If you own or manage a superyacht, you might be dabbling with the idea of increasing your charter revenues by stepping up your digital presence. If you already have a great superyacht website, such as the one we designed for MY Stafire, the next step is to join the social wave.
Why should your superyacht join the social wave? Because social media gets you actively connected with industry leaders, influencers and fans while your website simply waits for them to connect with you.
In an era where time is scarce, some consider social media to be the new email with its quick, timely and relevant interactions. As you share your story with compelling content across your social media channels, you let fans get to know the people behind the superyacht, creating the foundation to a great relationship.
But in order to turn fans into brand evangelists, you must have a clear social media strategy that includes great content representing your superyacht’s expertise. Once you have a strategy and a few original pieces of great content, such as infographics and blog posts, you must get the message out to the right audience at the right time through the right channels.
To help you better understand the digital yachting landscape, we have put together some of our wisdom to get your superyacht on the social wave. Here are our 11 Tips for a Social Superyacht.
1-Be reachable. To interact with you they need to find you.
Your website is the gateway to your social media channels; so make sure your social icons are easily findable on every page. Don’t hide the icons, but instead, be proud to be social and place them somewhere easily findable. Consider adding social widgets to your website giving a glimpse into your social communities.
2-Be Branded. Tell your superyacht’s unique story.
Your social media channels must reflect your superyacht’s personality. Are you a fun yacht, a classic yacht, an exploration yacht? Or are you just a regular plain old yacht? We didn’t think so. You must build your social media personality around the superyacht’s true essence.
3-Be Real. Show the people behind the superyacht.
You are more than jet skis, sun beds and staterooms. You are a superyacht, loved and serviced by a team of crew members. Your crew is your differentiating strength and must be put forward throughout your social media strategy. Don’t hesitate to share adventures, stories and fun facts about your crew to show the real side of your superyacht.
4-Be Engaging. Don’t talk alone, have two-way conversations.
These is nothing more boring than listening to someone talk about themselves for hours on end; don’t do the same on your social media channels. As a general rule of thumb, don’t spend more then 25-35% of your time talking about your superyacht. Instead, give your words to others and you will see them giving theirs back to you. Social media is all about team work.
5-Be Knowledgeable. Show off your expertise with others.
You are a superyacht. Luxury & travel experts and even brokers have a lot to learn from you about the industry. Share some of that wisdom and privileged information by answering questions from others and giving your opinions on related topics. Don’t just be there, get involved in the discussion.
6-Be Creative. Have fun and show your spirit.
You have a superyacht with a great personality; so now it’s time to show it off. Create compelling content such as infographics, videos, photos, blog posts, interviews to get people talking about your superyacht. You are living the life, so why not share it with those who dream of white sands and blue waters.
7-Be Around. Don’t join to simply disappear.
Getting to know your fans takes time and dedication; so you might not see any results in the first few weeks and months. Once influencers see that you are here to stick around and that you provide compelling content, they won’t hesitate in creating social synergy and give back some social love.
8-Be Everywhere. Build your presence where fans seek you.
Your fans are on every social network; so it’s important to have a unified presence across all majors channels. Since time is of essence, concentrate your efforts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram. You might also want to interact on a country specific network to target a specific clientele.
9-Be Personable. Show your personality and enjoy the wave.
Every social media platform has its guidelines; so don’t automate your Tweet, Pins and Likes, then forget about it. There is no better way to kill your social presence then to plug in a tool and forget about engaging. Your fans won’t interact with your superyacht if you take a robotic approach to social media. They will immediately see the disconnect between your interactions and your social promise.
10-Be Surprising. Engage your followers with unique content.
A little bit of this, a lot of that and a little more of this. The secret ingredient to a social cocktail involves combining questions, quotes, comments, replies, retweets, hashtags, pictures, videos, polls, giveaways, blog posts and everything else that fits with your branded strategy. Don’t repeat the same strategy every day, as you will see your social interaction fade away. Surprise to engage, then surprise once more.
11-Be Luxury. You are a superyacht, so you must act like one.
Since your online presence reflects your reputation, you must always act and talk like a superyacht. Social media is all about building your brand image, an image that is built on one Tweet, Like or Pin at a time. A reputation can be tainted rapidly; so make sure to have a clear strategy before you jump in.
Now that you understand the basics of building a solid branded superyacht presence on social media, the question is, what will be your superyacht’s social media strategy? Reach out to us if you need someone to guide you with your digital presence.
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