Marine Marketing Solutions launches a new all-marine affiliate network with opportunities for boating industry manufacturers and publishers
Many marine businesses are looking for more efficient ways to grow their business, build their brand and find new sales channels. And it can be particularly challenging for small businesses to find and grow new business connections.
The recent launch of a new affiliate marketing network program by Marine Marketing Solutions offers new sales and marketing opportunities for marine businesses with a network designed specifically for marine businesses. The program was officially unveiled at the 2014 Miami International Boat Show.
I recently caught up with the Marine Marketing Solutions team to find out more about their new venture in affiliate marketing… what its all about and how it can benefit the growth of marine businesses.
How did Marine Marketing Solutions develop and why?
Marine Marketing Solutions began as the brainchild of Erik Kyle, publisher of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine. A life-long boater and owner of the magazine for 15 years, Erik has often times found companies he’s done business with struggling to gain market share and elevate their brands. With an aging demographic the marine industry, for the most part, has been historically slow to embrace trends in marketing and business development utilized in other industries. Recognizing the need to attract younger boaters and fuel growth in marine businesses Erik set out to introduce these new trends to his customers.
To grow this new venture beyond his core business with Great Lakes Scuttlebutt he enlisted the help of his wife Melanie, herself well-versed in social media and emerging trends, and David Levesque former brand manager and Director of Business Development with Kanberra products.
What was the solution that Marine Marketing Solutions launched at Miami?
The Miami International Boat Show served almost as a coming out party for Marine Marketing Solutions as they unveiled the Marine Affiliates Network. Billed as the first and only all-marine affiliate marketing network this solution draws a foundation successful in other industries for connecting manufacturers to consumers through the digital magazines, blogs, forums and other boating-related websites they visit regularly. It’s all about increasing brand awareness, creating additional traffic and cultivating sales.
What were the main goals or objectives in your launch?
The Marine Affiliates Network helps to connect more consumers to the products and services they need through the publishers and websites they visit most frequently. Being a one-of-a-kind in the industry we felt it only fitting to launch at the Miami Boat Show, itself a one-of-a-kind. The network is nothing without a well-populated roster of manufacturers and publishers and since such an incredibly diverse gathering of businesses descends on the show each year it provided the perfect spot for the roll-out. Our introduction at this show allowed for the maximum amount of personal discussions we hoped to have with those all-important manufacturers and publishers.
What type of marine businesses are your primary targets?
This is a broad question… essentially anyone in the industry can benefit from the Marine Affiliates Network. Ideally we want a diverse range of manufacturers and publishers covering all areas of marine. Whatever the consumers need and wherever the consumers go to look for it would fit the roster. We have spoken with or have on our target list the largest brand names in the industry all the way down to newest start-up companies. All in the name of growing the network.
What are the benefits and/or marine marketing opportunities for businesses?
Marine companies have nothing to lose and very much to gain with the Marine Affiliates Network, and that fact alone is the primary reason for its inception. With the still-recovering economy, tight marketing budgets and a change in the way consumers are shopping for goods and services an affiliate marketing network devoted solely to the marine industry is long overdue.
- For Advertisers in the network they stand to gain increased brand exposure through a global audience, the opportunity to build new relationships with publishers and most importantly increased sales. All for simply paying a pre-determined commission to the publishers only when the sales occur.
- For Publishers the most obvious benefit is the increased revenue from their site. However they also stand to gain from the relationships built with the advertisers, many of whom may elect to spend direct on additional advertising opportunities with those publishers.
How has the industry received the announcement of your new solutions?
Like anything new, there is a period of curiosity, and of education. Overall what Marine Marketing Solutions is bringing to the table has been met with excitement and interest. Many colleagues even stating “It’s about time”. Those businesses with prior affiliate marketing knowledge have embraced with open arms, joined the Marine Affiliates Network and begun to bring additional businesses in themselves. Those unfamiliar have take a little longer but as the network grows and word spreads, so does the buzz…
There’s much more to Marine Marketing Solutions than just the affiliate network. 2014 will see several offerings all designed to provide assistance, spur growth and hopefully change the way marine businesses think about their marketing and development.
Diane Seltzer
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Sounds like a very good Idea! Sailbeat.com would potentially be interested in working together with you. We are a global yacht charter comparison site with more that 12,000 yachts in 52 stunning destinations.