Marine Fabricator January/February 2023 - 47

For example, in the past, if a customer
asked about exterior spaces, we mostly
focused on cushions. But now, we are
creating covers and enclosures too.
We also took part in the Marblehead,
Mass., HarborFest festival during the
summer of 2022. I have noticed these
smaller, local shows are popping up in
a lot of coastal towns now. It was our
second year participating in this show,
and I think it's a great way to connect to
the coastal community: the restaurants,
the mooring services, the retail shops.
It's a diverse bunch of vendors, but I
think it's a way to network along the
waterfront-new marketing. We need to
remind ourselves again that it's not the
quantity of leads, it's the quality.
Hook, line and surfi ng
Over the past year, we have also built
a relationship with an online boating
" harbor " called HarborMoor (harbormoor.com).
It's a website that
brings boaters together in a forum
and helps connect them to vendors.
Again, I try to stand by the idea of
Onboard Interiors being a marine
resource. I like building relationships
among customers, their boats and
vendors. This online community is
still in development, and we are still
working out how to monetize it. My
hope is that sites like this can fi ll the
boat show voids and allow boaters
to fi nd the vendors they need and
continue to build relationships.
Energize your online " legs "
I'll admit that online marketing is a
weak point for me, and it probably
hinders our business growth. But living
through COVID is forcing everyone
to become more trusting of online
commerce. Facebook and Instagram
are electronic freeways for both meeting
customers and taking them places they
want to go. Thanks to Zoom meetings
and FaceTime, even older customers
are getting more comfortable online.
If our customers can keep up with
their boat electronics packages, they
can use the online marketplace and
so can we. We now offer customers
both in-person and Zoom meetings
to access our showroom. Making our
business easier to access online will get
it some " legs, " which is defi nitely the
way to market now and in the future.
Think outside the exhibit box
For the boat shows I will continue to participate
in, I'm trying to fi gure out a way
to make setup and breakdown easier. I absolutely
dread unloading all our samples,
photos, etc. and then waiting for that horn
to blow so we can pack up and run our
dolly out of the building as fast as we can!
I've noticed that some creative
business owners have converted RVs
and trailers into mobile showrooms.
For the past few years, Sunbrella®
has
brought a small RV to the Newport
International Boat Show to display its
new fabrics. In 2022, the Bitter End
Yacht Club had a trailer with a dressing
room inside and all of its clothing and
accessories. What a creative way for
businesses to display their wares.
With this in mind, we recently bought
a boat from former customers that we
had worked on a decade ago with the
idea of using it to showcase our work and
possibly even bring it to a boat show!
Yes, the marketing methods we use
need to change with the times. My love
of boats is the mainstay of our business
marketing. While I'm not sure I read
about that in my college textbooks, it will
always be the heart of our message.
Krisha Plauché is the owner of Onboard
Interiors LLC located in Marblehead, Mass. She
is a licensed U.S. Coast Guard captain, has a
certifi cation from Westlawn School of Marine
Technology and was a yacht designer for many
years. She is a past director of the Massachusetts
Marine Trades Association and is a member of
ASID, the American Society of Interior Designers.
marinefabricatormag.com | 47
" Nobody knows
the future, but
change is in the air
and our marketing
strategies need to
change too. "
http://www.bormoor.com http://www.marinefabricatormag.com
Marine Fabricator January/February 2023

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