The Top Searched Makes and Models From Q1 2018

As your partner in the industry, it’s our goal to keep you informed and up-to-date with the latest consumer trends you need to know. With millions of consumers visiting our site monthly, we have the unique ability to provide you with useful insights into the search habits of your potential customers. We’ve seen some interesting RV data in the first quarter of 2018 that we’d like to break down for you. Check out our top searched makes and models of Q1 2018.

Top 5 searched models of Q1 2018:

• Travel Trailer 
• Class A 
• Class C 
• Fifth Wheel 
• Toy Hauler 

Travel trailers continue to dominate our most searched models with 15% of total searches in Q1 2018, dropping just 2% from Q1 2017. Class A models come in as a close second, resulting in 13% of all searches in Q1 2018. The numbers for the top five searched models of this quarter remain comparable Y.O.Y - consumers seem to know what they like and they’re sticking to it!

Top 5 searched makes of Q1 2018:

• Forest River 
• Keystone 
• Winnebago 
• Jayco 
• Coachmen 

Forest River takes first place when it comes to most searched makes in Q1 2018 - accounting for a total of 11% of all searches on RV Trader. Keystone isn’t far behind in second place with attracting 6.5% of all consumer searches. The numbers are also fairly comparable Y.O.Y, with Forest River still taking the top spot in Q1 2017 at 10% of all searches and all other makes claiming the same general ranking. We’re interested to see if any manufacturers shake up this list next quarter.

It’s hard to believe Q1 has already come and gone, and as the RV community continues to grow we are excited to see what the rest of the year will bring. How did your dealership compare with these findings? Did you see similar trends? Let us know in the comments below!

Using Video for Your Business

It’s not a surprise that we are in an almost totally digital age and we will undoubtedly see that trend continue to grow in years to come. As consumers evolve, it is important that, as businesses, we evolve as well. So while having a video strategy might not have been an integral part of your business a few years back - with the rise of YouTube (did you know it’s the third most visited site behind Google and Facebook?!*) - more and more buyers rely on video as a crucial part of their search.

Video has been an increasingly popular way for businesses to share their content, and YouTube is a great (and extremely popular) platform that you should be taking advantage of. Not only will it enhance your listings, but consumers love video - plain and simple. In fact, video is projected to claim more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019, and 90% of customers report that product videos help them make purchasing decisions, according to Forbes. Consumers love to research and want to actually see what they are considering buying before walking into a dealership. It’s important to offer them everything you can content-wise, both on your website and in your listing - and this includes video.

So, what exactly do consumers expect from your video presence? We asked them. If you are putting these videos on your listings (and we think you should), 82% are hoping to see a detailed walk around and an in-depth review of the unit. Pictures are always great, and definitely necessary, but video takes a user's experience to a new level. Your video doesn’t have to be extremely fancy or over the top, but should clearly highlight every aspect of the unit. While videoing, you also have the opportunity to talk about its perks and any features that make the specific model unique.

We know consumers want to see tours of the units (especially in your listing videos), but what else do they hope to find on your YouTube channel? By hosting a variety of videos on your YouTube page, you have the opportunity for consumers to engage with your dealership even before stepping through the doors. When building out your video library consider that:

• 38% of people said they’d like to see product reviews and testimonials videos 
• 27% would like to see how-to videos 
• 18% want to see RV tips and tricks

It’s important to realize that while listing videos are great (and should be included), it’s crucial to have a variety of different types of videos on your YouTube channel to keep consumers coming back for more. By providing a wide range of videos you assure consumers that you are a true expert in your field.

Plus, these videos are a great way to get continued engagement from your potential buyers. 52% of RV Trader consumers said they would watch more than one video, and 60% they are more likely to view your website after viewing your videos.

If you’ve been curious about creating videos and making a YouTube channel, but haven’t taken the plunge, we encourage you to dive right in. Once you upload your video to YouTube, the website makes it so easy for you to add the link to your listings, your dealership website as well as other social media platforms to encourage engagement with your brand - what have you got to lose?

*https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/39-youtube-stats/

What Facebook’s Newest Updates Mean for Your Business

Social media is constantly changing, and as business owners, it’s more important than ever to stay up to date with the latest news and trends. We all know Facebook is a huge marketing tool for businesses (both large and small), but with their ever-changing algorithms and updates, it’s often hard to keep up. We have broken down some of Facebook’s most recent updates and have provided a few useful tips to help your business succeed in new ways in the social media space.

Facebook’s latest news feed algorithm update is undoubtedly a big change for businesses. The social media giant recently announced that they will now prioritize public content from your friends and family rather than promoting businesses, brands, and media in an effort to maximize more “meaningful and positive” content. This means both brands and businesses are going to need to work harder to get in front of their customers. 

So, the main question for a lot of business owners is, “How will I continue to reach new and existing customers on Facebook with all of these changes?” Glad you asked! We have some useful tips to make sure all eyes are still on you despite these recent changes. 

• Get Your Customers to Engage With Your Facebook Posts - This means posting engaging content that users will respond to. Now, it’s not all about how much you are posting - it’s about the quality of your posts. The more people that comment on your post, the more people who are going to see it show in their news feed. Comments are king - aim to get a conversation started! The split should be about 80/20 with 80% of the time focusing on the consumer, the industry, and the units they might be interested in buying - and 20% focusing on your dealership and what you can offer them. 

• Go Live - Going live on Facebook is another great way to increase engagement, as these videos are favored under the new algorithm and often lead to discussions among users. One of your main goals should be to get your customers talking and some great ways to do this on Facebook Live is to share videos highlighting your inventory, have a Q&A session, or even make a big announcement that will spark excitement and ultimately conversation and comments. 

• Get Users to “Follow” Your Page - Facebook didn’t change the ability for users to follow your page - so encourage users to! When a user follows your page they are more likely to see your posts pop up on their news feed. Users can even sign up for notifications to get an alert each time you post. This could be a great conversation to have when buyers come into your dealership! 

We hope these tips have helped you realize that even if/when there are changes on various social media platforms - there’s always a way to reach your customers - it just might take a bit more effort than it used to.

Are You Using TraderTraxx?

We don’t normally like to brag - because it’s our goal to be an educational resource for you, not necessarily promote our own products - but sometimes, our own stuff is just too impactful not to call out in big neon-colored letters. And the TraderTraxx is definitely one of those things.

For those of you who aren’t already familiar with TraderTraxx, let me give you a crash course. TraderTraxx is a completely free platform for RV Trader customers. It’s included in your membership and it is full of reports designed to give you a more complete picture of how shoppers search and connect with your dealership. 

When you first log into TraderTraxx, you can easily see how your inventory is performing on RV Trader. The initial dashboard will tell you how many connections you received in the form of emails, phone calls, clicks to your website, live chat sessions, and printed maps to your dealership. You can also take a look at your inventory mix and adjust it right from this dashboard if you want.

From there, you can dive into the available data reports - which is where TraderTraxx starts to get really powerful.

First up is the Price Analysis Tool - or P.A.T for short - which gives you the ability to pinpoint exactly what the median price is for a listing of a specific make and year, without having to manually research and keep track of similar listings. And you can get specific too by looking at trims or roll ups to a main model - and for upgrades and accessories, we provide an easy-to-access link so you can review other listings as well. 

Pretty amazing, right?

On top of that, the insights you get from this report help you to understand if you’re priced competitively and truly understand the volume of competition in your market and nationwide. That’s right - these aren’t just general nationwide reports. You can actually look at this data for your specific marketplace. 

And I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet - Market Insights. This is not just one report, but three - all of which were designed to give you a better picture of the supply and demand for your inventory in your local market and nationwide. There are a number of filters (new/used, make/model) so you can view only what’s relevant for you, but each report will show you the top model years for each of the ranking makes and how many of those units are currently available on RV Trader. Basically, without having to manually search for it, these reports make it easy to see exactly which units are piquing buyer interest. 

And just to reiterate the most important part - this is all included in your RV Trader advertising so you already have access to all this great data! You just have to log in to see it - which you can do here. Also - if you want someone to walk you through this in detail, your RV Trader rep would be more than happy to do that for you! They love talking about TraderTraxx - so feel free to give them a call at 1-877-354-4068.

Consumers & Their Never-Ending Research Process

If we’re being honest, we would all love for the buyer’s path to purchase to be as short as possible, right? The sooner we can get them into the dealership, the sooner you can close the deal. But because there is so much information available online, consumers are now putting off that trip to the dealership, turning online to research and decide what’s going to work for them. The questions is, how long should you realistically expect to wait for a consumer to complete their pre-purchase research?

A while.

64% of consumers shared that they research for more than four months before buying - and of those consumers, 36% will research for more than a year. A year! But this is a big purchase for them so they are willing to take their time.

And if they are planning to research for more than a year, you can bet they aren’t just looking in the spring and summer months. That would be impossible based on that timeline. In fact, 90% of consumers said they search throughout the year for their next unit. This statistic is really important to keep in mind because we often hear from dealers that consumers are not in the market in the winter months, but the research shows they are.They are searching and thinking about that purchase they plan to make in the next 4-12 months.

And because we work in a passion industry, consumers genuinely like looking at units at all the time, which is why 84% said they search available inventory even when they aren’t ready to buy. They’re just seeing what’s out there, and while that might not seem like the most motivated buyer - 83% said they would buy if they found the right unit. These are buyers who weren’t planning to purchase, but because you have the unit they’ve been dreaming of, they decide to go ahead and pull the trigger. That’s powerful! They are like bonus customers.

The path to purchase can be long, and it’s hard to be patient waiting for the right customer to come along.

How & What Consumers Are Searching For

Once a buyer walks through the front door - everything gets easier. At that point - you know who they are and can ask them directly about their search habits, what they are looking for, etc. It’s trying to figure out what they are up to before they come into your dealership that can feel impossible.

The reality is that the majority of RV buyers don’t know exactly what they want when they start the research process. So when they come to RV Trader - what is driving their search? No surprise - a big part of it is price - with 28% of buyers saying it’s the most important in their purchase decision - but what are they searching for if they choosing to narrow their search? Well, in 2017, the top most searched manufacturers were:

Forest River - 9.8%

Keystone - 4.8%

Winnebago - 4.7%

Jayco - 4.2% 

Fleetwood - 3.5% 

Another important thing to note is that just over 19% of buyers chose not to use a manufacturer in their search at all - which isn’t a huge surprise because 84% first and second-time buyers told us that they aren’t brand loyal to a manufacturer. Instead, they depend on other search criteria - or maybe just searching generally by location. And as they move around RV Trader - the majority visit:

Search Results pages

Ad Detail pages

RV Trader Homepage

Private Party - Sell Your RV 

Dealer Gallery pages

Many RV buyers are more focused on amenities and budget - searching to find the unit that will fit best into their lifestyle and budget. For those who did choose to include a keyword - the top ones were: 

Bunk and/or bunkhouse

Diesel 

Toy Hauler

Used

New

King Bed

4x4 

These buyers need guidance. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, they are price conscious and aren’t brand loyal - so make sure you are catering your listings to be sensitive to these search habits. We’ve put together some tips in our Listing Success Checklist to help you build out your listings, if you want to check that out - or if you want to learn more about why it’s important to include a price, photos, and a description - you can check out these two recent articles:

Listing Price Insights You Can't Afford to Ignore

A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words...And So Is A Description

Two Winnebago Motorhomes Earn Top Industry Honors

By: Winnebago

With the introduction of four new models, including the Class A gas Intent and the Minnie Plus fifth wheel, 2017 has proven to be something of a watershed year for Winnebago.

Now two of the RV industry's leading publications have singled out the Horizon, the company's sleek new diesel pusher, and the Revel, its new 4x4 B-van, for special recognition.

Horizon: RV of the Year and Best of Show

The Horizon was recognized with RV Business magazine's prestigious "RV of the Year" award, given to the one RV that best represents the ability to “push the envelope” through design and engineering, and the RV judged most likely to "impact recreation vehicle product development down the road."

Available in two floorplans, the 41- to 43-foot Horizon features modern Euro-inspired design and styling, with high-gloss laminates, radius doors, plenty of stainless steel and backlit translucent panels. The overall impression is that of an interior that would be at home on a multi-million dollar yacht.

As Winnebago President and CEO Michael Happe noted, "When you walk in it, you feel like you could be in a flat in London or a condo in Manhattan... This strikes a chord with those customers looking for the RV lifestyle but wanting a contemporary design."


The new Horizon seamlessly blends function and design, reducing the need for onboard propane storage with features like an induction cooktop and a diesel-fueled heating system. Interior storage is abundant and extremely functional, and attention to detail is superb.


The Horizon also earned "Best of Show" accolades from RV Pro magazine, which singles out the best of the best at the annual RVIA show in Louisville in November.

Revel: Best of Show

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the rugged little Revel also garnered "Best of Show" recognition from RV Pro.

Engineered specifically for the Mercedes-Benz 4x4 Sprinter chassis, the Revel is designed for a new type of RVer, outdoor adventure enthusiasts who want to stray far from the beaten path. In addition to its off-road ability, the Revel incorporates a 200-watt solar power system, diesel-powered heating, and a cassette-type toilet for extended boondocking.

Other innovations that caught the eye of RV Pro include a power lift bed in back that raises to provide a 140-cu. ft. gear garage, a dinette with a pull-up table that converts to additional sleeping space, and a full wet bath that can also be used for storage or as a wet gear closet.

With four new models and top honors from the industry's leading publications, Winnebago is really hitting its stride, developing new types of RVs to attract new types of consumers to the RV lifestyle.