwell said. Youth – the industry needs to appeal to youth and focus on getting future ...

As the weather warms and dealerships head into the busy season, powerboat sales have increased to just below 10 percent year-over-year sales growth. According to the latest data from Info-Link Technologies, powerboats larger than 15 feet are continuing sales gains that have held relatively steady since the summer of 2011. Personal watercraft sales spiked in March, exceeding the previous March ...

All things considered, the American economy is looking healthier than it has since the beginning of the Great Recession. While the stock market has shown increased volatility and some economists are predicting a market correction, key economic indicators show economic activity is increasing, manufacturing is picking up steam, confidence is rising and, at long last, the jobs situation is showing ...

Using no new equipment or people and an easily applied clear coating rejuvenation system, you can restore “like new” color and shine to your boating customers while making a nice profit in the process. Because every boat owner wants their watercraft to look as clean & shiny as the first day it came off the showroom floor, but find that ...

So you’ve got 5,000 Facebook fans or 3,000 Twitter followers – good job. But how much do those likes, followers and plus-ones matter? Without engagement, not much. A new study from Shareaholic might help us determine which networks drive the most engagement. According to their analysis, it’s YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn that deliver the biggest bang for the click, so ...