Birmingham, AL, Aug. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- “The whole point of marketing is to get people’s attention, and people’s attention has shifted,” says Chad Tyler, Vice President of Skier’s Marine. “I think all of your marketing money should be shifted to where people’s attention is.”
With a modern, minimalistic website that operates beautifully regardless of device, plus a healthy investment in both Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, Skier’s Marine certainly commands attention in the online space. Tyler and the rest of the marketing team at this five-location boat dealership based in Birmingham, Alabama operate ahead of the curve when it comes to digital trends.
A family affair, Tyler’s father Rett opened Skier’s Marine in 1995. He had always been passionate about boating but couldn’t afford to own a boat himself. Before opening a dealership, Rett chose to work as a manufacturer’s rep for both Marlin and Malibu boats. This way he could get access to a boat inexpensively. When there was an opportunity to move into the retail space, Rett decided to open his first dealership in Westover, Alabama near Birmingham.
For many years, Skier’s Marine was a single-location dealership. It wasn’t until 2011 that the business began to expand. The second location opened in Athens, Alabama, followed by a third location in Lake Martin, Alabama in 2015. Two stores opened in 2017 in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Gainesville, Georgia.
“We’ve grown from the typical mom-and-pop one-location store, but we’ve made an effort to keep that same culture alive,” Tyler explains. “What makes us different is that we are passionate about watersports. Everyone who works here goes boating and wake surfing on the weekend. We don’t have anyone here who doesn’t love the sport.”
Tyler, who built the first website for the family dealership himself when he was only fourteen years old, believes the marine industry is behind in the world of digital marketing. “Most people are still spending money on billboards, radio advertisements, and TV, which to me is a complete waste,” Tyler says. “Having a big presence online is much more important.”
Prior to working with Dealer Spike, Skier’s Marine’s first professional website was with DX1. The dealership chose to switch to Dealer Spike in March 2014. “At the time, I felt like every DX1 website looked the same. I wanted a boat dealership website that looked and felt different,” Tyler says.
Though the aesthetic appeal of Dealer Spike’s custom websites is what first drew Tyler in, the lead-enhancing platform soon proved to be an equal selling point. Skier’s Marine was among the first Dealer Spike marine clients and it was a successful partnership right from the start. The dealership saw a 315% average monthly increase in leads compared to results with DX1 in the first year with Dealer Spike, and results have continued to increase in the years since. As of July 2019, the website had already generated more leads in the first seven months of the year than it did in all of 2018.
Tyler says that his dealership’s investment in digital advertising, including SEM and SEO, increases significantly each year and he doesn’t see that trend coming to a stop. “People stream video content on their phones instead of watching TV,” he explains. “If they do choose to watch live TV, they are surfing the Internet on their smartphones during commercial breaks.” Because people are paying attention to online content above everything else, Tyler says the extra investment in SEO and SEM is a no-brainer. “No one goes to page two of Google. If you’re not on page one, you don’t matter,” he says.
Overall, Tyler and the rest of the Skier’s Marine team have had a positive experience with Dealer Spike and look forward to continuing the partnership. “Dealer Spike, over other providers I’ve seen, continues to push the needle and come up with new technologies and ways of doing things,” Tyler says. “I don’t think anybody in the industry is pushing forward the way Dealer Spike is.”
ABOUT SKIER’S MARINE
From humble beginnings selling six boats in a vacant lot off Highway 280, Skier’s Marine has grown to be one of the largest ski/wake boat dealers in the United States. Skier’s Marine offers only the highest quality boats from MasterCraft, Supra, and Moomba, as well as luxury pontoons from Sylvan. With five locations in the Southeast, the Skier’s Marine team continues to reinvest its efforts in improving the customer experience through team development and technology improvements.
ABOUT DEALER SPIKE
Dealer Spike is focused on driving online leads and in-store sales for dealerships. The company provides powerful and distinctive web solutions and tools to thousands of dealers worldwide. Dealer Spike’s expertise comes from real-world dealership experience and a passion for listening and responding to dealers’ needs.
https://www.dealerspike.com/marine
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