Advertising - what's good and what's bad

[whiteoaks7]

Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

I'd be grateful if any budding advertising execs, brokers, estate agents or anyone else with a nose for advertising could give me a critique. I'm advertising what is generally a very well equiped, sound sailing cruiser using www.myboatdetails.com/lacrevette and, while the site has had lots of hits, very few people have followed up. I'm becoming convinced that there must be something off-putting that is obvious to the world at large that I cannot see - poor geographical position, too much detail in the ad etc etc. So if anyone has a few moments to spare I would seriously appreciate any feedback on the ad. Cheers

 

[aluijten]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

It looks like being well set up. Maybe the charactersize a bit small and the font color too light. Watch out for too much spacing between the lines.
Also I would start with the main assets of the boat in bulleted format including the reason of sale (In other words, why should someone buy THIS boat).
No mention of engine hours (As far a I could see).
Maybe some reference to an owners association site (if available)


Sorry to say I'm not into buying a Sabre at the moment.

Ciao,

Arno

 

[MacW]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

After a lifetime of selling cars ,boats etc may I offer the following observations.
1) Nice boat, very well equiped,good well respected model,in addition wheel steering Sabres are rare and the price is about right,and good value in today`s market, so there`s nothing wrong with the `product`.
2)Nice web advert,good pictures,very complete information,

So what`s wrong?
For a start, there`s too much info in the advert,and too spread out.As Aluitjen has pointed out ,better with short `bullet `type info giving the boat`s main `selling points `, so potential buyers have to contact you for fuller info.By making them phone you are making your inquirers take that first small step on the path to commit, and gives you a chance to `qualify` them as fender kickers or serious potential buyers ( but be careful about prejudging,many tyre or fender kickers have suddenly turned up with the money in their hand),and also allows you to do a selling job over the phone.
All this is presuming you are getting the enquiries at all, as this is the hardest part.If you are serious about selling your boat, you have to embark on a campaigne to bring the fact that the boat is for sale to the largest possible audience.
1) Spread it over several web sites,including biting the bullet and letting brokers in on it. I would suggest:
Boatsandoutboards.co.uk
Eastern yachts
Yachtsnet.co.uk
2)Making sure everybody in the local area ( where the boat `lives`) knows that the boat is for sale by placing a sign with contact no. on the boat, and by some well placed local advertising,including an advert pinned up in the local sailing clubs - `target` advertising
3)Consider advertising in the wider press (expensive yes,but a small lineage ad running over 4 weeks, including details of the web site can be good value and work wonders.) Some papers are better than others, check out the ones in your area that regularly have yacht ads.

In short, advertising is about spreading a net. the wider the area you cast that net over, the more `fish ` you will catch,and also throwing that net over an area where hopefully there are some `fish` to catch (targetting).Its not easy selling any thing these days ,where we have in general much more product available, than there are buyers to buy it. As Aluitjen says, think of the reasons why somebody should want YOUR boat, and then push that for all its worth.
A short,intensive campaigne might just produce a result.

 

[whiteoaks7]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

Brilliant - thank you.

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

All the above. As an advert to excite...It doesn't.

You've got all the brochure spec on there, but that's not what I would want to see first. I would chop a load of that info off and offer to e-mail details to interested parties.
The Comments section gives more details about this boat which is why someone may want to take things further.
Although the pic is nice it is too spacy, if you have a larger file of it I would crop it around the boat so that people can see what they are being offered more easily.
It needs to be more personal and offer less info initially.

 

[MacW]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

In addition ( sorry,I`ve really got going here,but I had to answer the phone!)
make sure that the boat lives up to the advert.Remove surplus equipment,magazines ,exta cushions,spare sails,spare parts etc. Tidy the lockers.If the dinghy`s rolled up on deck,remove it.Make sure she`s immaculate,inside and out.What you`re after here is IMPACT. What you are saying is THIS is THE boat to BUY! Buyers are much more likely to be impressed by an immaculate,tidy (Empty!) boat, and also be intrigued ( like the beachcomber in all of us) by the promise of a pile of spares,sails ,manuals etc which can be inspected at your home. By agreeing to come to your home to inspect this stuff ,after looking over the boat, you make them climb yet another step on the path to commit ( you are making them say to themselves " well, if the stuff`s ok, we`ll take it )
Above all,retain confidence in what you are selling.Its all too easy in a tough market to begin thinking "oh,there must be something wrong with it,"or its not a good model, or whatever.
There`s nothing wrong with it! Any lack of confidence on your part will be detected by a potential buyer,and he`ll begin to think there`s something wrong with it! In short,believe in the product,and you will make the buyer beleive in it.
All in my opinion of course,but also in my direct experience.
Hope this diatribe helps,
Pete

 

[Roy]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

Took a look out of interest. Well explained and loads of detail. Thats the catch here. A buyer only needs a few facts to make a decision - you have hundreds of facts, all of which are logical/technical>>>
People only buy because of emotional reasons firstly and then need a few tech details to back up their emotional decision. Give it some passion and feeling, tell of some great happenings she has had and why you love her and why they will too!!! Pictures only tell, but stories always sell, is the maxim here. Advertising sells to two emotions - sex and money. A boat is about money / freedom / excitement and can also be sexy. Miss these out and get poor response generally. Use the AIDA formula for any ad. A = attract attention. I = Invite interest and Inspire. D = Desire developing. A = Urges Action.

Once basic curiosity is satisfied, interest dies away, so keep the facts brief, light and visible. Sell the boat and not the component parts.

BTW, I train people on this stuff in my business and although nothing works everywhere, everytime for everyone, the above should help to increase your hit rate and lead to a sale for sure.

 

[MacW]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

Re: Roy- AIDA
First Class!
Pete

 

[Rowana]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

I think you could have a point regarding geographical position as having a bearing on it. I also agree with the others about the amount of information, font sizes, colours etc.

I'm actually looking for something around this size and price range at the moment, and have already seen your ad on "Myboatdetails". The main (only?) reason I didn't do any more is that as I live near Aberdeen, getting down to view her would be a bit of a trek. Not even sure how I would get there from here !

Now that you've posted here, let's say you've hightened my interest somewhat.

Let's also say that I may want to come and view, go for a sail in her and so on. If I was to come from Aberdeen, I'll have to stay at least one, or possibly 2 nights down there. Is there a nice B&B close by ?? Would you even let me kip on board if I brought my sleeping bag ??

Why are you selling ??

How negotiable is your price??

PM me if you wish.

Jim

 

[pvb]

Another minor point...

You might usefully turn the URLs of your webshots and homepage into clickable links.

 

[Sea Devil]

Re: Advertising - what\'s good and what\'s bad

I would tend to agree with all seaboot said - I advertised my boat on all the net sites and she was sold in the first weeks. My advert was not as smart as yours by any means - its on my web site under Bambola - but it had a bit of verbiage at the start which is useful - I think one is not selling a boat but selling a dream...

Mind you it seems your 'question' has found a potential buyer - well done!