Most people can only dream about spending the better part of their days looking out into the ocean and letting their minds drift away with ease. They could watch the waves crash onto one another, their small ebbs and flows bringing peace to their minds. And the best part is that they’re far enough from the chaos of the cities.
Not everyone has the privilege to watch sunsets at dusk, but it’s basically your life since you own a rental boat business. Of course, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. It’s still a business, after all, one that isn’t as easy to manage as it looks like from the outside.
That’s because rental boats are a kind of luxury for a lot of people. It could be the very last thing to enter their minds if they think of ways to spend their time if they have some money to spare. But that kind of thinking is exactly why it’s difficult to market this service to the average customer. So here are some aspects that you can focus on to revamp your marketing strategies and reach more people:
Market Niche
When you’re still getting your business off the ground, one of the biggest decisions you could have made is choosing a niche. Of course, there’s always the option of being a jack of all trades, but catering to a certain niche can make it easier for you to establish your credibility and reputation.
Besides, if you are to pick a niche and design your strategies based on it, your target audience might be able to find you quicker among the sea of similar businesses. For instance, you have a fleet of luxury boats that you want to rent out to clients who want to hold celebrations while riding at the harbor.
You can narrow down your business services more from there. An example of this is if you were to specialize in events planning, which is a service that you can offer to your clients alongside the rental. With this, you can cater to groups of friends who want to throw a bucks party cruise for the man of the night before he has to bid farewell to his single life for good.
Since you can cater to a specific niche and provide them with a comprehensive events package that can cover everything they could need during the party, your reputation could be built around that. And if you can keep your clients satisfied with your service, it’s only a matter of time before word-of-mouth gets around to bring you more customers.
Pricing
Most people will look at rental boats and see the word “luxury” written across the side, which can potentially deter aspiring renters from pushing through with their plans. Understandably, the costs of maintaining an entire boat and the amenities included in it can be expensive, but you have to take your customers into account as well.
If the prices of your services can only be afforded by the affluent, then you could be losing out on an entire market demographic that also wants to experience the high life, albeit at a more reasonable price. When deciding how to price your rentals and other services, consider the price range that your target market can afford.
You could also go with competitive pricing so that your prices will be at par with the other businesses in your field, but you must make sure that you won’t be sacrificing your earning potential because of it. Take the time to consider all your expenses and see to it that you will still make a profit at the end of the day.
Service Areas
One of the most important factors that your customers consider is the accessibility of your business location. It’s easy to attract potential clients with stunning photos and videos of the scenery that you post on your social media pages online. Still, it’s another to actually within traveling distance from them.
If your business is only located in one place, you have to make sure to include that piece of information in your posts so that your potential clients wouldn’t be hooked by false advertisements. This is because even without intending to cause harm, the people who could be seeing your ads might react differently if you were to leave that fact out.
It’s better to be clear about what area/s you service so that potential customers won’t be disappointed to find out later. But if you’re planning to cater to a wider audience, consider adding more locations to your existing service area to expand your business further. After all, basically, any place is okay as long as there’s enough water.
A boat rental business may be more difficult to run than the average car dealership, particularly because fewer people need to rent an entire boat regularly. But if you can market your services better and reach more potential customers in the process, it may just help you keep your business afloat for a longer time.
