There’s been a fantastic response to the first four days of the 12 Days Of Christmas marketing posts on Instagram and Facebook. These posts are meant to challenge the yachting industry, and give individuals and companies some free marketing tips that help them with focusing on a strategy for online and offline promotion. We continue with more marketing inspiration to see you through the next four days.
Countdown to Christmas marketing tips: Days 5 to 8
- Write down a list of 10 questions your customers may have if they visit your website and see how easy they can navigate to find the answers on your website.
- Is your brand identity visible and clear? Your logo/brand colours should be consistent across your website and social media.
- Do menus clearly explain what visitors can expect when they click on a specific page? Can visitors find important information on your website such as contact information or pricing?
- Do you have clear ‘call-to-action’ prompts = Contact us, Learn more, Join our mailing list etc
- Have you included social media buttons on your website? Make sure the accounts are ACTIVE; what message does it send your prospective customers if they click on a social media account that hasn’t been updated for months (or sometimes years!) Integrating social media into your website means you have selective distribution of your marketing and your brand can control its message.
- Test your website functionality and design on all devices. Customers assume mobile functionality will be a part of their buyer journey. There is a major yachting media website that isn’t mobile responsive and I never use it because it’s a nuisance to browse on iPhone.
- As well as asking friends, family or colleagues to give feedback about your website you can try user testing services such as UsabilityHub or Hotjar.
Day 5: User Test Your Website
The superyacht industry is renowned for heritage, high quality and workmanship, yet so many websites in the industry aren’t user-friendly. By user-friendly, I mean they don’t clearly explain what the company offers and for whom, or they are hard to navigate to find basic information.
When customers make a purchasing decision in luxury sectors, it usually involves ‘buying’ something other than the product or service itself. This can be admiration, pleasure, refinement, self-reward or status. Therefore, you should make sure you ask people to test your website, so each stage of their buying journey is clear.
Here’s a few tips:
When I had the Antibes Yachting website built, I did A LOT of planning on how people might use the website, as well as testing various directory searches. I wanted a website that wasn’t complicated and anyone could visit and intuitively find their way around it. There are no banner advertisements to get in the way of the user experience, no chat bots popping up and no confusing menus.
A website is not only about aesthetics and design. By testing your website, it gives you the opportunity to see things from a customers perspective and edit it.
Day 6: How To Find The Most Popular Instagram Hashtags For Yachting
- You can use up to 30 hashtags per Instagram post. If you type a hashtag into Instagram’s search bar, for example #superyacht Instagram shows you other similar hashtags in the ‘Tags’ menu with the number of posts related to that hashtag. This is an easy way to create a list of top industry-related hashtags to use.
- You should research and test hashtags so you can see which ones work well and which ones don’t. Use relevant hashtags so your posts can be found; don’t just invent a random hashtag that no one is searching for.
- You can see below that hashtags contributed to a high percentage of views on one of my Instagram posts. If you’re not using hashtags you’re missing out on reach/views.
- I can’t stress the importance of market research! Is there an actual demand or just a perceived demand for your company’s product or service? Do a feasibility study so you get feedback about the long-term viability of your company and its pricing.
- Know what your competitors charge compared to the cost of production. Are you cheaper/more expensive etc? Is there a viable profit margin? The right approach is to define why customers will pay a premium to your company. The answer is simple; they will pay if they get more value and quality compared to another alternative. Therefore, differentiating yourself from your competitors is an important step.
- Build a perception that you are the best. This doesn’t always equate to industry awards, media interviews or spending huge advertising budgets. It means you educate your prospects that what you offer is better quality, better value, more comfortable, more convenient, more trustworthy or gives better results than what your competitors offer. Emotion is the strongest driver behind purchasing decisions, not logic.
- Educate your customers so you are the one they think of first when they’re ready to buy. Social media posts, newsletters, podcasts, videos and blog posts are great ways for you to stay in their mind.
- Make sure you ask questions to qualify if your prospects need your product/service. Converting leads takes up time, so you want to find out who’s interested as quickly as possible. Make sure your social media profiles say what you do. Include your website address or contact information.
- Follow up quickly. The sooner you reply to a lead the better. Otherwise they will leave – especially if you don’t turn around a quote quickly – and they will go ask your competitors instead.
In a fast-paced world, getting the attention of customers in the yachting sector is becoming more difficult as they can research and connect with your competitors 24/7, or filter out what doesn’t appeal to them.
Today’s #AntibesYachtingUnwrapped tip is about using hashtags on Instagram.
Hashtags categorise content and they break down geographic barriers to reach global customers. They help your target customer find you and they can be seen by anyone searching for them, even prospects who are not yet following you.
Here’s a few tips:
I save batches of hashtags in a Notes app so I can easily interchange them with each Instagram post.
Day 7: Pricing and Customer Perception
Today’s post is focused on pricing.
Luxury is no longer a niche sector, aimed solely at HNW individuals. Globalisation and the increase of e-commerce alongside brick and mortar stores means customers can find luxury brands across the world. They’re tech-savvy and research online, meaning you need to work harder for brand loyalty.
In luxury sectors, only a fraction of the total value is provided by your actual product or service.
Here’s a few tips to help you set pricing:
Hopefully these few pointers will help you determine the perceived value of your product/service and not the cost of production or actual value. Only when you focus on competitors, market trends and customer demand can you price your product/service precisely.
Day 8: How To Turn Interested People Into Paying Customers
The most successful brands create an enthusiastic audience for their product or service, even among prospects who are unable to afford it, but want the lifestyle you promote.
Following on from yesterday’s post about pricing, the ability to convert prospects (leads) to paying customers is one of the biggest factors to your revenue. And even better if they become repeat customers.
Usually, this process starts when a customer gives you their contact information such as their email address or phone number, or they take an action such as they phone your company or message you about your product/service.
Here’s a few tips:
Example: For Antibes Yachting, our packages are displayed on our website so the prices are transparent – I know that when customers want to add their business to the directory they already know what I charge. Therefore, I immediately repel a ton of customers who aren’t interested in what I offer, without spending valuable time or effort exchanging initial emails, calls etc. As well, our website lists the adhoc brand support we can offer such as public relations and press releases for boat shows which shows flexibility for clients and they can contact me if they need those services.
Thanks for reading the Antibes Yachting countdown to Christmas marketing posts. If you missed Days 1 to 4 in the #AntibesYachtingUnwrapped series, you can catch up here.
