4 takeaways from the 2025 RBFF State Marketing Workshop

Graphic with a brown background featuring white bold text that reads 'Recap: 2025 RBFF State Marketing Workshop.' To the right, an illustration of two people fishing in a river with mountains and swirling fishing lines in the background. One person, wearing a pink jacket and overalls, is reeling in a fish, while the other, wearing a blue jacket and green cap, is reaching out with a net to catch it.

March 7, 2025

PayIt employees will share their insights in this series written by our teammates — showcasing the talent, expertise, and positive attitude that each PayIt employee brings to the company. This post contribution is from Nick Copelin, PayIt’s Director of Adoption Marketing.

We recently returned from the 2025 RBFF State Marketing Workshop in Baltimore, and we’re energized by the wealth of knowledge and strategies shared. Several key themes were evident in the sessions and presentations during our time.

1. Segment audiences and engage them where they are

Digital and social media platforms are effective outreach tools, providing valuable data and insights on what resonates with your audiences. Implementing audience segmentation will improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. Reviewing engagement and survey data will help agencies optimize communication even more.

Real-world example: Texas Parks and Wildlife used SMS marketing to increase boat registration renewals

2. Build advocates and superfans

Advocacy is the most powerful form of organic growth — and that begins with building superfans. Personalized experiences are a great place to start; they can strengthen relationships and ties to boating and fishing activities. And aim to surprise and delight customers. People will appreciate the extra little effort, especially if the positive experience was unexpected.

User-generated content and storytelling help convert casual participants into passionate advocates

3. Embrace AI and automation

AI-powered content generation can enhance marketing effectiveness and improve efficiency. Automating repetitive tasks allows your teams to focus on strategic initiatives.

4. Customer retention is top of mind

Retention-focused marketing should emphasize emotional connections. Personalization is a theme from A to Z: Tailored approaches reduce churn among different customer personas, and community-driven initiatives strengthen customer loyalty.

Putting these principles into action

We’re biased — but one of the best panels of the week featured a conversation on Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) with PayIt’s clients, Arkansas Game and Fish and Ohio Division of Wildlife. Representatives from the agencies highlighted how they are putting these principles into action and leveraging PayIt’s CRM as the tool to do so.

Conference presentation slide titled 'Leveraging a CRM System for R3 Success.' The slide features a blue background with white text listing the moderator, Stephanie Hussey from RBFF, and panelists Abby Rhodebeck (OH) and Lauren Weston (AR). On the left side of the slide, there is an image of two young girls outdoors near a body of water; one is kneeling and opening a tackle box, while the other stands holding a fishing rod.

From innovative campaigns to support their agency’s conservation goals to building relationships with prospective new hunters and anglers in their states, these agencies are leading the way in leveraging technology to support their conservation missions, and we couldn’t be more excited to be their partner in this mission! As a team dedicated to enhancing the outdoor experience through technology, we’ll continue to push ourselves and inspire our clients with fresh approaches to engage customers.