Blog

Rachel Piacenza, RBFF Marketing Director

Recent economic data show that outdoor recreation is a major contributor to the United States economy, and boats and boating equipment are a huge contributor to that. In fact, boating and fishing made up the single largest segment of outdoor recreation, adding $36.9 billion to the pot in 2016. That said, there’s definitely room to grow this sector.

Recently, myself and hundreds of my peers in the boating industry made our way to the IBEX Show in Tampa, Florida and took part in the Grow Boating Marketing Summit to learn how we can keep moving this industry in the right direction, creating better relationships with customers and selling more product along the way. Here are my six key takeaways:

• Younger generations will pay for “experiences,” but most lapsed boat owners sell their boat within five years of ownership. Customer retention is key. (Jack Ellis, Info-Link)
• Honest and transparent content is still your best friend. If a prospect reads 30 or more pages on your website, they’re 80% likely to purchase from you. (Marcus Sheridan, The Sales Lion)
• Become a thought leader by answering the questions your customers are asking online (via search terms). (Heather Lutze, Findability University)
• Don’t overlook the sharing economy. Stories of first-timers and occasional participants can help you generate content and react to consumer demands. (Julie Hagemann, ICF Next)
• Video is big and only getting bigger. Keep it simple and try going live. (Mari Smith, Mari Smith International)
• Consumers are more likely to open your messages in a messenger app like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp than they are in email. (Mari Smith, Mari Smith International)

It’s always great to meet new leaders in the industry, and even better when we can all learn together and make for a brighter future for boating in the U.S. Returning home from the Grow Boating Marketing Summit, I got to work on some fresh ideas on how we can better engage our consumers at RBFF. Which of these ideas can you put into practice?

As RBFF's Marketing Director, Rachel Piacenza works to direct the national Take Me Fishing campaign to engage consumers across the United States and encourage them to get out on the water, fishing and boating. The love of fishing and boating reaches well beyond her role for RBFF. Rachel is a lifelong angler and has reeled in several trophy muskie.