Boating Industry Intelligence You Can Profit From
At the very least, most marine retailers use traditional advertising mediums. They place an occasional ad in the local newspaper and maybe send out a direct mailer to the neighborhood. In fact, newspapers were the traditional medium the Top 100 turned to most often to spend their advertising dollars.
Magazine advertising can offer a more targeted alternative to newspapers. Many dealers from the 2006 Top 100 opted to advertise in their regional edition of Boat Trader. Others opted for local resort and tourism publications.
The debate over the fruitfulness of advertising in publications such as the Yellow Pages, with the Internet so much more readily and cheaply available, rages on, with some dealers dropping advertising there altogether, while others still consider it a must.
Alternative advertising venues abound. Sea Ray of Cincinnati, Louisville & Lexington (Ranked 59) made an arrangement with its local cable provider to position its television ads after Grow Boating ads aired. Silver Lake Marine (Ranked 88) runs a video during intermission at a local drive-in theater. Munson Ski & Marine (Ranked 66) hangs posters with its calendar of events at waterways and other frequently visited areas nearby. Short’s Marine Inc. (Ranked 78) places ads in its local bus shelters.