It’s May, guys. Can you believe it? The school year is almost out, Spring Break is behind us, and even the deepest lakes are finally starting to warm up (and heck, even if it’s still pretty cold out there, we know you’ve already been riding this year). The new 2016 models are not just filling showroom floors, but are already out on the water. And for those paying close attention, we even had the goods on what one of the Big Three are coming out with for next year – until we were asked to take it down. AquaX is already two races into its season and Round 1 of the Pro Watercross Tour is this coming weekend, marking the big kick off of the racing season (that is, if you care about racing).

Yet, if you’re paying attention to the breadth of the industry, it almost appears to be shrinking. Why is that when more and more consumers are buying new product, maintaining existing units and have more avenues and options to maximize their PWC than ever before? There’s two reasons: decentralization and variation of the marketplace. Think about it; an enthusiast can shop for riding gear, apparel and performance parts from more outlets, online stores or access retailers from across the globe (rather than their nearest dealer or shop). Locality is no longer a concern. This is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you run your business.

If you’re approaching today’s market like Kevin Costner’s “Field of Dreams” (ie. “If you build it, they will come”), you’re going to be waiting a long, long time. Today’s buyer needs to be shown that you exist and that your prices/product/service is superior to the competition. Sure, sponsoring a rider who gets a lot of exposure on the podium can help, but it’s not enough to convince the 98-percent who don’t give a flip about racing, but who do continue to love performance. And, if you’re hoping that getting your kid to operate your social media page(s) will do it, think again. How can you introduce yourself to new people by making posts to people who already know who you are?

Here’s how: begin an advertising program with The Watercraft Journal today. We are the single-most read, most popular, most quoted and most referenced personal watercraft magazine in circulation today. With over a quarter million annual readers and 1,000,000-plus articles read a year, we are the unequivocal leading media outlet in the PWC industry. No other magazine, page or blog even comes close. Do you want your company’s products and/or services in front of 250,000 new and returning customers? Of course you do, and through a combination of high impact digital advertising and brand-specific professionally-written editorial content, you can. But here’s why (in case you needed more convincing):

April 2016

Consistently Growing & Consistent Readership
Steady growth is something that few companies in and out of this industry have been able to maintain for weeks or months at a time. Yet, when a digital publication can do it, it’s almost miraculous. And more importantly, when a digital magazine within this industry continues to draw in new and return readership every single month since December of 2015, it’s uncanny. More and more PWC enthusiasts are coming to The Watercraft Journal, and why? Because the level of professional and consist publishing leaves every other website, blog and magazine outlet in its wake.

March 2016
Total number unique readers: 22,765*
Total number of articles read: 50,778
Percentage of new readers: 62.4%

April 2016
Total number unique readers: 24,971*
Total number of articles read: 54,308
Percentage of new readers: 64.4%

*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.

Professional Quality & Prolific Quantity
It’s important to note that in this day of immediacy that there is a reliable source for top quality, professionally-written magazine content that is published each and every single weekday. Pending a national holiday, you won’t see a day go by without new and uniquely-written articles from The Watercraft Journal. Providing coverage from the entirety of the personal watercraft industry – be it touring, fishing, racing, freestyle/freeride, or do-it-yourself tech – we bring the enthusiast the widest array of coverage possible. And we produce more sustainable content than any other publication, be them print or memory-sapping downloadable PDFs – both of which we don’t do.

News articles published in March: 30
Feature articles published in March: 7
Total feature word count in March: 9,164 words*

News articles published in April: 24
Feature articles published in April: 13
Total feature word count: 10,831 words*

*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 138-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.

Always Active & Ever Present
As we’ve said before, The Watercraft Journal doesn’t require any sort of download, or paid subscriptions or even a password to log in and access our industry-leading content. What that has done is make us the single-most popular outlet for PWC news, reviews, tech and coverage among watercraft enthusiasts. And with our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and weekly newsletters, we bring our content directly to them. No waiting around for updates. No checking the mailbox. If they’ve got a computer, a laptop, tablet, smartphone or Apple Watch, they can read The Watercraft Journal

April Facebook likes: 15,573
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, Canada, France, United Kingdom

Real Solutions & Real Results
It’s unfortunate that many fail to understand that starting a program with The Watercraft Journal is so much more than just buying an ad or two. It’s an active relationship with a media outlet that is working together with you to get your company out in front of more eyes than anywhere else in the personal watercraft industry. And we both know that there are still plenty of people that you’d like to reach. So again, if looking to grow your clientele, reach a broader audience of would-be customers and spread the word about your brand, product and services, let The Watercraft Journal be your resource and email kevin.shaw@shawgroupmedia.com about advertising your company in the single-most popular PWC magazine today.