Internet is ripe for pool marketing: move to cyberspace pays off: when this pool group's promotional campaign went exclusively to the Internet, its Web site visits jumped by nearly 60 percent - Making News

Pool & Spa News, Feb 28, 2003 by Rebecca Robledo

A national marketing and referral campaign for pools has gained momentum since becoming a Web-based venture.

Last year, PoolPeople USA decided to drop its broadcast, print and billboard campaigns to focus on its Web site. The group, formerly known as Pool Pro Alliance, had joined forces with the National Spa & Pool Institute and renamed itself.

"It would take roughly $18 million to do a traditional national campaign and make an impact," said Mike Miller of Miller Davis Studios, the marketing agency coordinating the campaign known as the PoolPeopleUSA Marketing Initiative.

The move to cyberspace seems to have paid off. Since relying solely on its Web site to reach consumers, PoolPeopleUSA.com has enjoyed a 57 percent increase in visitor hits. The site hosted 235,465 visits in 2002, a significant increase from 149,675 in 2001. In addition, the average session length increased from 13 to 17 minutes. Sessions in other industries average six to eight minutes, according to PoolPeopleUSA organizers.

The site, which also refers consumers to pool builders and dealers, showed a boost in that function as well. The number of "click-throughs" to dealer sites more than doubled in 2002, according to Miller.

"This research shows that we are hitting our target demographic: We are getting leads [out] to the builders and dealers," Miller said. "It supports the belief that people are going online to research most major purchases nowadays."

Market research firm P.K. Data of Duluth, Ga., performed and analyzed a pop-up survey of consumers on the site. Approximately 40 percent said they were "very likely" to buy a pool within the next 12 months, and about 30 percent stated that such a purchase would be "somewhat likely."

For 2003, PoolPeopleUSA intends to grow its Web operation further. In the works are plans to add service and retailing firms and to expand its advertising to the search engine Google, as well as eBay and other sites attracting purchasers of high-ticket items.

Organizers predict the number of user sessions will jump to 372,553, said Miller.