Two of IDS’s top marketing staff members spoke to RVDA Virtual Convention and Expo attendees about how RV dealers can effectively market their brands to Millennials and Gen Zers.
Kseniya Savelyeva, IDS chief marketing officer, and Sara McGuire, IDS content marketing manager, shared a presentation regarding the growing younger demographic of RV owners. Savelyeva mentioned the 2020 Go RVing RV Owner Demographic Profile found 22% of RV owners are between the ages of 18-34, and 30% of Millennial respondents told RVIA they were likely to purchase an RV in the next year.
McGuire said the two demographics are brand loyal and want to have a relationship with the brands they support. The generations also have a strong desire for information about products shared by peers, family members or friends.
“Think of how to build the brand strategy around brand loyalty,” McGuire said, noting the same Go RVing study found 84% of Millennial/Gen Z RV owners intend to purchase another RV.
The marketing manager said the best way to market to the generations is by marketing with them.
“Start with digital engagement to introduce them to the RV lifestyle,” McGuire said. “Before you think about selling, engage with them. There’s more to selling than talking about products. Make them want the RV lifestyle, such as remote work and traveling, but with the comfort of home.”
She said community is at the core of the RV lifestyle, so showing customers how they can live and travel sustainably, or have a smaller carbon footprint, can pay dividends for dealers. However, this requires individualized touchpoints with each potential buyer. To engage an audience like this at-scale, McGuire recommended engaging through limited touchpoints, such as one or two social media accounts, to start creating a relationship with future customers, or to maintain a relationship with current customers.
“Keep in mind these particular generations do not contain themselves to one particular medium,” McGuire said. “They are active on multiple social media accounts, messaging platforms and devices. That does not mean you should master them all — that would be too costly. It is best to master one or two social media platforms than to have an average presence on all of them.”
The IDS marketing manager recommend dealers work with scheduled reminders to ensure there is communication over long periods of time with each customer with personalized messages, such as birthday wishes or service reminders, storage opportunities, trade program invites or even event invitations.
The IDS experts advocated for using the NPS survey following a purchase or in-person touchpoint to find what customers liked their experiences. Using that list, a marketing team member can then reach out more specifically to consumers who would be more willing to leave a positive review online about their experience.
“The more online reviews you have, the more reassuring customers will find it,” said Savelyeva.
Dealers entering their winter training seasons can find on-demand education sessions through the RV Dealers Convention/Expo platform until Jan. 31.
