Williams Family RV Finds Success With RVUniverse Editorial Ads & Priority Pages
“Where Memories Begin” is a great slogan for an RV dealership, evoking the breathtaking sights and scents of vacationing outdoors. A memorable logo with a friendly mascot complements the effect of Williams Family RV.
“The dog at the top is Buck, and he is our family dog,” says co-owner Shawn Williams. “He's kind of a mix, but black Lab mainly. From time to time, he'll come in and hang out and walk around, and people can see him. ‘Let the Buck stop here,’ that's what we say!”
RV Variety
Owned by Shawn and Susan Williams, Williams Family RV is situated in Robertsdale, Alabama, between Mobile and Pensacola on the southern Gulf Coast. The Williamses provide new and used sales of most types of RVs to customers far and wide, as well as service and RV parts. They got into the company in 2016, when it was known as RVs Unlimited. Later on, they bought out their partner and renamed the company to reflect its family-owned and -operated status.
Williams Family RV has been advertising with RVUniverse since November 2019, just a year after the easy-to-use RV marketplace launched. Right from the start, the dealership took out a full-page ad in every issue of RVUniverse magazine to significantly expand its reach to new customers.
“Sometimes I'll focus on some aged inventory that needs a spotlight,” says Williams. “Most of the time, I try to keep our specialty motorized units like the Renegades and the Midwest Automotive vans. I like to spread it out and just have a little bit of a variety of what we sell, so it captures all audiences.”
Online Outreach
Williams Family RV offers a range of Class A, Class B, and Class C motorhomes, travel trailers, destination trailers, fifth wheels, and more. The RVs Shawn highlights in his print ad receive featured listings on RVUniverse.com, which appear before general listings in buyer search results. The listings move upward in the search rankings when he runs an occasional priority page ad on the front cover or in the first couple of pages of RVUniverse magazine.
“I think it's had a huge impact on some of, again, our specialty items like the Renegade and the Midwest Automotive vans. I think we owe a huge rate of success by advertising with RVUniverse on those particular units. Very easy.”
Upgrading To An Editorial Ad
Recently, Shawn moved up to a full-page editorial ad in RVUniverse to give more publicity to several 2023 Gulf Stream Ameri-Lite 248BH travel trailers. An editorial ad in RVUniverse allows a dealer to focus on a particular model or floor plan, with room for multiple interior and exterior images and bullet-point lists of features and specifications.
“Williams Family RV had a large amount of bunkhouse travel trailers that they were having trouble getting moved with the slowdown in the RV market,” explains RVUniverse sales representative James Morgan. “They got them competitively priced but were still not getting the eyes on them that were needed to get them sold.”
Premium Listings
A crucially important part of an editorial ad is the premium listing the RV receives online. A premium listing appears at the very top of buyer search results on RVUniverse.com, above all others in its model group or category, so RV shoppers see it before any others. An eye-catching border around the ad imparts extra buyer appeal.
With a significant boost for the Gulf Stream Ameri-Lites from the editorial ad’s greater exposure, “we've been selling them through RVUniverse at pretty good rates,” Shawn says. “So, I think we started with about 98 of them, and over the course of a year, we've slimmed down to 30 of them. We might even be at 28 now.
“So yeah, advertising with RVUniverse has worked, and it's gotten [our RVs] out there. We were able to do it within about 10 months. For one specific unit, at that price—I mean, that's a great turn ratio. It definitely helped push it along, that's for sure.”
Branching Out With Forest River
Williams Family RV shows no signs of slowing down as of late 2024. “Last year, we became Forest River-exclusive, so we're excited to carry the Cedar Creek fifth wheel line, and we just acquired the full line of Rockwood. So we're excited about that, and we look forward to the growing success with Forest River,” says Shawn.
A Partner By Your Side
As the dealership’s liaison with RVUniverse, Morgan pitches in to help Williams Family RV grow. “He is always available,” Shawn says. “He's very knowledgeable, and he's probably one of the best reps that I've had.”
Summing up the RVUniverse platform, Shawn says, “It seems to work well. We get a lot of leads from it. We enjoy it, and we'll continue to use it.”