When it comes to choosing the best marine marketing tools, you have many options. It can be overwhelming to decide which ones to use and which to put on the back burner.
Some of these tools are table stakes. These include things like your marine business website or listings in industry directories, or other online business listings for marine companies. Others are optional but could fit into the right marketing plan. This includes tools like a podcast or YouTube channel.
If you’re looking for the right tools to further your marine company marketing strategy, this list is for you. Here are the eight most valuable marine marketing tools to consider as you scale your business.
Getting the Most Out of Your Marine Marketing Tools
Some of the tools mentioned below are must-haves, like a good website and a Google Business Profile. Others are optional and depend on your marketing plan or audience, such as a podcast or various social media channels.
When you pick the right suite of tools, you’re on your way to marketing your marine business successfully. But they won’t solve scaling your marketing efforts on their own.
Many marine business owners already wear too many hats and find themselves overwhelmed with marketing tasks in addition to business management. You can focus more on your core business operations and less on optimizing your marketing by hiring a team of experts in marine industry marketing.
A marine marketing expert knows how to get the most out of these tools for you and will understand the nuances in the marine industry that a generalist glosses over.
Best Marine Marketing Tools
1. Marine Marketing Software
One of the most important tools in your arsenal should be a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Your CRM keeps track of all your inbound leads and marketing efforts for new and existing clients.
This powerful marketing software can help keep your marine business organized and on track.
There are three big benefits of a CRM outside of the general advantage of being organized:
- Tracking your leads and following up
- Breaking your contact lists into smaller segments
- Keeping in touch with partners and suppliers regularly
Tracking your leads and following up with them in a timely and personalized manner is key. By looking at analytics in your CRM and setting up automation or reminders, you can ensure that potential customers don’t slip through the cracks.
One of the best things about a CRM for a marine business is the ability to break up your contact lists into smaller segments.
With a CRM, you can tell the difference between someone who signed up for a newsletter and people who completed a form on your website. You can use info from your CRM for more targeted outreach to prospective clients.
Finally, you can keep your current and possible business partners in one place with a CRM. You can look at metrics for the last time you reached out, headlines that worked well to get them to open emails, and how much business they drove your way.
While there are several CRM options available, HubSpot is an excellent choice for most marine businesses. HubSpot is relatively easy to use but holds an edge over other tools because it can also support marketing automation needs.
This makes it easier to send emails and monitor those communications’ performance in one place.
2. Your Website
Marine businesses have three options to get your brand in front of potential clients: owned, earned, and paid media. Owned media refers to things you create and control.
Earned media is things like organic page rankings on Google. Paid media comes from placements like ads.
Your website is your most important piece of owned media. But it’s more than that. It’s also a platform that can get you plenty of earned media attention.
That’s because the content you put on your website can compete and rank on the world’s largest search engine.
People use websites every day to conduct research and inform their decisions. The majority of these people use Google search to find these sites.
When they land on your site, you have only 50 milliseconds before they form an opinion about your company.
That means a standout marine business website is one that you’ve optimized for both search engines and people. This ensures that people can find your site and form a positive impression of your brand.
94% of first impressions result from an excellent website design. Technical and on-page optimizations make sure Google indexes your site and presents it to searchers.
Practices like keyword research help you find the things your clients search for. Blogging lets marine businesses create content that answers their customers’ most important questions.
The best marine business websites are easy to use, load quickly, and share helpful information. They also leverage compelling offers and social proof, such as testimonials.
To make the most out of this centralized platform, use SEO tools such as Google Analytics and Ahrefs to monitor your site’s performance.
3. Social Media Accounts
Social media is a valuable tool for marine businesses who know how to use it correctly. This means targeting your audience on the right platforms and creating consistent content.
Marine companies might consider social media channels like:
- Instagram (great for showcasing boats and marine equipment)
- LinkedIn (especially for B2B marine businesses)
- YouTube
- TikTok
- X (Formerly Twitter)
Choosing which platform to focus on depends on where your clients spend time online. If your ideal client doesn’t spend time on Twitter, that may not be the best place for you.
Marketing automation and social scheduling tools make it easy to schedule social media ahead of time. They also deliver analytics so you can tell which posts performed the best.
4. Marine Industry Directories
It’s essential to list your marine business and its services on industry directories. It’s simple, helpful for SEO, and ensures that correct information like your location and phone number are readily available across the web.
These directories build citations for Google and market directly to people who come to marine directories looking for boats, equipment, or services. Set aside some initial time to get set up on these directories and reminders to check in twice a year to update any out-of-date material.
5. Google Business Profile (Formerly Google My Business)
Your Google Business Profile may be one of the first things potential clients see when you have good local SEO for your business.
With a Google Business profile, your company listing could appear on Google Maps. Google triggers this when people search for local service terms like “boat dealer near me” or “marine repair houston.”
Your GBP shows your location, hours, contact information, and average reviews from previous clients. As a result, your Google Business Profile is critical for marine businesses hyper-targeting potential clients in a local area.
Keeping company info up to date, adding new photos to your profile, and garnering more client reviews regularly will all help boost your online presence.
6. Podcasts
In certain cases, podcasts can help you market your marine services to new clients, potential partners, or even future staff members.
A podcast adds a human element to your marketing by allowing your listeners to get to know you at a deeper level than what’s possible in a short ad or social media post.
A podcast is also a solid foundation for other marketing in your business. By putting your efforts into creating one excellent 20-30 minute podcast episode, you can repurpose it into audio clips, social media posts, and even ideas for an email newsletter.
Starting a marine industry podcast is not right for everyone and can be very time-consuming. Verify you know what to expect upfront and have a good reason to believe this can reach your target audience.
7. Video Platforms
If you love creating videos and connecting with others through forums like public speaking, video platforms are another channel to explore for marketing your marine business.
YouTube is part of Google, which means that the video platform is also a search engine in itself. By creating content for YouTube, you can get in front of your audience with content that introduces who you are and what your marine business is about.
The best content for marine businesses to create on YouTube includes product demonstrations, boat reviews, maintenance tips, or industry news and trends.
8. Paid Advertising
As a marine business taking your time to build up your SEO, paid ads are one way to generate some interest in your services quickly. There are three main kinds of paid ads: pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, and display ads.
Each has pros and cons in terms of its relevance and outcome for marine businesses.
Pay-Per-Click
Pay-per-click ads on Google require you to place a bid for your company’s ad to appear for keyword phrases. These results appear above organic search engine rankings.
While they can put you in front of your ideal client, they can also get expensive and require a lot of time to set up and manage.
Social Media PPC
Social media PPC ads function similarly by putting your ad in front of a defined audience on places like Facebook or Instagram.
Pay-Per-Lead
A pay-per-lead ad is exactly what you’d expect. You commit to paying for every lead your business receives from the chosen service. On Google, pay-per-lead ads are known as local services ads.
Display ads track when someone visits your website and then show ads to that person as they move around the web. Display ads can be effective when properly targeted to marine enthusiasts and boat buyers.
Other Sales and Marketing Tools
You’re not limited to the tools listed above in marketing your marine business. Many options exist that don’t quite make the list of best tools because they depend on your situation and use case.
Some other examples of marketing tools to explore include:
- Email marketing for nurturing client relationships
- TV ads for reaching a broad local audience
- Radio ads for generating brand awareness
- Direct mail marketing when targeted properly
- Intake software to streamline the customer onboarding process
- Document management and automation software
- Task management and project management tools
If you need help picking which channels are most likely to yield new leads for your marine business, partner with a marketing team that specializes in the marine industry. Years of experience in the marine field mean they know what works.
Contact us today for a free consultation to see how we can help grow your marine business with the right marine marketing tools.