If you’re running Facebook (Meta) ads for an RV dealership, marine dealership, or powersports dealership, there’s a very good chance you’re leaving performance (leads, sales, money and lifelong customers) on the table.
After more than 13 years specializing in RV dealership marketing—and over 20 years in digital marketing overall—I’ve worked with hundreds of dealerships, manufacturers, and industry brands.
And I see the same problem over and over:
👉 Dealerships either run ads internally and plateau
👉 Or they hire agencies that don’t understand the product, the buyer, or how to convert traffic into sales
This isn’t a budget problem.
👉 It’s a strategy problem.
The Stat That Should Get Your Attention
Let’s get straight to it. Last month’s numbers.
👉 Total account spend: $5,917
👉 Total clicks: ~39,447
👉 Average CPC: $0.15
Now here’s what I was responsible for:
👉 $1,100 in spend (18.6% of the budget)
👉 ~18,333 clicks
👉 $0.06 CPC
Read that again:
👉 18.6% of the budget → nearly 50% of the traffic
Now here’s the part most dealerships never see:
👉 Remove my campaigns… and the rest of the account averaged ~$0.23 CPC
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The Real Problem: Your Team Doesn’t Have the Time, Tools, or Training to Win on Meta.
Most RV, marine, and powersport dealerships already have someone “in charge of marketing.” Maybe it’s a sales manager, an owner’s son or daughter, or a busy Internet manager who’s also juggling the website, inventory photos, events, and email. They’re smart, they care about the dealership, and they’re trying their best—but nobody has actually trained them how to build high-performing Meta ads for dealerships in today’s Andromeda world (Meta’s recent big algorithm update).
That’s the painful truth:
- They don’t have the time to stay current on Meta’s constant changes, much less test and optimize like a full-time specialist.
- They don’t have the tools or proven frameworks to consistently create benefit-rich, lifestyle-focused ads that convert clicks into leads and leads into sales.
- They don’t have the experience of writing thousands of ads and seeing what actually works across dozens of RV, marine, and powersport dealerships.
About six years ago, the founder of Tucktec Folding Kayaks reached out to me — back when he was still hand-building each kayak out of his garage. Folding kayaks weren’t even on the radar yet. But he’d noticed something fascinating: most of his early customers were RVers.
He knew he needed someone who understood the RV world — someone who could connect with his prospects and the outdoor lifestyle market — and that’s when he called me (back when I was still a full time RVer).
A lot of people in our industry know, I’m the guy who’s written more Facebook ads for the RV industry than anyone else and have helped hundreds of dealerships consistently increase their sales with my paid ads. But what most people don’t know is that I’ve also helped sell over 75,000 Tucktec Folding Kayaks, mainly to RVers and almost exclusively online.
And now, this same amazing folding kayak that’s we’ve sold to tens of thousands of RVers, we’re offering this incredible in-store wholesale opportunity for dealerships to make extra revenue and add more value to their customers’ adventures.
Video: Watch the Tucktec Folding Kayak in Action — see how it unfolds, sets up, and performs on the water in under 2 minutes! I made this commercial a couple years ago so disregard the weight (it’s lighter now) and price.
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Watch the video above (9-minute breakdown) — I unpack these two questions, give examples, and show how a good answer proves the marketer understands modern Meta Ads (Andromeda + AIO) and buyer psychology for RV, marine, and powersports shoppers.
If you’re short on time, here’s the short version: if the marketer can’t answer question #1, stop the conversation. If they can answer it — then ask question #2 and listen for specificity.
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Short version: hashtags are no longer the growth lever they used to be. Modern social platforms prioritize user intent, AI-driven relevance, and caption/SEO signals over hashtag-driven discovery. If your dealership still pours time into hashtag lists instead of investing in industry-specific content, geo-targeting, and performance advertising, you’re leaving leads and sales on the lot.
(This post explains why hashtags are declining in importance, shows what actually moves the needle for RV dealerships, marine and powersports dealers, and gives a practical, keyword-first plan you can implement today.)
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This morning I was asked a great question in regards to marketing in the form of paid meta ads for an RV Dealership:
“Are you able to run these with a geo-fencing campaign as well?”
The short answer: yes. The longer answer: let me show you exactly how this works and how RV, marine, and powersports dealerships can use it to grow sales, increase foot traffic, and dominate their local market.
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What social media channels/platforms should I be on as an RV, Marine or Powersport Dealership?
The general rule is you want to be where your customers eyes and ears are. The challenge is they are on all of these social media platforms and you have limited time/resources.
Which social media platform is best for RV, Marine or Powersport Dealerships?
We will answer that very important question in this blog post. First let’s breakdown an overview of each platform and ways dealerships can be successful on each platform.
You’ll notice I’m sharing a link to Shorelooksnice for each platform so you can get an idea of what that platform is like if there is one you’re unfamiliar with (this also helps me with SEO).
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ShorelooksNice Marketing: Boosting RV and Marine Dealership Social Media
As an RV marketer, I’m always on the lookout for ways to boost social media engagement for RV and marine dealerships. One effective strategy is to showcase stunning destinations that appeal to RV owners and marine enthusiasts. Here are six prime examples of RV resorts and parks that offer a mix of relaxation, adventure, and scenic beauty.
These also can be broken up into posts for various platforms.
1. North Myrtle Beach RV Resort and Dry Dock Marina: Water Sports Galore
This resort is a haven for families and water sports enthusiasts. With amenities like pools, restaurants, and swim areas, it’s a perfect spot for RV owners. They have a nice table area near the docks where I was able to get some paid google and meta ads for RV Dealerships built while I was working remote.
- Targeted amenities: Pools, restaurants, and swim areas
- Water sports: Fish for catfish, rent a pontoon or jet ski, and cruise the ocean or Intracoastal Waterway
- Prime dock access: Boat dock on site
- Pet paradise: Dog-friendly and pet-friendly facilities
Marine, RV and Powersports Dealerships can now get an edge on their competition with local SEO utilizing Instagram Account to grow new or pre-owned unit sales.
Recently Instagram said that posts by RV, Marine and Powersport Dealerships are being indexed by Google. This significant change means your Dealer’s Instagram content will now appear alongside your blog posts and website in search results.
If you’re not optimizing your Instagram presence to sell RVs, boats, or powersports; you’re potentially leaving your dealership stuck in neutral while your competitors take the wheel of the local google search ranking you could have.
With over a decade of experience in social media marketing for the RV industry, I see this as a game-changer for local dealerships like yours. Imagine having your Instagram posts show up when people search for RVs or boats in your area, putting your dealership on the road to increased visibility online, more leads and driving more foot traffic to your doorstep.
Marketing for RV Dealerships is in a place right now where a lot of Dealers are trying to figure out what’s working to increase sales. With sales in the RV Market down again this year and with a lot of variables in the market right now, dealerships are wondering where and how to put their marketing dollars.
Most people don’t have good data on what a good social media ad campaign looks like or know how much to spend for their ad budget, and who to trust with such an important and specific role to get consistent sales through social media marketing for their RV Dealership.
I have The Data and I’m going to give it to you!
After all the conversations I’ve had with RV & Marine Dealerships this year I decided to study and document the Facebook Ads for 577 RV Dealerships (that’s thousands of ads).
It was disheartening to see how terrible the ads were for most Dealerships. So much money has been wasted on bad ads that are targeted to the wrong people.
The good news is that we can make an impact not only on your Dealership’s sales but on the RV & Marine Industries as a whole! I expect many RV, Marine and Powersport Dealerships owners, GMs, marketing mgrs, sales teams, manufacture executives, etc are reading this.
If that’s you, would you please share this post with some people on your team or who you think would find this interesting or could benefit by seeing what good and bad FB Ads look like? Thanks in advance!
Now let’s get into some of the negative before we get to the good…
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