Digital marketing helps increase awareness and build business for your RV park, connecting you to prospective guests online. Turning those prospects into actual guests takes experience and know-how. You’ll need an expert to craft the right message, in effective formats, across the web to make your online marketing investment worth every penny.
A generic marketing firm will make big claims about what it can deliver for your RV park’s online marketing presence. But not all marketing companies are created equal. Driving real results for your RV park requires specialized knowledge of the platforms and networks you’re targeting, strategic thinking to use keywords in direct yet creative ways and experience developing effective ads online and pivoting a marketing strategy as the landscape evolves. Just as you’d go to a specialized practice for specific medical expertise, so should you reach out to a qualified digital marketer with the experience to drive results for your business.
General vs. Specialized
A general marketing firm has experience in traditional print marketing and graphic design. These firms have evolved, following the ad spend of businesses as they shift focus to the web and promising to deliver impactful online marketing solutions. Adding the term ‘web’ or ‘digital’ to a company name and a digital coordinator to the roster doesn’t give a general marketing firm the years of online experience required for your RV park’s online marketing needs.
Specialized marketing firms were born online. As a digital first company, it honed online marketing skills to get the job done and done right.
Let’s compare the process of a general marketing firm with a specialized marketing firm and spot the key differences in how these companies can drive results.
General Marketing Firm (Joe Shmoe)
- Created a generic ad
- Set a daily budget
- Picked a laundry list of keywords
- Directed the searcher to your homepage
Specialized Marketing Firm (Pro)
- Designs multiple ads with distinct message variations and several calls-to-action
- Gathers data on each ad, pivoting marketing strategy to deliver the most clicked on ads more frequently
- Maximizes SEO by selecting the highest value keywords, limiting them to geographies and time-windows, and minimizes wasted add spend by adding ‘negative keywords’ to eliminate irrelevant searches
- Utilizes full platform capabilities, adding Google Display and YouTube ad networks
- Creates focused landing page copy that shares relevant information geared to the searcher’s inquiry
- Regularly analyzes results, bid levels, click through rates and other important indicators and relentlessly makes adjustments to achieve maximum performance and efficiency
Taking agile, expert-level actions, a specialized marketing firm increases the results, number of people that find and click on your ad, while decreasing cost per click, the amount you spent for each of those people that clicked.
Joe’s Campaign Uses General Search Keywords
Pro’s Campaign Uses Targeted Search Keywords
Pros use Negative Keywords
Pros use entire ad network utilizing display Ads and YouTube Advertising
More Eyeballs =
More Reservations =
More Revenue
The difference in approach, from general to specialized, impacts social media, email and content (SEO) marketing. Specialist firms understand the nuances of these different platforms and apply years of knowledge, and a well-rounded team, to craft your marketing in specific and efficient ways.
Truly effective online marketing takes a village. These specialized firms have an entire team, each dedicated to a platform, network or practice area, expertly triangulated to work to your favor and bring you the best results for your investment. From Google specialists who’ve mastered AdWords, YouTube and remarketing techniques to knowledgeable social media experts who understand how to harness the power of social engagement and community, firms have assembled experienced marketers from diverse areas of expertise. Each individual on the team plays a unique role in crafting, launching and evolving your online marketing strategy to become an effective money-making tool.
The term ‘marketing specialist’ has become an over-used and self-proclaimed title for many of these general marketing firms. Here are some useful tips you can practice spotting the difference between a Pro and Joe Shmoe:
- Research the team. Take a look at how many people make up the firm, if you see one or two, that might be a red flag the firm doesn’t have the fire power you’re looking for.
- Note the years of experience. If the firm is a ‘new-to-digital’ provider, it often doesn’t have the in-depth expertise.
- Find out where the employees are located. Some firms hire freelancers or overseas contractors to work on your account and might not be able to collaborate with you and your business to create successful marketing geared to your unique industry.
- Ensure the firm is a Google Certified Partner. Firms don’t automatically receive a certification; each one has to earn it. A Google Certified Partner badge is awarded to companies that have completed training, passed testing and demonstrated the skill and understanding to utilize Google ad platforms to the fullest potential.
Of course, as a Google Certified Partner digital-first marketing firm established in 2000 with a team of specialists that cover every aspect of modern digital marketing, we check all the boxes and we’d welcome the opportunity to work with you.
Online marketing requires investment of time and money. These steps allow you to go into a marketing venture with your eyes wide open, choosing a partner that will help grow your business and get you where you want to go.
Before you go all in with a firm:
Ask to see a sample copy of a monthly digital marketing report.
If a firm can’t provide a sample of a report it provides it’s clients, that can be a red flag. If a firm shares a report but it’s full of acronyms and jargon it might be best to say ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ Your marketing partner should make things easy for you to understand, communicating effective and clearly so you know where your investment is going and what the return is.
Check the reviews.
Online reviews never lie. Scope social media, Yelp and Google to see what other business owners, like you, have to say about a firm. Keep eyes peeled for marketing firms that have no online reviews are have five stars and no solid feedback, this can indicate they are paid bots or fake reviews.
As a digital-first marketing firm, Big Rig Media has built a team of specialist across practices – from web developers to SEO specialists – becoming a Google Certified Partner and industry expert. Whether you choose Big Rig Media, or another specialized firm you have the tools and knowledge to ensure you’re working with a partner that has the diverse knowledge and years of experience in your unique industry to drive the results you want.
Randy Hendrickson
Fred Morache
Chris Miller
Matt Snyder
Guy Vidal
Leah Amico
