From the Editors

Reassessing your market

Liz KeenerWhen was the last time you took a long, hard look at your local market and who you should be marketing to? Was it before Y2K? When three-wheel ATVs were still on the market? When “Star Wars” was just hitting theaters? When The Beatles were starting to make a name for themselves?

Markets are constantly changing. As businesses move in and out of your area, and as economic conditions change, so does the face of your local demographic. If your dealership has been in the same location for 20, 30, 40 years, I’m sure you’ve seen it. Maybe the area has gone from blue to white collar, or vise versa, or maybe more families are moving in, or maybe a ritzy development has been built just a few miles away. Are you paying attention to that and responding accordingly?

In a lesson from a similar industry, M&P Mercury Sales, Ltd., in British Columbia was honored this past fall for Best Community Outreach in our sister magazine Boating Industry’s Top 100 program. Not only did the dealership do its due diligence to learn about its local Chinese population, but it then focused resources in staff and marketing — and even developed a Chinese Yacht Club to support its new customers. The influx from this new market outreach is helping the dealership expand its audience and increase sales. To read more about M&P Mercury’s Chinese outreach, click here.

There are a number of ways to learn about your local market. The Small Business Administration has some great suggestions on how to find data for your local population from multiple sources. You can see that from Score by clicking here.

So what do you do with this data, once you discover it? Look at whom you’re marketing to that may not be present in your area anymore. Maybe your primary marketing messages are designed for an audience that’s no longer within your area’s prime demographic. After that, look at focusing your resources on some of the strongest demographic areas and see how reaching out to new people could possibly grow your customer network.

Liz Keener is the managing editor of Powersports Business, a trade magazine for the powersports industry. She reports on the powersports industry through Powersports Business’ varied media, including in the magazine and online. She assembles the brand’s three-times-a-week e-news and handles a variety of assignments for the magazine. Powersports Business is known for its exclusive national dealer surveys, in-depth industry analysis, Power 50 dealership honors program and dealership conference, Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo.

Contact: lkeener@powersportsbusiness.com
Website: www.powersportsbusiness.com

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