Social media is here with us and certainly here to stay. It has proven to be one of the best modern platforms for communication, and with it came many other uses. Many customers are ebracing online shopping, and a majority of those shoppers are on one or more social media platforms. Industries have begun to embrace social media as a marketing platform for their products and services, and the marine industry is no exception. In fact, given the highly social and fun-loving character of the industry, social media has become an integral part of any marine business. People in the niche love going to events like demo days, boat shows, water sport tournaments, fishing tournaments, and more. What better way to reach those folks than social media where the action is.
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The task of managing the various profiles and facets of your business accounts can be a lot to take in, especially at first. After all, operating an effective strategy takes a lot of effort; both to start, and then to perfect over time.
Here are 3 tips you can implement to appeal to your online audience.
Consider who your viewers are
Generally those who are interested in the marine industry are fun and adventure loving people. To grab their attention, posts and other elements need to be filled with excitement and implications of a good time. Those who own a boat are often looking for any excuse to get it out on the water. Posting local water conditions or any boating events could draw a lot of attention. This is just one example. Knowing your audience is the first step in tayloring content to them and having them keep coming back for more, which leads us to the next section.
Make things interesting.
As we know, the boating community brings with it an appealing lifestyle. Bring out the cameras and capture the striking visuals of the vessels and the beauty that surrounds them. Content plays an important role in informing viewers about the product specs, upcoming events, or anything you decide to share with the online community. Images are interpreted much faster than words and are inherently more captivating at a glance than plain text. With each post and related imagery, your social profiles begin to set the tone for your marine business. Be exciting with both visuals and text and your brand will begin to speak for itself.
Inspire user-generated content.
User generated content is vital for any company on social media. It is important to encourage conversations between you and your viewers and between viewers about your business. So, how do you break the ice with a crowd of perfect strangers? One way to start the conversation is to ask them to share something about themselves that relates to the boating lifestyle. For example, “June 21st - In honor of the first day of summer, tell us what you love most about being on the water – Jon.” Or “Little Mason just rode his first wave today. What is your favorite memory on a boat?” People love to share their thoughts, stories, and views so these are great ways to engage the public. Social media is an interactive platform. The goal is to build trust and relationships with your clients and audience.
--These are just 3 tips of countless others on how to make your social pages exciting for readers. You are already in an exciting industry so why not use that to your advantage when posting? Go forth and inspire social activity.
