DIGITAL MARKETING ON a small budget

Capt. Vicki Norman

Atlanta, GA February 27, 2024

ABOUT Captain Vicki Norman

Marine Marketing since 1994

PRINT Magazine publisher; Powerboat Magazine, Sportboat and Speedboat

Trailer Boats, Bass & Walleye, Watercraft world

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transitioned Print to Digital in 2013

current; Marine Group President, Digital Throttle

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new member boating instructor , freedom boat club

Marketing council member, Freedom boat club

Marine marketers association

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PERSONAL

• USCG since 1992
• Padi Divemaster since 2007
• boat tester, more than 500 boats 18-50’
• Former collegiate AWSA Water Skier
• volunteer, san Diego Surfrider / Bluewater Task force Member

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DIGITAL MARKETING ON a small budget

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AGENDA

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1. Digital Advertising overview intro
2. BEFORE YOU START - SET UP for success
1. Monitor, measure & optimize
3. Geographic Targeting
4. Digital Advertising options
• Google
• Social Media
5. Estimated Costs-what does $1,000 get you?

DIGITAL VS TRADITIONAL TIME

2023

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Digital: 7 hours 34 minutes

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Traditional: 4 hours 53 minutes

Source: Insider Intelligence

DIGITAL ADVERTISING

7:34 to 8:20 per day

Social Media, YouTube, Streaming Audio, Podcast, OTT Streaming

later in presentation we will show a breakdown as it relates to age

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All Screens ALL the TIME

2:50 per day

1:20 per day

1:42 per day

1:51 per day

0:37 per day

Source: Insider Intelligence

BEFORE YOU START

DIGITAL MARKETING ON a small budget

make sure that you start with the right tackle and tools

#1 make sure your site looks great on mobile

of Digital Ads Seen on Mobile

64%

of Digital Ads clicked from Mobile

~80%

#2: KNOW YOUR GEOGRAPHY

Google Analytics 4

- See where your website traffic is coming from

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*Don’t forget about neighboring states where lakes cross over or people visit from

See here for list of states by population:

https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=pop1

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LEARNED

Small budgets: test out ads focusing on just a few popular geographic regions

#3 updated and active SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

post at least 1-2 X per week

GOOD:

- Boat/Fish images

- Company Info

- Contact Information

BETTER:

- Lifestyle images/posts

- Event/Recent Stories

- One to two posts / week

BEST:

- Actively post

- Videos

- Create Community

Don’t forget to #TAG and SHARE

social media management tools available

Managing your own posts? Here are the 5 most widely used Media Management tools;

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1. Hootsuite - good analytics but $$$$
2. BUffer - simple and affordable
3. zoho - crm integration
4. sendible - robust AI integration
5. co-schedule - my favorite

#4 Get Google Analytics 4 Setup Correctly

Need Help with GA4?

https://www.digitalthrottle.com/google-analytics-ga4

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LEARNED: REPORT WITH LOOKER DATA STUDIO

• Free
• Pre-Built Templates
• Can connect to spreadsheets and other data sources like Google Analytics, Facebook, Google Ads, Google Sheets etc.

lookerstudio.google.com

Develop a tracking system for all Digital Campaigns. Three main trackers to use:

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• SOURCE = what company is running your ad.

Example “facebook”, “google”, “reddit”, “youradagenecy”, etc.

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• MEDIUM = what type of ad. Example “banner”, “video”, “search”

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• CAMPAIGN = unique identifier for each target or goal.

Example: “123” is the January 10% Off campaign.

https://thesite.com?utm_source=digitalthrottle&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=16265721

UTM BUILDER

<<< Use this tool to build out your UTMS

SAMPLE TRACKING SHEET

LEARNED: Always Use codes to track specific ads

#5 Your site & social pages = best audience data

Most effective type of digital ad!

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But – need to have at least 1,000 visitors to your site each month

retargeting

lookalike

Find similar & related prospects using your data

emails

More valuable than ever!

Traditional Digital ad options

So many choices!

video ads

banner ads

banner ads

eCommerce shopping

88% of search is on google and 12% of searches on Bing

SEARCH

GOOGLE ALL

SEARCH-ALL

Make use of ALL the FREE Search Ad Elements

Validate Company to Show Logo & Name

Show Customer Service Phone

Include Images

Site Links

Callouts

88% of search is on google and 12% of searches on Bing

Keyword Research

Research Keywords

Competitor SEO Keywords

Don’t repeat your own top SEO keywords!

Continue to monitor the keywords you are using

• Free versions

Banners on YouTube work great

(no designer needed - just images and ad copy)

Easy Banner Design

Responsive Banners

Social Media options

DIGITAL MARKETING ON a small budget

USERS & GENDER

*Source eMarketer 2023

USE by AGE

*Source eMarketer 2023

SOCIAL POSTING is NOT ADVERTISING

of your followers will see your organic posts so no need to ‘boost’

6%

Learned: “Boosting” =

- Imprecise targeting

- Reporting not accurate (2-3X)

- Expensive!

PAID = $8 to $12 CPM

Boosted: $64.24 CPM

AD EXAMPLES BY SOCIAL PLATFORM

Twitter / X

Reddit

TikTok

Instagram

Facebook

Social Ad Design - TEST, TEST, TEST!

Square Image or Video

Video NOT essential. Static images usually same or even better CTR

Focus on the benefits of your products, not features.

Make at least 2 ads for each campaign (3+ ideal)

Monitor Your Social Ads

• Monitor questions & comments in the ads you run and answer questions

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• set realistic growth goals

Other digital options (not low cost)

DIGITAL MARKETING ON a small budget

CTV & OTT

connected television devices

over the top media properties

or

STREAMING AUDIO

SPOTIFY PANDORA

PODCASTS

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PRO

- Free voice over with supplied script

- Live in 3-5 days

- Good geographic targeting

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CON

- Expensive ($25+ per thousand listeners)

- Difficult to measure responses

- Broad targeting vs. Social ads

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ESTIMATEd PRICING What do you get for $1,000?

*Source: Digital Throttle Actual results and eMarketer 2023

Vicki Norman

vicki.norman@digitalthrottle.com

415-996-3026

THANK YOU!