In an increasingly crowded market, it is more important than ever to stand out and differentiate your brand from competitors.
The yacht charter market has seen exceptional growth in recent years. The IMARC Group expects the market to reach a value of US$12.12 billion by 2027, a growth rate of 8.50% from 2022-2027.
With successful yacht charter brokerages and new companies emerging with technologically superior yachts, the market is booming. So, how can brokerages ensure their boats stand out from the competition?
Relevance helps the world’s leading brokerages increase their yachts’ visibility through tried and tested marketing strategies.
Here are some tips to consider when marketing a charter yacht:
1 – Identify the yacht’s desirable features
Yachts aren’t always built with the charter market in mind. There isn’t such a thing as the perfect charter yacht. However, each charter yacht will have unique qualities that will make it appealing to a select target audience. This competitive advantage is key in such a stimulated market, and the marketing strategy must reflect this effectively for a yacht to benefit from its USP.
But what should these USPs be?
The offerings
A yacht must have something onboard that makes it different from other vessels; this can seem challenging when there are seemingly a lot of boats that have everything. Hence where differentiating is vital. Do you want to appeal to the younger generation? Perhaps, the technologically savvy owners? Or the more traditional clientele? The offerings of the yacht must fit the target market.
The crew
A professional and experienced crew onboard can make or break a yacht charter. Dependent on the yacht’s USP, there needs to be a crew onboard that can cater to these. For example, the boat will need health professionals onboard if there is a focus on health and wellness, such as nutritionists, personal trainers, and sports physiotherapists. Or, perhaps there are special menus on offer, and the chef needs to be able to hone in on these particular cuisines. If the yacht offers adventurous activities, the crew must be trained and coached to provide a faultless experience.
The destinations
The yacht charter market is global and seasonal, and the best locations are season dependent. Decide which destinations you want to charter and make these the selling point. Perhaps the yacht is an explorer yacht able to take guests to far-reaching corners of the world, or it focuses on particular gems in the Mediterranean, such as the Amalfi Coast. The captain and crew must have destination-specific knowledge to offer the guests local knowledge.
2 – Who are your clients?
To stand out in the yacht charter market, you must know who you want onboard and what kind of clients to target. While it is tempting to target all UHNWIs, if you hone in on particular attributes, this makes the yacht’s niche much stronger. Whether it be wellbeing, adventure, gourmet experiences, relaxation, culture or another focus, this should be reflected throughout the whole experience from the beginning to the end of the charter.
Regarding where clients want to be, Europe dominates the yacht charter market, with Asia Pacific as the next promising market. Knowing where your clients will come from and where they tend to charter is essential, and creating clientele profiles can help you focus on the correct market.
3 – Have a watertight strategy
Once you know what makes the yacht stand out and who you are targeting, a comprehensive marketing strategy comes into play. To increase charter requests, prospective clients need to understand the lifestyle that the vessel is selling. Increasing exposure with a robust marketing strategy can be done through various methods.
SEO
Firstly this includes a well-built website with SEO-rich content. First impressions are everything, so having the correct online presence is essential as it is one of the best ways to reach new potential charter clients. This is where SEO comes into play and is crucial in a marketing strategy. Simply, it optimises a brand’s online visibility, increasing website traffic and helping boost charter requests. The process is also about promoting the yacht in other ways through curated content and social media campaigns.
Visual assets
Another key method is through eye-catching visual assets such as photography and videography. Incorporating striking visuals into a marketing strategy is helpful in standing out from the crowd and promoting more brand awareness. Visual assets can help further reinforce the alluring lifestyle of yacht charters and connect with audiences at a deeper level, by tapping into their emotions and values. The superyacht industry is extremely photogenic, so ensure you utilise this characteristic with imagery that sells the yachting lifestyle, including alluring destinations and postcard-perfect sights.
Social media and Influencer marketing
Social media representation is vital in helping a boat stand out in the charter market. To ensure an effective social media strategy for the yacht charter industry, brands must showcase the correct lifestyle; the exclusivity, elite craftsmanship, heritage and superior quality of the yachting industry. This means less about ‘selling’ and more about creating a luxury experience based on storytelling. Recently there has been a shift in influencer marketing from the traditional model to the rise of genuinfluencers. Working with genuninfluencers will help represent a charter vessel effectively, as these content creators are more interested in sharing truthful information on the brands they promote. This is effective for the superyacht industry as it relies on reputation. Choosing the correct genuininfluencers to work with will heighten a yacht’s visibility and help put the vessel front and centre of the right target audience.
4 – Stay a step ahead
Future trends must be considered to get ahead in the yacht charter market. One of these trends is the increased demand for charters from younger generations.
The younger generation tends to be more eco-conscious. Each yacht should consider its role within the sustainability sphere, not only for the betterment of the planet but to ensure that the demands of eco-conscious clients are met.
Another trend driven by the younger generation is the rise in immersive technology. There is a vast opportunity for yachts to utilise the realm of augmented and virtual reality within their future marketing campaigns. One way is through virtual tours of the yacht, a powerful marketing tool whereby potential clients can get a feel for the vessel, essentially a ‘try before you buy’ element to the booking process. Offering more immersive technology onboard can also set a boat apart from others, especially within the onboard entertainment offerings.
The rise in new destinations, especially those off the beaten track, is a growing trend and should be carefully considered when finalising a yacht’s offerings. Since the pandemic, flexibility has been an important attribute, especially in the changing landscape of the yachting industry. Adaptability to changes is key within the yacht charter market, and reacting to shifting demands keeps brokerages on top.
Relevance Yacht is an award-winning digital marketing agency that helps some of the world’s leading yacht brokerages market yachts to the world’s richest audiences. Our services include branding, SEO, website design and development, content marketing, digital PR, social media, paid advertising, and CRM. Contact Relevance Yacht to learn more.