Hard Stroking, Little Headway Analysis from P.K. Data, a swimming pool industry research company, reveals that the industry is not keeping pace with its economic drivers. New pool construction has only increased 2.5% since 2009, while the stock market and household net worth have increase many times that amount. Just 7 million US households currently have a backyard pool, but P.K. Data estimates that as many as 20 million US households could own a pool. Of this potential market of 13 million additional households, 6 million are prime candidates for an inground pool. During the industry’s best years of the mid-2000’s, there were approximately 180,000 pool installations per year. It would take 33 years to install another 6 million inground pools at that rate, and return to 2005’s rate of growth.

Making a Bigger Splash According to data from The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals, 2013 was the first year since 2010 that all three segments of the industry – inground pools, aboveground pools and hot tubs – had increased sales of approximately 17% combined. More inground pools were equipped with add-ons and upgrades, with an automatic or robotic pool cleaner included in almost 67% of all 2013 inground pools installed. California continued to be the #1 state in inground and aboveground pool units sold during 2013, with Arizona moving from #6 for 2012 to #4 for 2013 for inground pools.

A Reason to Smile According to the Pool & Spa News 2014 builders’ survey, 15% of respondents said their businesses performed much better than expected during 2013 and 36% said performance was better than expected. Only 14% said business was worse or much worse than expected. In the survey, 40% of pool business owners were most concerned about the unpredictable economy, 26% labor shortages and 10% high labor costs. In terms of their business priorities for 2014, 52% cited controlling costs as most important, 19% wanted to grow their customer base, 12% adding new revenue streams and 6% invest in new technology.

Big Diggers Pool & Spa News’ Top 50 Builders for 2013 generated almost $742 million in total revenues, with residential construction accounting for $572 million. An even better measurement of their rate of growth was the 9,910 pool excavations during 2013, compared to 7,156 for 2012. The top high-end builder was Caviness Landscape Design (#28 overall) with an average residential pool price of $714,838. The top volume builder was Presidential Pools & Spas (#4 overall) with 900 pool excavations. The top 5 US swimming pool contractors based on various criteria in Pool & Spa News Top 50 Builders were Cody Pools, Texas; Keith Zars Pools, Texas; Shasta Industries, Arizona; Presidential Pools & Spas, Arizona; Claffey Pools, Texas.

Swimming with the Social Sharks Pool & Spa News’ poll of swimming pool contractors and retailers found that more of them are discovering the value of a blog, with 22% actively blogging and 26% saying they plan to start a blog. Almost three-quarters (74%) of the respondents said they have been active on social media for 2 to 10 years, with 40%, 2 to 4 years; 19%, 5 years; 9%, 6 to 9 years; and 6%, 10 years. Although most of the poll respondents understand the value of the Internet as a source of leads, 47% said the Internet produce less than 10% of their leads. Only 11% said that the Internet generates more than 50% of their leads.

Advertising Strategies Show swimming pool contractors how well television reaches the affluent households that are their prime target audience, with news and financial news; sports programming, such as golf, tennis and horseracing; and high-end dramas and specials. Suggest that swimming pool contractors promote a free home swimming pool assessment on TV and social media, with a discount for those homeowners who contract for a pool. Swimming pool contractors can also use TV to promote a free swimming pool safety course for X number of families in conjunction with the Red Cross and a free assessment of homeowners’ existing pools to determine the need for replacements and upgrades.

Advertising Strategies Recommend to advertisers that they utilize TV advertising to create local brand recognition as a contractor specializing in high-end pools and complete backyard environments, and targeting their spots to Baby Boomers. Kids love swimming and adults love relaxing poolside. Television commercials run during family programs should focus on the fun and games a pool offers, while evening and daytime commercials should target parents by showing how soothing and refreshing a pool can be. A pool is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. Advertise these benefits. For instance, swimming is great for older consumers with joint problems; it's also a healthy low-impact cross-training workout for weight loss and heart health. Plus, it keeps kids active so they'll be tuckered out by bedtime.

Advertising Strategies Pool companies should reward existing customers for referrals for maintenance/service contracts. These services and referral programs should be advertised on television. Retailers and pool builders should sponsor local events such as swim teams and triathlons in order to generate awareness and to build goodwill. The company logo should be included on all marketing materials promoting the events - print, television, and Internet.

Social Media Strategies One of small business owners’ biggest complaints about social media is the amount time they must commit to its use. If swimming pool contractors could at least write and upload regular blog and Facebook posts, then they would start to see the value of expanding their social media use. Considering how strongly people are attracted to visuals on social media, swimming pool contractors should use YouTube to show the entire process of an installation as well as customer testimonials and Pinterest to show the great variety of pool designs and complementary landscaping ideas. Swimming pool contractors can maximize engagement on Facebook by conducting a poll and asking visitors to vote on the 5 inground pool installations of the past year that the contractor thinks is his or her best.