The U.S. recreational boating industry generated $230+ billion (USD) each year. – National Marine Manufacturers Association

Businesses that fail to appear in search results lose over 50% of purchase opportunities. – Google Consumer Insights

The avg. new powerboat in the U.S. has a sales price between $30,000-$60,000 (USD). Lots of categories exceed that range. – IBISWorld

Anyone in the marine business knows that this particular industry is HIGHLY specific/specialized.

But specialized or not, it still has to conform to how business gets done these days, and most of it happens online first. If someone searches for a term related to your business and you don’t show up in that search, you lose a potential customer. Of course, most business owners are (painfully) aware of that, and they’re willing to invest in digital marketing.

But what if you take that leap of faith, you invest into a marketing agency, and then it produces zero results. Who’d be at fault here? Is it the agency? Or is it you; ‘you’, the marine business owner who hasn’t conducted research properly?

At the end of the day, the answer doesn't matter that much. You don’t need someone to blame, you need your business to thrive.

So, how do you know which marketing agency to go with to make sure you get that win?

You see, a specialized industry needs a specialized approach, and that goes for everything, not just marketing.

A sales process for a shirt isn’t the same as for a yacht, so there’s no point in following generic marketing tips you find on blogs online. What you need is an agency that knows enough about the marine industry, and that’s capable of combining that knowledge with expertise in digital marketing.

Lucky for you, there are 3 of those in this article, so read on.

The Marine Marketing Agency

Well, it’s all in the name. They do exactly what you’d think they would.

They’re not like most agencies are – a client shows up, offers money, and they accept. What this means is that if you’re a potential client who isn’t in the marine/maritime industry, they’ll straight up reject you. They focus exclusively on businesses working in the marine sector. And this is what makes them strong.

This is where their strength lies and they don’t want to dilute that.

Their HQ is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Yachting Capital of the World. They’re in close proximity to the clientele they service. Big players in the marina and yachting world, as well as boat dealerships. And they service them exceptionally well. The Marine Marketing Agency has a lot of experience thanks to this arrangement. Experience, which they'll paste onto your business.

If your business has anything to do with boating, this is the agency for you.

They know that this industry doesn’t face the same issues as companies in other markets, and their marketing strategies are adjusted according to that.

Also, the company is powered by Stellar SEO, a multi-time award-winning and top-rated U.S. marketing agency; this means you get the best of both worlds – knowledge on this specific industry plus experience in digital marketing.

They don’t have one single solution for everyone, which is a good thing. They talk quite a bit about having a plan before doing anything else. So, they won’t simply jump into SEO or Google Ads because they want to learn about the business first. They’ll look at how your company’s doing, who it has to compete against, what you want to achieve, etc.

From there, they’ll build a marketing strategy based on the information they have instead of having one package for everyone and hoping it works for someone.

As far as the services they offer go, they have everything you could want for building an online presence whether that means getting more clients, getting more exposure, or simply building your brand into something that’s widely recognized. SEO is the staple of all this, especially the link-building part, because without other businesses standing behind your, backing you, validating you, your business won’t rise to the heights you’d want it to rise.

But aside from just SEO, web design is also available, as well as paid ads (PPC), content creation, audits, video marketing, and competitor analysis.

And you can clearly see that as soon as you visit their website; you’ll see that they never speak in general marketing terms. Their entire portfolio and testimonials are all related to the marine/maritime industries.

Another thing they like to emphasize is measurable performance. The website explains that marketing has to be tied to business goals instead of getting more traffic or making more content.

As far as marine marketing goes (the whole package), The Marine Marketing Agency is definitely your number 1 choice.

Why the Marine Marketing Agency?

  • They don’t sell before doing research.
  • SEO (especially link-building) is their primary growth engine.
  • They are comfortable working with high-ticket marine clients.

Marine Marketing Solutions

Since it’s on this list, it’s no surprise that the second entry is also all about the marine industry. This is yet another digital marketing agency that focuses only on the marine industry; another specialized agency.

Marine Marketing Solutions offers SEO, PPC (paid ads), video advertising, social media, analytics, and web development in terms of services. Basically, they offer (almost) everything you need for a jack-of-all-trades strategy.

They don’t focus on one single marketing channel. Instead, they’re a full-service agency that can manage every single aspect of your online marketing strategy.

One of the more important services is location-based advertising, which is really important for marine businesses because many buyers look for marinas and dealerships near them. Buying and/or storing a boat is not a small decision, so it makes sense that people want to come check it out in person. Boats are EXPENSIVE. And you don’t want to buy just about anything; nor do you want to compromise. And if you already own a boat, you want it safely parked, so that it doesn’t get stolen or damaged, and if you need repairs/maintenance, you’ve got that covered as part of the marina-offered services.

And thanks to location-based advertising, you can filter/narrow down the demographics you want to target and show your ads to people based on the places they’ve been to.

That’s a very useful thing when you’re in an industry built around marinas, dealerships, yacht clubs, and so on. Marine Marketing Solutions also advertises boat shows, but that’s a separate part of their offering. And that’s actually a good thing because a lot of agencies treat this as something insignificant.

In terms of businesses they work with, well… There are many of them. The website mentions boat manufacturers, dealerships, marine electronics brands, boat rentals, marine supply stores, etc. That range is an important thing to remember because selling a boat is very different from promoting a marina, so you want an agency that acknowledges that difference and can work according to it.

You’ll find that they aren’t shy to show their numbers, either. They have over 30 years of experience, they’ve served more than 340 clients and have generated more than 12,000 leads (2026 data).

Marine Marketing Solutions is based in Toledo, Ohio, and they say that they’re a full-service option for businesses that want several advertising channels managed together.

Their services are especially useful to those who want to reach buyers around a specific location or event.

Why Marine Marketing Solutions?

  • Ads(PPC)-first approach
  • They specialize in geofencing/location services
  • They have stable marine media partnerships

Boat Marketing Pros

This list wouldn’t be complete without Boat Marketing Pros.

They’re a part of Atilus, which is a digital marketing company. It was founded in 2005 by Harry Casimir, a U.S. Navy veteran. Atilus has since expanded its work in the boating industry, so it launched Boat Marketing Pros because the company wanted a dedicated division that’s focused ONLY on marine businesses.

According to the company, this is what allows them to build marketing strategies in line with what the boating industry needs instead of using a general approach and hoping for the best.

Their goal is to help marine businesses get more sales and profit through digital marketing, which is most likely also the goal of every business that decides to work with a marketing agency, right?

Boat marketing pros offer plenty of necessary services for marine-type businesses: web design/development, SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, content creation, lead generation, CRM solutions, performance reporting, system integration, and conversion optimization.

What makes them special is that they also provide ADA compliance services. For a couple of past marine clients, they’ve also developed tailored tools, which is very interesting if your business would benefit from a custom-made tool that isn’t yet available on the market.

Ever heard of the Boat Dealer Inventory Connect WordPress plugin?

If you have, now you know who’s behind it. This plugin is super useful because it connects the dealership inventory with common dealer management systems.

What they also put great focus on is education content, all of which you can find on their website. They’ve also released the book ‘Marine Marketing Made Easy’ which is aimed towards smaller businesses that want to try tackling marketing on their own.

The website also has case studies, and one that’s particularly interesting is the one describing the work the agency did with Fish Tale Boats.

But we won’t spoil that for you; go ahead and read it when you find the time.

Why Boat Marketing PROS?

  • They specialize in dealerships/marketplaces
  • Offers (built-in) inventory management systems
  • Website, SEO, PPC – all under one roof (managed in-house)

Ok, These 3 Are Best For a Marine Industry Business; But Which One Should I Choose?

Do you own a marina?

If yes, go with the Marine Marketing Agency.

Do you own a boat dealership?

Boat Marketing PROS are your best bet; The Marine Marketing Agency is a close second (in case you get a better offer).

Are you a yacht broker?

Marine Marketing Agency.

Are you a boat manufacturer?

The Marine Marketing Agency. Marine Marketing Solutions is also a good choice here.

Do you specialize in marine accessories/electronics?

Marine Marketing Solutions.

Do you host/organize boat shows/events?

Marine Marketing Solutions.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for someone who offers SEO or builds websites, you can find that anywhere. Seriously. You don’t have to have years of experience and extensive knowledge in order to do that, which is probably why there are so many marketing agencies out there right now.

To be clear, many of them do excellent work and deserve every client that comes their way.

But businesses in the marine industry need something far more specialized than that. They need someone who understands the way the target audience acts and buys, and they also have to understand what this industry is all about.

The challenges, the profit margins, the ins and outs. If an agency offers you a package for your marina, but you see that they also work with sandwich shops and clothing stores, taking that offer is quite a risk.

When you look at a company’s website, you want to see that their focus is on businesses like yours. And that’s it.

Of course, no agency is right for every client, no matter how specialized their knowledge is. That’s probably a good thing, though, because every client has different priorities.

You have 3 great agencies to research now, so take a day or two to play detective.