Facebook

J

jfflindhout

New member
Hello C-Brats,

In a further effort to market the Triton name and C-Dory brand we have decided to increase our social media presence through our Facebook page. Facebook currently has over 600 million active users. While it might be a bit ambitious for us to sell 600 million boats this year we feel like we might as well jump on the Facebook bandwagon and see what happens. The Triton Marine page will have links to the factory web site, the C-Brats web site, as well as links to each boat brand web site. Our goal is to use our Triton Facebook page to update people on events, specials, news, and pictures. We hope it will grow into a page where people can share favorite stories, ideas, destinations, etc. Please understand we love the C-Brats site and have no intentions of hijacking your wonderful site. It is more of an effort to find new potential customers and market to boat owners who may not be familiar with our brands. That is why we are asking the most enthusiastic boat owners in the world to help share our product with the rest of the world. If any C-Brats who are Facebook members would be kind enough to go to the Triton Marine page and "like" us we would appreciate it. Also, feel free to send a Facebook invitation to any of your non-C-Dory boating friends and ask them to check us out. Our hope is that this expands into a huge network of boaters from around the country who will find out about our product, our enthusiastic owners, and how the C-Dory lifestyle is truly spectacular. We are new to this social media stuff so please be patient with us as we get our feet wet and get this going. As always, anyone with any experience or suggestions….we'd love to hear from you.
Thanks From The Crew at Triton Marine
 
Jeff,

I hit the "like" button quite awhile ago when you first got your Facebook page. If you want the Facebook page to be useful as a marketing tool, someone at Triton will need to make regular posts to it. Not trying to be critical but so far there have been 5 posts by Triton to the Facebook site since late September.

There are other Facebook pages I follow for other products I use or that I am interested in. The best ones at marketing do fairly regular posts (every few days or even more often) to their pages. Some provide news on improvements to their products, some provide examples of people using their products, some provide event announcements, some provide "special deals" on their products, some even provide "prizes". The best marketeers do a combination of all these things.

My point is that for this to be an effective marketing tool, it needs to be somebody's job to interact with the Facebook page/audience - e.g. someone needs regularly scheduled time to do work on Facebook. If you do it right, it can be a very good marketing tool. If you check in on it only sporadically and almost never post to it, it will be viewed negatively - e.g. people might see it as evidence that the company doesn't have it's act together and it will not be helpful. We all want you guys to succeed so please take my comments as constructive (rather than negative) criticism. If you want a list of vendors who I think do a great job of marketing via Facebook, I could provide you with some. They might serve as models for your use of Facebook.
 
Roger, your comments are right on target.

On a personal note I really enjoy the C-Brats site and am finding it most useful, and a welcome break from Facebook!!

Rgds
Peter
Bermuda
 
I "liked" the Triton page on Facebook right after it went live, too. Even posted some pics that I had posted here already.

I think the Tilley Hat page on Facebook is a great example of the kind of page the guys above are talking about...very interactive and, all these folks are talking about are HATS! Mighty good ones, but hats nonetheless. Boats, especially C-Dorys, are far more interesting. Anyway, Tilley does a great job with their Facebook page, and someone there is very active on it.

Good luck!
 
I agree with the others that if you want a successful Facebook page you need to regularly update it. If I were you, I'd try to post at least every few days about something interesting that C-Dory owner is doing with their boat. This should be easy in the summer when lots of people are out cruising but might be a little more difficult in the winter. Post lots of links to owners blogs, interesting C-Brat postings, etc. It might be cool to "follow" several owners throughout the cruising season, posting photos and information about where they are and what they're doing. And post lots of interesting photos of C-Dory's and how they're used.

Several owners post to blogs or threads on here when they're cruising...take advantage of that! I don't think any owners would mind, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Encourage potential buyers to ask questions of both the factory and boat owners.

You might also consider updating the C-Dory website. I think a FAQ section could be helpful, where you explain the benefits of the C-Dory hull design and how it compares with other hull designs. Explain how the light weight doesn't translate into lower structural integrity. Emphasize how these boats are used, where they are used, and how happy the owners are. Perhaps you could work up a recommended equipment list for boats based on where and how they will be used to make the buying process simpler.
 
"Well I never..."

Facebook, the new worlds party line. OK, I've not been there, and probably won't be there, at least for a while. I have plenty of other computer stuff that needs doing.

But, I think Roger is right, just from a marketing standpoint. If it isn't active it's dead. Don't know, but are your dealers on Facebook, and/or will they be linked into that system? Nice to see forward thinking and progressive activity for the brand. We are looking at making the Friday Harbor CBGT really get noticed. How about some promo and coverage of that?

Facebook, who da thunkit 8) :thup :thup

Harvey (a Facebookless C-Brat member )
SleepyC :moon
 
Great feedback from you all. Sounds like the consensus is that for Facebook to be an effective tool it requires some serious attention. As I mentioned before, we are new to this so it might be wise to look at a few good examples of businesses using Facebook effectively. Roger, if you know of some businesses that do it well, I would appreciate you emailing those to me. Thanks again for the feedback and I will look into it further.

Jeff
 
There are some great suggestions. You need to sell the "life style" some what like "Lattitudes and Attitudes" magazine. Posts and adventures like Bill and El's, Fishing, with lots of photos of fish, how the boat is usable in many more months out of the year--because of the pilot house. Protection from the sun in Florida. Seaworthyness, Describe people's cruises--and the group cruises and gatherings. Take some excerpts from this site (with permission)--as well as photos.

I'll have to say I don't do face book--but there are millions who do, and they are your market. Create the fantisy and dream.....That sells boats.
 
Along the lines Bob suggests, here is an idea: a series of profiles of C-Dory owners, illustrating how they are living the dream.

Warren
 
Dr Bob said:
"--but there are millions who do, and they are your market. Create the fantisy and dream.....That sells boats."
Click to expand...

The fantasy and dreams are there, in the hearts and minds of the carriers. The point of the marketing is to make the cconnectionbetween those individuals and the World of C-Dory. What is needed is to direct the carriers (folks who have those dreams) to where and how they can make them a reality. Help them see themselves in that boat, on those outings, catching that fish, seeing that sunset. Those are not just dreams, they are the realities of having the pleasure of C-Dory ownership.

JMHO

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
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