JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 • FOGHORN 19 FOGHORNFOCUS: SALES & MARKETING Advice for Vessel Passenger Operators in the New Age of Digital Marketing By Liz Diedrich, CEO Diedrich RPM In the future, consumers may need to be compelled or enticed to access sites that they are not familiar with. So, it will be incumbent on the company to think about how they do that. This could mean that there will be less crossover of marketing to broad demographics because consumers would select access to what sites they want to pay to access. We may need to think of our new reality as we did with network TV vs. cable. You will have to pay for the “stations/ websites” or content providers you want to access. This will mean we, as marketers, will have to understand the demographics of the visitors and assign a value to market our clients via that site or platform. Companies that want to demonstrate value for advertising on their sites will need to provide “Nielsen-like” reporting to marketers to justify the value of advertising on their sites. This might apply to all businesses – we may all need to provide informa- tion regarding our visitors, volume, demo etc. to potential “channels” in an effort to be served to a potential customer. n FCC’s decision could be damaging to small businesses that may not be able to compete online on a level playing field against larger corporations. Prior to the vote, Jenny Odegard, a lawyer and Forbes Magazine contributor, wrote that small business owners should be wary of the change. “The key issue is that lifting the regulations associated with providing a utility [...right now the Internet is con- sidered a utility, like electricity, water or gas] would clear the path for internet providers (like Time Warner, Verizon, Comcast, etc.) to slow down or speed up your service based on what website you are browsing,” she said. “These service differences would likely have to do with who is paying for the privilege of a fast connection, and this could have big implications for small businesses.” Odegard explained how slower connections could negatively impact small businesses. “As a small business owner, a user having a bad experience on your site can be a literal nightmare. It gives customers a bad impression of the brand in general and discourages continued browsing, which can hurt sales and customer retention.” While it’s still anyone’s guess exactly how consumers and businesses will be affected, Odegard posed a possible scenario that could be problematic. CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 M A DE IN THE U. S . A . Interior & Exterior Bench Seating Engineered to last, our collection of benches are manufactured in the USA. Available in custom lengths, finishes & configurations to suit all vessels. See you at Maritrends! Booths #34 & 35