Customer Retention
When it comes to marketing, the ancient Greek adage “Know thyself” which was inscribed on the front of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi for all seekers of insight to see, may be less important than “Know thy customer.”
Marketing Insight
Test Your Email Marketing Smarts
A 2017 report by the Radicati Group estimated that there are 3.7 billion email accounts worldwide, with a stunning 269 billion emails sent per day.
The Zombie approach to marketing
Here’s a secret I’ve never revealed in public until now. I gave up reading books for pleasure at least 20 years ago.
Sharpen Your Social Media Strategies
Unlike traditional media that remained virtually unchanged for decades, today’s digital and social media evolve at the speed of light.
What we can learn from 2017’s best marketers
Imitation, our learned forebears have said, is the sincerest form of flattery.
Seven ideas for smarter marketing
As we all welcome 2018 and head into a new year filled with new windows of opportunity, I’m challenging you to join me in considering the relevancy of your marketing activities.
The engagement economy
Within hours of landing in Cancun, Mexico, for a quick vacation before the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, I received four emails: one from United Airlines wanting to know what I thought about my flight, one from Expedia asking me to rate my airport pickup, one from the hotel wanting to know how well check-in had gone and one from my financial adviser inviting me to a Christmas party.
Grow Boating delivers power-packed program
I was pleasantly surprised to see a small but hardy crowd of 105 gathered for the inaugural Grow Boating Marketing Summit, held the day before IBEX in September.
The shape of things to come
Socrates long ago observed that one should “know thyself” above all else. For marine marketers the corollary of this sage advice is that you must fully understand your customers if you expect to prosper in a world undergoing such dramatic digital and demographic shifts.
An IBEX summit not to be missed
Ten years ago, I had a vision. I dreamed of an association for marine marketers exclusively — an organization that would provide an important voice in our industry.
Fresh ideas to grow your business: Sail conference was rich in creative marketing thought
I’m saying it again: I’m all in when it comes to professional development. The minute you stop learning is the minute you start down the path to obsolescence. Change cracks the whip at lightning speed.
Will the social media tide float all boats?
During a recent dinner with a colleague it dawned on me that although it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken, it takes a very resourceful and persistent marketer to successfully reach out and touch someone.
A promising route to Google supremacy ‘Content marketing’ can deliver a listings breakout
All joking aside, depending on the topic, maybe you’ll turn to a trusted colleague, friend or family member.
Time for marketers to snap to attention: Data point to social video as the wave of the future
Snapchat went public the day I wrote this column, opening at $17 a share, handing insiders a windfall as its IPO closed at more than $24, making its founder a billionaire and valuing the company greater than American or United Airlines, Hershey or Hilton.
An enlightening, transformative IMBC: Valuable insight into new markets and transparency
Had I been content with traditional marketing practices, my career likely would have gone down the same path as the blurry Polaroid photograph, the typesetting machine or my trusty IBM Selectric III.
A memo to the powers that be: Our marketing needs bold ideas, wider reach
Have you ever pulled up a barstool, turned to the guy sitting inches away from you and said, “Hey, aren’t you … ?”
Are we finally taking off the blinders?
An outreach to nontraditional markets is getting legs
Marketing trends just over the horizon
Good marketers know their markets inside and out. Great marketers succeed time and again by knowing how, where and to what extent their markets fit within a wider world that is constantly changing.
Is your marketing IQ stuck in analog?
A 21-point self-test to see whether you’re falling off your game.
CAPITOL LOOKOUT: A common-ground political solution
Industry should get to know poll-tested Policy Playbook
Biker tour yields three ‘power lessons’
Thanks to all who took a virtual ride on the 2016 Boaterz n Bikerz of America Hull of a Tour: Pacific Coast Rush. It was an eight-day, 2,000-mile boating and motorcycling extravaganza from Seattle to California’s Big Sur, looping back to San Francisco.
A boating-themed ‘branded’ playlist West Marine’s experiment with Pandora radio
Like many of my fellow baby boomers I like classic boats, classic cars and classic rock. That said, I am not a fan of classic technology or marketing tools that lack a digital component.
Mrs. Smith goes to Washington — reluctantly — and a skeptic is transformed into an ABC cheerleader
I hate politics. I hate everything about it. I hate the positioning, the slippery maneuvering, the glad-handing and the lack of authenticity.