08/15/2018

YBAA U PROVIDENCE - July 17, 2018

By Peter Amos, Essex Yacht Sales

	Vin Petrella, YBAA		Courtney Chalmers, YachtWorld		John Adey, ABYC		Freya Olsen, NMMA

In the turmoil of the brokerage business, it’s useful to pause for a day and reflect. Filling that need, the many YBAA members attending YBAAU in Providence were rewarded by a series of very informative presentations concerning the state of the industry.

Following YBAA Executive Director Vin Petrella’s thoughtful opening remarks was a stimulating and informative presentation from the YachtWorld/BoatWizard/YachtCloser team. This included news of exciting 360° video integration (at no extra charge), powerful new tools to analyze sold boat data, and further extensions of the YachtCloser service, which may start to include handling State Registrations -initially in Florida. Click to download BoatWizard Tips and New Features. (See below for details of the Social Media presentation).

American Boat and Yacht Council President John Adey is always an informative and entertaining speaker. John’s theme described the travails of ABYC’s exercise of purchasing a training boat - with a ‘history’ which slowly emerged. He also spoke about interpreting surveys, and the risks of failure to comply with ABYC standards. Click to download: ABYC Safety Checklist and ABYC Boat System Check

After lunch and some good networking, YBAA members enjoyed Freya Olsen’s discussion of the challenges of an aging boating population, and opportunities to attract a new generation of boat buyers. Freya is Assistant Director of Discover Boating. This organization, under NMMA, is doing tremendous work promoting boating. A great number of valuable resources have been developed – all available free to Yacht Brokers and Dealers. See www.DiscoverBoating.com and click to download the Grow Boating presentation.

The final sessions featured the essential ‘legal stuff’ which brokers ignore at their peril! Firstly, a timely update from Attorney Chris McNally of Sayer, Regan and Thayer - click here to download the presentation – followed by an energetic Broker Panel Discussion, moderated by YBAA President J-P Skov. This highlighted the use of Standard YBAA Contracts, special care in dual agency situations, and the careful handling of Escrow Agreements and deposits.

	Colin Voreis, YachtWorld		JP Skov, Northstar Yacht Sales

Social Media Focus

Although Facebook stock recently plummeted by 19%, it was never a ‘Mark Twain’ moment. There have been no reports of the death of Facebook. In fact, the world’s most popular social medium still serves 22% of the world’s population, including 79% of Americans.

Recognizing that there are many boaters among Facebook’s 2.1 Bn active users, Boats Group has been working hard to increase its Facebook exposure.

Attendees at YBAA U in Providence had a treat, learning first-hand from Boats Group Social Media Strategist (and Millennial) Colin Voreis, how he increased Facebook followers of YachtWorld, BoatTrader and Boats.com from 378,000 to 578,000 in just one year. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Colin increased Page View referrals from Social Media from 0.2m to 4.5m over the same period, with a combination of both ‘organic’ and paid.

Using July 2018 data as an example, Colin reported 314,000 Boat Detail Page Views referrals from Facebook in just one month. With a click through rate (CTR) at an astonishing 64%,  the advertising expense was approximately $0.01 per outbound click, or about $2,000.

YBAA members learned from Colin the key benefits of Social Media exposure:

• Building brand recognition
• Reaching a growing audience
• Driving traffic to a website
• Generating more sales leads.

Colin gave excellent examples of how brokers and brokerages can weave Social Media postings into daily work routines, without becoming a chore or too time-consuming. Click to download Tips for Mastering Social Media in The Boating Industry

Echoing this, both YBAA and CPYB are now supported by a dedicated Social Media Committee. Tasked by the YBAA Board, with great support from J-P Skov and Vin Petrella, the Committee meets monthly with a mission to increase followers and actions, on each of several Social Media accounts. The Committee incudes staffer Vincent Muldoon, Colin Voreis, a crew of dedicated and energetic volunteers, and is chaired by Peter Amos (Essex Yacht Sales).

Early results have been very promising with a strong uptick in activity. This stems from focused and persistent efforts, with frequent, varied, educational, and entertaining daily postings. The goal is to promote the YBAA brand among boat buyers and sellers, strengthening and reinforcing the importance of brokers’ professional certification (CPYB).

Click to check YBAA and CPYB Facebook accounts.

And now we have an urgent request to members: please ‘follow’ YBAA and CPYB postings from your own private or corporate social media accounts. This will help to leverage the Committee’s work and spread the word to a vastly greater audience, to the benefit of all.