No, Captain Ahab, we will not develop your website for artisan harpoons. Please stop asking.
Your decision to choose a marketing team is based on a few central questions: Cost. Personality. How about:
How good are they at what they do?
Each piece of our team is a blend of concentrations. One is a filmmaker with a background in marina management. One is a web developer with a forte in project coordination. One is a creative writer who’s written dozens of articles with a skill in translating niche topics to a broader audience.
You get the picture.
We are a collective of talents. We are always learning more. We take pride in helping clients grow revenue effectively.
Case Studies
WEBSITE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Zombie Shark
After the launch of the site, Zombie Shark saw increases in website traffic, apparel sales, and email subscriptions. The increased sales allowed for an additional advertising spend. The company behind the film has gone on to make two more shark movies in partnership with SyFy since the release of Zombie Shark.
VIRTUAL TOURS
Marina Bay Harbor Marina
Marina Bay Harbor Marina is the preeminent dry storage marina and service center serving Clear Lake Shores, Texas and the surrounding Galveston Bay communities. General Manager John Judice won a Marina Dock Age Young Leader Award in 2021, and its operations exemplify competence, safety, and superior customer service.
The Challenge
Capture Marina Bay Harbor Marina’s gorgeous docks and property to appropriately represent one of the most sophisticated marina operations on the Gulf Coast with an immersive 3D experience.
The Process
- Hammer and Nail committed to achieving the entire shoot in one day in Clear Lake Shores, Texas.
- Our crew shot 21 stations that captured everything from the docks to the ship store interior.
- We utilized an array of advanced equipment including a drone and 360-degree cameras to shoot the marina from multiple angles.
- Our team’s background in composition and lighting informed capturing shots that exuded warmth and clarity.
The Outcomes
- Marina Bay Harbor Marina’s clean, ultramodern dry boat storage, ship store, and service center arenas are now properly represented with a comprehensive 3D tour that shows the essence of the most advanced marina on Clear Lake.
SEO
Lake Granbury Marina
Lake Granbury Marina is a VIP Marinas destination marina in Granbury, Texas that presents a thriving waterfront with onsite attractions like Stumpy’s Lakeside Grill, Stumpy’s Closet, Stumpy’s Sweet Shack, and North Texas Kayak, the region’s official Hobie Kayak dealership. The marina offers boat storage, boat and jet ski rentals, and of course, bread for kids to feed the carp from the docks.
The Challenge:
Lake Granbury Marina’s individual brand was tightly intertwined with its iconic onsite restaurant, Stumpy’s, and its digital presence was muddled with restaurant-related SEO. The goal was to power up the marina’s Google rankings and fully establish Lake Granbury Marina as the premier marina destination on Lake Granbury.
The Process:
- We applied our foundational approach by addressing NAP (Name/Address/Phone Number) errors on directory listings, building citations, and strengthening backlinks.
- We built additional SEO-optimized web pages like “Lake Granbury Attractions” and “Lake Granbury Weather” to capitalize on local SEO draws.
- We strove to strengthen the marina’s individual media presence with creative public relations-based avenues like bespoke media placement on Visit Granbury, the region’s major tourism platform.
The Outcomes
- Lake Granbury Marina dominates the major marine-related keyword phrases in Granbury, Texas, including “Granbury boat rentals” and “Granbury boat slips.”
- Between April and October 2024, the site’s average Google ranking across searches for Lake Granbury Marinas and marine-related searches rose 12 positions. The marina’s “Local Finder” average Google ranking for searches like “marinas near me” rose 11 positions from 17th to sixth, and continues to show an upward trend.
EMAIL MARKETING
Hammer & Nail Marketing
Yes, we are using our own newsletter as the case study. It is the root system from which so many client newsletters originate.
The Challenge
Create an original, voice-driven newsletter to publish bi-weekly with original, ultra-niche topics related to marina and marine-related marketing.
The Execution
- The newsletters are lightly humored but authoritative deep dives into what are historically dry marina marketing topics.
- Topics range from “good hurricane communication” (see right) to “boater safety” to “marketing for marina managers who don’t know where to start.”
- The model is designed to be visually bite-sized – no walls of text – with enthusiastic movie references and attention-grabbing introductions.
The outcomes
- We have translated the model of a highly niche, in-depth, community-oriented newsletter to six (and growing) newsletter clients.
- Client newsletters go out monthly (or sometimes bi-weekly during the summer season) with upcoming events, marina updates, and compelling call-to-actions for marina services and promotions.
- We curate and grow client mailing lists with bi-weekly or monthly list curation as new customers arrive at marinas and we interact with marine community partners.
- The Hammer and Nail team has produced unique, voice-driven newsletters every week for almost two consecutive years (We missed one single week in 2024 and it will haunt us eternally).
SOCIAL MEDIA
Kreepy Kustomz
Kreepy Kustomz is an ultra-niche clothing brand that custom designs your favorite sneaker into an artistic, bangin’ mural for your feet.
The Challenge
Grow a social media presence from scratch in time for Halloween.
The Outcomes
- Kreepy Kustomz posted for the first time on September 6, 2024. By October 20, 2024, its Instagram account had grown to over 1,300 followers.
BLOG WRITING
Marina Bay Harbor Marina
Marina Bay Harbor Marina exists in a natural cove on Clear Lake, Texas, a Gulf Coast body of water connected to Galveston Bay. The marina competition on the lake is impressive, with close to a dozen marinas serving 2,000 acres of lake and a strong Gulf Coast sportfishing community.
The Challenge
Marina Bay Harbor Marina is the only marina to offer live shrimp bait on Clear Lake at its ship store and one of just two local marinas (as of October 2024) that offers ethanol-free gasoline.
The challenge was to write two original SEO-optimized blog articles that would dominate the local search volume for “live bait at Clear Lake” and “ethanol-free gasoline at Clear Lake.”
The Process
- We set the article standards at 1,000 words each, with a tone directed to be authoritative yet framed with low to neutral bias to offer a truly informative deep dive.
The Outcomes
- The “live shrimp bait” article rose to fourth on Google’s first page for local search terms related to “live bait on Clear Lake.”
- The “ethanol-free gasoline” article rose to first on Google’s first page for local search variations of “ethanol-free gasoline on Clear Lake.”
Interested in working with us?
FROM OUR BLOG
Granbury’s Stumpy’s Lakeside Grill earns Honorable Mention in Marinalife’s 2024 Reader’s Choice Awards
VIP Marinas Group’s Stumpy’s Lakeside Grill was awarded an “Honorable Mention” in the 2024 Marinalife Reader’s Choice Awards for “Best Dockside Bar” by Marinalife.
The Great Marina Manager Migration: A 2025 AMI Conference Preview
The when, where, how, and how much of the 2025 AMI Conference. With two weeks until a week of education and networking kicks off, we ask: What’s going on?