L-R: Mark Farrow, Katie Jackson, Thorben Will & Nora Gewet-Allen
Boats Group (Boats Group) has developed a programme of educational marketing workshops to help marine companies remain competitive online. The global programme has already been rolled out in the U.S. market, and following its success, Boats Group recently completed its first workshop in Europe.
Boats Group understands that customers are busy focusing on delivering sales for their businesses. It has developed this programme to provide insights on online marketing that dealers should consider to ensure their businesses maintain a strong presence in the ever evolving digital marketing sphere.
The workshops cover three key areas of forward-thinking online marketing strategies that dealers should consider implementing to enhance their digital capabilities. They include the importance of mobile websites, the new approach to banner ad metric measurement, and the introduction of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) for the marine industry.
The workshops have received a positive reception from U.S. audiences, with Boats Group being invited to present at numerous industry events and programs attended by OEMs, dealers and brokers. These events have included the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA) and Yacht Brokers Association of America (YBAA), both of which provide CPYB credits. Boats Group has participated in dealer events like Spader 20 Group meetings and the Marine Retail Universities. OEM programs have included the Nautic Global Group Dealer meeting and a continuing partnership with Brunswick to support its Propel program. Further workshops are also planned, with the next session due to take place at the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo (MDCE) in November.
Following its great success in the U.S., the programme is now being rolled out across Europe, with Boats Group recently completing its first European workshop at the Hanse Group Dealer Conference.
Held at the Hanse Group shipyard in Greifswald, Boats Group was invited to attend as Hanse’s preferred supplier for online marketing solutions, delivering a series of educational workshops to more than 175 of its dealers. The workshops were conducted for dealers from the Hanse Group’s six brands, including sail brands Hanse, Dehler, Moody and Varianta, and powerboat brands Fjord and Sealine.
The presentations were conducted by Katie Jackson, brand manager for boats.com, and supported by Mark Farrow, international OEM sales manager for Boats Group, and Nora Gewert-Allen, senior account manager for Boats Group.
Thorben Will, PR manager for Hanse Group, commented: “We were delighted that members of the Boats Group team were able to attend our dealer conference and share their wealth of knowledge of online marketing best practices with our dealers. The digital world is developing at a rapid pace, and it’s more important than ever that our dealers keep up and implement new advancements that will provide customers with the best user experience possible. The insights Boats Group shared at the workshops will be invaluable in helping us boost our online marketing presence for the benefit of our customers.”
Katie Jackson, added: “Our educational programmes are designed to inform dealers how they can take advantage of the latest developments in online marketing. With so many options available now, companies can easily be overwhelmed and digital strategies can suffer as a consequence. At Boats Group, we aim to cut through the jargon and provide valuable information on the most useful and important developments that will deliver real benefits to the marine industry.
“We’re delighted to now be able to offer our educational marketing programme in Europe. Following the great response we received at the Hanse Dealer Conference, we look forward to continuing the programme with further key customers.”
Boats Group is a division of Dominion Enterprises and owns and operates the four largest and most popular marine industry web portals. Boats Group now employs 180 people with customers in 106 countries and an annual total of more than 61 million unique visitors.