Marketing Boats for sale

How to market your boat to gain viewers and secure a sale

Vessel Vendor would like to thank you for your interest in advertising your boat for sale. Getting your advertisement ready and presenting your boat in the best light is essential to gaining views and securing a sale of your bowrider boat for sale, bay boats for sale, sailboats for sale, center console boat for sale, etc. If you have never placed an online advertisement for a major financial investment (as a boat is generally accepted as being a substantial fiscal obligation), understanding the market strategies to drive traffic is essential. Here are a few key marketing tips to get you started when marketing boats for sale.

Photos are your number one marketing strategy

The saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is definitively true when it comes to marketing boats for sale. Potential buyers want to see what they are buying before they invest the money or time in seeking out a tour of the craft, purchasing, or even reading the boat description.

Ensure that when you take pictures of your boat that you do so with a resolution of at least 300dpi on your camera. Any lower resolution and you may get pixillation which could lead to misinterpretations of the features and the condition of the boat. Secondly, take pictures from multiple angles, focusing on the motor, console, captain’s chair, hull and the functional/type features (such as the rocket rod holders or the two step folding door on a Hydra-Sport). Tag each picture that you take with an alt tag if possible for higher search ability.

Reference the boat review page

Wordy descriptions of your boat for sale diverts potential purchasers from investing in your craft. To minimize the wordage but at the same time have information on the model and the manufacturer, hyperlink your model and manufacturer to the Vessel Vendor review pages that correspond with your particular boat for sale. This will allot you more space to focus on the features which make your boat worth buying over another craft of the same make and model. For example if you just installed a new power poll, replaced your outboard motor, or had the decking refinished, the buyer would be interested in knowing this information over just a generalized brand description.

Have your boat appraised and attach the document to validate your asking price

This is an extra step which is not mandatory but will add a huge level of credibility to your asking price. If you have your boat appraised and the value is more than the average boat for sale, having the document showing such would give the potential investor comfort in spending the extra money. Of course, you will want to black out any personal information on the document for security reasons.

Avoid rambling

When marketing boats for sale, avoid rambling about your boat. Get to the facts of the craft, show the pictures for your boat for sale, and have your listing price. If you have a video keep it under two minutes. A good rule of thumb to use with your advertisement is to read over the add. If you can read your advertisement in 3 to 4 minutes and get the main points across that is ideal, even if you have more details following the 4 minutes. However, if you find that the wordage does not tell you much about the boat after 3 minutes, you should re-structure the format/wordage. Studies show that if you cannot retain your reader in the first few minutes of reading they will go to the next “more exciting” article. When marketing boats for sale, avoid using any slang terms or geographical jargon as this could minimize your target audience, give off the perception of unprofessionalism, or could offend certain potential clients.

Allow for questions

Where you do not want to give out personal information in your advertisement, you should be open to questions about your vessel. When possible, Vessel Vendor will direct the customer to the boat review page unless the question is specific to your boat (such as how many miles does the motor have on it). Responding quickly to such inquires will expedite the selling probability.

Marketing your boat for sale

If you have a boat for sale, please contact Vessel Vendor through the appropriate form on the site. While on the site, please take a moment to review other advertisements to see how they are structured, the wordage on these advertisements, as well as the pictures and media presented. Should you have any questions of marketing your boat for sale through Vessel Vendor, or if you have any inquires to the boats, services, or features of the Vessel Vendor website, please contact them via the site’s contact page.

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