Day two of the RV Industry Association’s RV Aftermarket webinar series took place yesterday, with RVillage founder and CEO Curtis Coleman presenting about the importance of social media for businesses. Mark Lucas, business development manager at RVillage, fielded questions participants had throughout the webinar
Coleman spoke about how users interact with each other and with content on social media, using Facebook and RVillage as examples. He said that consumers increasingly seek out the experiences of product users over advertisements and articles about the products when they go to make buying decisions.
“The reason why social networks are mandatory for your relevance is for the consumer for any product, whether its sewing machines, whatever, is we now get our information from each other. That’s why influencers get so popular with brands,” Coleman said. “If you’re not relevant in social media spaces, you’re not relevant.”
General vs. Niche Social Networking
Coleman highlighted aspects of both Facebook and RVillage that he sees as valuable from a marketing perspective. One of the biggest differences he pointed out, though, was that Facebook users connect with people they already know and see content based on their own personal interests, whereas RVillage users connect with new people based on shared interests.
Regardless of platform, Coleman also cautioned against guerilla marketing. He said that spamming users/groups with product content will get businesses blocked, eliminating their access to the people they were trying to reach.
“The very audience that you’re trying to cultivate, you alienate,” Coleman said.
Instead, he advised businesses create groups and get people talking about the products they’re using.
Where to start?
There are many companies that do not have any web/social media presence, so Coleman offered these steps for businesses who have a product that they want to put in front of an online audience:
- Join RVIA
- Hire a social media manager – Coleman said regardless of what industry a company thinks it is in, it is actually in the website business because of how consumers seek out knowledge and make buying decisions.
- Connect with the consumer – the goal is not to tell customers about a product so much as it is to learn what the consumer’s needs and concerns are.
While Coleman repeated throughout the webinar that he was not advertising RVillage.com, he did offer the platform as a resource for companies looking to learn more about how to reach the end consumers. He said he and his team can be reached via email.
The RV Aftermarket webinar series wraps up today, with a dealer council roundtable discussion about how traditional RV parts and accessory retail can better connect with and serve today’s customer as well as a discussion among James Ashurst, RV Industry Association Executive Vice President, and Tom Manning, President of Tom Manning & Associates, will discuss the benefits available to RVIA members.
The online event is free to attend and open to all RVIA members. It replaces the in-person RV Aftermarket Executive Conference, which was scheduled to take place this week in San Diego but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
