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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

It was a gathering of the sharpest minds, some of the most experienced and talented online vehicle marketing & sales thinkers in North America. The well known conference speaker for the morning session confidently approached the mic. He asked one, simple question …

“What’s your dealership’s most important advertisement?”

Silence in the room. Then, someone from the audience spoke up and consensus seemed to bubble over and fill the room. And, our speaker agreed: “Yes. It’s your Vehicle Detail Page, your online listing, the formidable VDP.” He continued, “The most important advertisement your dealership will ever create shows up exactly at that moment when an online buyer clicks on - and opens up - your Vehicle Detail Page, the VDP.”

“RV Marketing for the Digital Age” by RVT.com is designed as a Guidebook for increasing RV sales, by optimizing your current digital advertising, and showing you some new opportunities.

This Guidebook summarizes several years of online selling experience, extensive new research, along with much experimentation and testing at RVT.com. We have discovered various strategies and tactics that help RV dealers effectively increase RV sales.

From perfecting your online RV Detail Pages, to ensuring that your data is complete, to gaining a clear understanding of some recent advances in digital advertising, this is your Guide to increasing RV sales in a competitive - and ever-changing - digital marketplace. Enjoy!

Chris Mapson, RV Sales Maximization Specialist, RVT.com | Dealer Services

MAKE MORE SALES BY PERFECTING YOUR RVDETAIL PAGES

BAD DATAWILL COSTYOU SALES;HERE’S WHY

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SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN RV DIGITAL ADVERTISING

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MAKE MORE SALES BY PERFECTING YOUR RV DETAIL PAGES (RVDP)

Buyers who are actively viewing RV listings are typically low in the sales funnel and a purchase is likely imminent. The more activity you have on any RV Detail Page (RVDP), the more likely it is that you’re going to sell that unit.

“The greatest online behavioral predictor of vehicle sales is the activity on your

Vehicle Detail Pages.”Jon Quade, CDK Global

Arguably the most powerful moment in the consumer’s buying process is that all-important one or two minutes a buyer first spends looking over an RV listing.

Use a Minimum of 31-35 Photos Per Listing

Video - Increase Time Spent on RVDPs

Video on RV listings is up 220% in the last 3 years! (Source: RVT.com’s Google Analytics) But still, less than 4.5% of all RVs advertised have video.

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Better RV Detail Pages lead to more shopper inquiries.👍👍 😄😄 😉😉

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Create an Effective RV VideoRemember, you are shooting a listing video specifically for an RV buyer. In reality, it’s only buyers who will take the time to watch your video. This means it’s important to do a thorough product demonstration video. Walk-through the unit, demonstrate key features etc.

Improve your Descriptions

Break Up Long Blocks of CopyIt’s just too daunting and difficult for a buyer to read!

Just say “NO!” To ALL BLOCK CAPS

You never see a book, magazine or website in ALL BLOCK CAPS.

Why give an RV buyer text that they’re not

used to reading? More importantly,

online, all caps means you’re ‘yelling’ ...

STOP IT! v.

Incomplete Ads

Get MissedEnsure each unit

is complete with a unique description.

This will help your listings get picked up

by search engines AND is more

appealing to a potential buyer.

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Describe the Perfect Buyer for the RV and put them ‘Inside’ the VehicleMost RV descriptions launch right into a long, run-on sentence - feature-after-feature - about the unit itself. Switch that up ...

Who is the unit perfect for? Why? What are the top reasons someone would want THIS particular RV?

The idea of describing buyer “personas” in your written descriptions makes listings refreshing and causes them to picture themselves owning and enjoying the RV.

Ask yourself, who is likely to purchase the RV? Cater to that person, write the description for them.

Clearly Describe the VALUE of the UnitNot all purchases are made on price alone. Effective use of “value statements” in your written descriptions gives a buyer the justification they need to support an emotional decision like buying an RV.

Test out value phrases like: • “Highly sought after bunk house model”• “The awesome and affordable RV lifestyle”• “We don’t leave you ‘out in the rain’ - Dealer support - before and after the sale.”

In addition, be sure to include your dealership’s own “Value Proposition” - all that sets you apart from your competitors.

Get to the “Heart” of an RV BuyerOf course, your listings must tell the buyer about the features of the RV, so, rather than simply listing them out in bullet form, (as in a classic “feature dump” listing) use verbs and adjectives which bring your descriptions to ‘life’ by putting the potential buyer ‘in’ the RV.

Use descriptive phrases that touch the emotionsof an RVer, make it easy for them to relate to anawesome experience in the RV and ‘feel’ howgreat it would be to actually own and use it.

In other words, don’t “tell” the buyer what the RV has to offer, “show” him/her through your descriptions and then suggest that he / she takes action, such as of getting in touch with you, or scheduling an appointment to view it.

For more help writing alluring and compelling RV descriptions ...

Download a copy ofRVT.com’s RV Classified Ads HACK.

www.rvt.com/hack

Opportunity: Quite likely your competitors are simply loading their RV Detail Pages with long lists of features. They are probably not maxi-mizing their power to persuade, compel and in-cite action - elements inherent in a great RVDP.

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Avoid Duplicate Content

Definition: Duplicate content is copying (and pasting) product descriptions and feature lists from manufacturers’ websites, third party data providers (like NADA), or even your own website.

Duplicate content is bad for search.

Here’s what Google says:

“Provide high-quality content on your pages; This is the single most important thing to do.

First and foremost, you want to create original content.

Google tries hard to index and show pages with distinct information.”

Duplicating content is not advisable if you want strong search engine rankings.

In addition to this ... RV shoppers can tell that you haven’t spent the time to properly describe the RV, and will likely show less interest.

Features Are Fine, But Benefits and Calls-To-Action Drive Leads.To stimulate more inquiries from RV buyers, try this:

Take one or two of the most sought after features of each RV and describe the benefits of that particular feature in the body of your written description.

Why would any buyer ever want ... a power awning? ... a bunk house model? ... an upgraded entertainment system? ... A Generator? Etc.

Answer these questions by describing the benefits ... in your descriptions.

Now try adding a call-to-action. Something like this:

“This RV is powered by a Cummings 450HP ISL9 offering 1,250 ft. lbs. of torque. Coupled with its Allison 3000 series transmission, you can breeze

through those mountain passes ... you won’t even know your ‘toad’ is there! Give us a quick call to

schedule a full demonstration and test drive!”

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Duplicating ad content is causing your inventory to go unseen...

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“You must sell the company.” Jordan Belfort, author (The Wolf of Wall Street), speaker,

former stockbroker, at Digital Dealer 17

Put the Price on Your Listings!The debate rages on - should I price my RVs or not? So, we tested thousands of random ads on RVT.com WITH price vs. thousands of random ads WITHOUT price.

RESULTS: Listings WITH Price Get:50% more RV Detail Page views,

2.15 X or 115% more leads. CONCLUSION: No price = less leads!

Sell Your Dealership on Every RVDPWhat’s your dealership’s Value Proposition? Try this:

1. Use a photo of your Value Proposition and place it as the 2nd or 3rd photo for each of your units.

2. Then, have your Sales Reps include info on your Value Proposition in the response they make to Internet leads.

3. Now, when the buyer comes into your dealership, include your Value Proposition in a Welcome Package, or at least make it clearly visible / available in your Showroom.

4. And finally, incorporate your Value Proposition into your after-sale materials as well.

Not yet listing your inventory on

Millions of in-market RV shoppersBetter Ads - More Leads - More Sales!

Sign up for a free trial today!rvt.com/dealers | 1-800-282-2183 x 710

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If the data you input is incomplete or missing - search engines are unlikely to show your unit to buyers ... especially those who have ‘filtered’ their search with specific criteria.

BAD DATA WILL COST YOU SALES — HERE’S WHY:

Your “data” is the digital information you enter about each RV you are listing on both your website and third-party listing site(s).

This critical data typically includes: • Year• Make• Model #• RV Type (Class A, B, C etc.)• Mileage (motorized)• Price• Description• Length• New or Pre-Owned• Fuel Type• Number of Slides• Dealer’s Stock No.

Examples of “Bad Data”:• Model No. not included on several units, or … • The number of slides is left blank, or … • No price included on any RV in an attempt to

get buyers to call ...

Here’s Your Challenge:Search Engines sort and index data. They then send the results back to shoppers, potential buyers who are running searches for their next RV purchase. Even if your unit DOES show up in a buyer’s search ... if it has missing info (i.e. no price, no description etc.) this is a known* turn-off to prospects.

* “Online car shoppers say they are 3 X more likely to visit a dealership that lists prices.”

CDK Global

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Note, this is an automotive finding but is likely the case with RVs as well.

The importance of complete and accurate vehicle data cannot be understated.

While the job of entering data into your inventory is neither fun nor exciting, the most competitive dealers ensure this is made a top priority.

Quote from a recent RVT.com visitor, Jon:

“I find it frustrating the way too many 5th wheels posted (nearly all so far) have N/A for the

Weight and Length. Do I really need to call and sit on the phone with someone to find out for each and every 5th wheel I’m interested in? The info should be right on the plate and if someone is taking the

time to enter what little info they did, how about a few minutes more for some good customer service,

just my opinion. Instead, I end up Googling to find the data and end up at a competitor’s

site looking around ... not the desired direction I’m guessing you’d have me go. No need to reply, I’d

just rather see a fix. Thanks, Jon.”

Is your Data Missing Key Information About Your Dealership?Are you inputting your RV inventory data as one function and then updating your website - with all your promotions and special featured items - as another separate function?

When you send your inventory data to a 3rd party listing site (RVT.com, Craigslist, eBay etc.) does your inventory data contain all the info about the promotions and specials you’re running at your dealership?

Your 3rd party lead generation partners will be showing your data to potentially thousands of in-market buyers - each month.

Will those buyers learn about your specials and what sets your dealership apart from the rest?

If your promotions are not in your data and therefore not in your listings, then you’re paying your 3rd party lead generation partners to advertise to thousands of buyers - but not telling them about your traffic and sales driving promotions!

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The importance of complete and accurate vehicle data cannot be understated. While the job of entering data into your inventory is neither fun nor exciting, the most competitive dealers ensure this is made a top priority.

Examples of lost opportunities:

4,616 online RV shoppers opened up one of this dealer’s listings on RVT.com over 60 days.

And, guess what? Absolutely no mention of their “Summer Madness Sale” or their “Trip For 2 To Mexico” draw.

How many buyers out of 4,600 might have been enticed to come into the dealership if “Win a Trip For 2 To Mexico“ or their “Summer Madness Sale” was part of each RV listing?

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Opportunity: Add your Specials and Promotions into your vehicle data so they show up in your 3rd party listings.

Or, this promotion, found on a dealer’s website:

Nice “Fly & Buy Program.” Unfortunately the 3,800 buyers who opened up this dealer’s listings on RVT.com (in 60 days) didn’t find out about it.

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RVT.com Sales Maximizer

Goal: Maximize RV sales while minimizing ad spend.

Challenge: The digital landscape morphs and changes fast! It’s tough for my people (and I!) to know what’s best ...

Action: Request a no-obligation RV Digital Advertising Consultation with the professionals at RVT.com.

Results: Understand how to plant key selling messages into targeted, active RV consumer buyers.

Schedule Yours: meetme.so/rvadvertiser or call 800-282-2183 x 710

SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN DIGITAL RV ADVERTISING:

At the same time as you work hard to perfect your RV Detail Pages and optimize your Data, be sure you also take advantage of the many breakthroughs and advances in Digital Advertising.

Let’s Start by Optimizing Your Online Banner Campaigns:

Some Creative Best Practices:• The message of your digital banner

advertising should “tie-into” other campaigns you are running concurrently, including: TV, radio, print and your own website.

• Keep your Display Ads relevant (and up-to-date) with what’s going on at your dealership.

• Use similar themes, colors and offers for consistency throughout the marketplace.

• Change up your creative regularly. (Think weekly.) Fresh, new looks get attention and prevent ‘banner blindness.’

• With traditional media it’s challenging to change / update creative but digital ad changes don’t involve costly processes - such as changing a print page, or creating a new video roll or recording a radio spot.

• Online buyers are growing to expect more dynamic creative from you.

Keep Your Calls-To-Action Crystal Clear:• Instead of going three or four directions on your

Display Ads, focus. One call-to-action. Make it crystal clear.

• If the buyer clicks your ad about RV warranties, send them to your warranties page, not your homepage. Re-iterate your offer on the landing page.

• Whenever possible, send buyers to your own URL, not to a 3rd party site.

• Test click the ad, make sure it sends you to the correct page.

• Test your landing page, does it load fast? Are you receiving buyers’ emails? Etc.

• Do you have a system to process and follow up these specific leads?

• How’s your follow up system?

Landing Page Know-How:Instead of just using your homepage, make landing pages congruent with your Display Ads and offers.

Eg. Try landing travel trailer shoppers on your website, inside of a Search Results Page (SRP) which shows all your travel trailers.

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Your homepage is not always the best landing page for a Display Ad Campaign.

1-800-282-2183rvt.com/dealers

“Above the fold” isn’t always the best placement. We’ve seen banners at the bottom of the page get some of the best CTRs.” Shawn Friesen, SVP, RVT.com

Going Beyond the Click ...Clicks are simple for computers to count and report. So, clicks have become the metric of choice for many online marketers.

But never before have dealers been able to target buyers so accurately. Marketers are now considering the awesome selling power of the ‘branded’ Digital Advertising impression.

How much value is there in showing your brand / dealership to a buyer who is “on the cusp” of deciding which RV he / she should purchase and where?

And, what about the many online “touches” that are possible now, at the various “moments” leading up to a sale?

How much would you spend to take “first-place” in an RV buyer’s mind?

What about showcasing your dealership to thousands of buyers who are in the middle of making a purchase decision?

Tip: Present branded impressions to buyers at every stage of the buying process.

Location Based Targeting:• Target by zip code, for example.

• Match the type of unit you market to the type of neighborhood you’re marketing to.

• Eg. Target higher end units to higher earning neighborhoods.

• An excellent strategy for your Adwords or other Display Advertising channels.

Consider:• Showing a listing in your Display Ads.

• Drive buyers to an RV Detail Page.

Measure Activity and Learn From the Data• Use Google Analytics (or your preferred

provider) to set up goal tracking.

• For example, submitting a lead would be a completed goal on your website.

• Use tracking URLs on all your Display / Banner Ads. Easy to create with Google’s “URL builder.”

• Track goal completions back to the source campaign.

• Learn which campaigns are driving quality leads and ‘scale-up.’

• Which campaigns are not working? Fix or cancel them altogether.

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Which Ad is the Best Ad? A / B Testing:• Always create two versions of each Display

Ad and run them against each other. Then determine which one performs better.

• Constantly test: Ad creative, themes, offers, promotions, headlines, buttons, colors etc.

• Declare the best performing ad ‘winner.’ Create a new version to ‘compete.’

• Repeat.

Think “Contextual”:• Let’s take mobile for example - being

mobile-friendly is a given, but it’s time to think about the context of an RV shopper when he / she is using a mobile device ...

• Where are they? What are they doing?• Out-and-about, price shopping on your

lot? At your competition?

• What action do you want a buyer on a Smartphone to take if they see your Ad?

• Call you? View inventory on your (mobile-friendly ... of course) website?

• A special offer to ‘inspire’ them to call or visit?

“63% of auto shoppers researched and shopped online while at a dealership.”

Placed, Inc., 2014 - Mobile Device Use at the

Dealership: How Smartphone Shopping

is Impacting Automotive Retailing”

Get Creative With Ad Sizes and Placements:With so many different sizes of Display Ads available, plus a variety of on-page ad placement options, it is not necessary to use the exact same ad creative everywhere.

Try this:1st ad on the page - March 1 - Super Sale2nd ad further down the page - Don’t miss this one!3rd ad on the page - Dealership name & logo larger and smaller mention of Super Sale with ‘Click for Details’ (call-to-action.)

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Reach RV buyers as they shop. Run Digital Ads on RVT.com.

More info at rvt.com/dealers or call 800-282-2183

An RV consumer, from your selling region, visits RVT.com in search of their next RV. (Note: There are over 500,000 unique shopper visits / mo. to RVT.)

He or she does asearch, or views any RV listing.

Consumer leaves RVT

Ads for your Dealership are shown to this

potential buyer ... all across the Internet!

Never before have dealers had this kind of targeting power. Here’s why re-marketing is worth serious consideration:

The audience for your re-targeting ads is “in the market” for an RV (they’ve shopped your website or a 3rd party site.) They’ve searched for various RV types, makes and brands that you sell. They have even looked at your exact inventory! And, they’re quite likely located within a reasonable distance to your lot.

Re-targeting helps dealers focus their ad spend on real buyers, who are in the market today and located in their selling area. Plus, re-marketing messages can be set to continue for the duration of an RV buying cycle ... eg. 1 - 3 months.

A Strategic Note About Different Ad SizesRVT.com recently launched the largest banner ad space in the history of RV marketing & sales ... the “Super Leaderboard,” (or as it is affectionately known - the ‘Godzilla’ banner.)

The ad dominates the top of the RVT RV Search Results Pages. These massive 970x250 banners sold out - quickly. And, they’re performing extremely well for advertisers ... in some cases CTRs are over 10X the average!

(Shameless plug for RVT.com aside) websites are fluid and always changing. Display Ad inventory and availability changes too. Remember to check for new offerings frequently on all of the sites that you advertise on.

Re-Marketing

You’ve probably heard some buzz ... Re-marketing ... Re-targeting ... So, what is it? And, better yet, “What can it do for my dealership?”

Here’s an example of re-marketing (a.k.a. Re-targeting) and how it works:

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Tip: Test various placements on the sites you advertise on. Then measure click-through rate. 👍👍 😄😄 😉😉

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Targeting Example: Advertise across the Internet to: • Class A diesel shoppers (or any type)• Shoppers on the West Coast (or your State/

Prov, or States nearest your location, DMAs etc.)

• Stay in front of them for 30 days, virtually wherever they go on-line!

Re-Targeting “Audiences” - Some Clarification:For optimum results, re-market RV shoppers from these two distinct “audiences” ...

Buyers who hit your dealership’s website AND buyers from your region who shop on a 3rd party listing site (like RVT.com). These are two viable RV buying audiences. Re-target both.

Credit Paul Caldwell, Partner, Moore and Scarry Advertising, Denver, CO

Dynamic Re-Marketing

Dynamic Re-Marketing differs from ordinary re-marketing. Re-marketing allows you to show ads to RV shoppers who have viewed your inventory and /or who are from your region. Dynamic Re-Marketing takes the concept one exciting step farther.

With Dynamic Re-Marketing, your ads are built dynamically to show the exact RVs which each individual buyer has previously looked at!

Dynamic Re-Marketing in Action:Let’s say a buyer looks at your 2016 Keystone Fuzion 345. A week later, the person is on theweatherchannel.com and notices a large 300x600

Jumbo Skyscraper ad which features your 2016Keystone Fuzion 345 PLUS some of your other,similar inventory - complete with the photos, brief descriptions, prices and your dealership’s logo!Impressing buyers with the same units they have already shown interest in!

Strategic Click-through Options Worth Testing:When the buyer clicks any RV thumbnail in your dynamic re-targeting ad, it takes them straight to that specific listing. (Remember the importance of Time on RV Detail Page - the strongest known indicator of a sale!)

But, How Effective is Dynamic Re-Marketing?In scores of industries, the effectiveness of Dynamic Re-Marketing has been proven beyond any doubt. Google it.

RVT.com’s own Dynamic Re-Marketing ads are pulling an average 2.65% CTR!! That’s 53x better than the average banner ad (0.05% CTR.) Shawn Friesen, SVP, RVT.com

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For Even More Results:Schedule a no-cost, no-obligation Digital Advertising Consultation with the professionals at RVT.com.

Call 800-282-2183 x 710 or book a time that’s best for you at meetme.so/rvadvertiser

RV Dealer Services For more info: RVT.com/dealers Digital Advertising Rates: RVT.com/ratecard Digital Advertising Consultations: meetme.so/rvadvertiser List Inventory Online: RVT.com/dealers

United States726 Cherry St. #160

Sumas, WA98295-8000

1-800-282-2183dealers@rvt.com

Canada1102-1329 Ellis St.Kelowna, BCV1Y 9X5, Canada

RVT.com is North America’s leading RV Classifieds provider visited by millions of RV consumers who search over seventy-thousand new and used RVs for sale byowners and dealers. Built on a platform of bringing RV Buyers and Sellers together,

RVT.com has assisted in the sale of tens of thousands of RVs since 2002 and currently showcases inventory for hundreds of RV dealerships.