Solved: Marketing strategies for a new yacht rental business?

Hi there,

Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on marketing your yacht rental business. It’s a brilliant business to be in, esp in a place like Miami, but as you can imagine the competition is pretty fierce. Getting your advertising right from the start is going to make a huge difference between burning through cash and actually getting bookings.

You asked about Google Ads, and I'll get into that in a mo, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. We need to look at the whole picture, from your website to how you track what's working.

I'd say you're right to look at Google Ads...

Honestly, for a service like yours, Google Ads should be your first port of call, even before you spend any more time on social media. Why? Because you're catching people at the exact moment they're looking for what you offer. Think about it, someone goes to Google and types in "rent a yacht in Miami for the weekend". That person has a problem, and you have the solution. It's what we call high-intent traffic, and it's much easier to convert than someone just scrolling through Instagram who might not even live in Miami or be planning a trip.

We've run campaigns for all sorts of service businesses. I remember one campaign we ran for an HVAC company, and another for childcare services. The one thing they all have in common is that the best leads, the ones that turn into customers, almost always come from search ads. People are actively looking for help. They've already decided they need a service, now they're just deciding who to go with. Your job is to be the most compelling option when they search.

Word of mouth is fantastic because it's built on trust, but it's not scalable. Google Ads is how you create a predictable, scalable flow of new enquiries. You put money in, and you get bookings out. It's not quite that simple of course, but that's the end goal.

We'll need to look at your keywords...

This is where the magic happens, and also where most people get it wrong and waste a lot of money. You need to get inside the head of your ideal customer. What are they typing into Google?

You'll want to target a mix of keywords. Some obvious ones would be:

-> "yacht rental Miami"
-> "boat charter Miami"
-> "private yacht Miami"

These are great, but they'll also be the most competitive and therefore the most expensive. So, you need to get more specific. We call these long-tail keywords. They get less search volume, but the person searching is usually much further along in their decision-making process. For example:

-> "luxury yacht rental for birthday party in miami"
-> "half day boat charter miami beach"
-> "yacht with captain for hire south beach"
-> "bachelorette party boat rental miami"

See the difference? Someone searching for that last one isn't just browsing, they are actively planning an event and need a boat. These are the golden nuggets. You'll want to build out lists of these, grouping them into themes. One group for parties, one for day trips, one for corporate events, and so on. This lets you write super-specific ads for each search.

Just as important is what you *don't* want to show up for. These are called negative keywords. You'd definately want to add terms like "jobs", "training", "buy", "sale", "cheap", "free". You aren't selling yachts or offering jobs, and you're likely not the cheapest option. Every click from someone with the wrong intent is wasted money.

You probably should sort your website out first...

This might be tough to hear, but your advertising is only as good as the website it sends people to. You could have the best ads in the world, but if your website looks unprofessional or is difficult to use, people will just leave. For a high-ticket, luxury service like yacht rentals, your website is your digital showroom. It needs to scream quality and trust.

I've looked at countless websites for businesses wondering why their ads aren't working, and 9 times out of 10, the website is the problem. It doesn't build trust or make it clear what to do next.

Some things to look at:

-> Photography & Video: Get professional photos and videos of your yachts. Not just static shots, but videos of people having an amazing time on them. Show the lifestyle. This is what you're selling, the experience. Stock photos won't cut it.

-> Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): What is the single most important thing you want someone to do on your site? Is it to fill out a form? To call you? To book online? Make that button big, bold, and obvious on every page. Don't make them hunt for it.

-> Build Trust: People are about to hand over a lot of money. They need to trust you. Add testimonials or reviews from past clients. Show any certifications or insurance you have. Have a detailed 'About Us' page. A professional design is a trust signal in itself.

-> Be Upfront: Have clear pages for each yacht, detailing its features, capacity, and ideally, transparent pricing or at least a 'starting from' price. Hiding the price just creates friction and makes potential customers think it's going to be astronomically expensive, so they might not even bother to enquire.

Without a strong website, you're just pouring water into a leaky bucket. Fix the bucket first, then turn on the tap.

What about other channels...

Once you've got Google Search running and bringing in leads, you can start to think about other channels. It's a mistake to try and do everything at once. Master one channel first.

-> Retargeting: This is a no-brainer. Someone visits your site from a Google Ad, looks at a specific yacht, but doesn't book. Maybe their boss called, or they got distracted. With retargeting, you can show them picture ads of that exact yacht as they browse other websites or scroll through Facebook and Instagram for the next few weeks. It's a powerful way to stay top-of-mind. This process is reely usefull for high-ticket services where the decision isn't made instantly.

-> Social Media (Meta/Instagram): While not great for direct lead generation in your niche, it's brilliant for branding and top-of-funnel awareness. This is where your amazing photos and videos come in. You can run ads showcasing the Miami lifestyle on your yachts. The targeting can be quite sophisticated – you could target people interested in 'luxury travel', 'yachting', frequent international travellers, or even people who have recently visited the websites of 5-star hotels in Miami. You use it to build desire, so that when they *are* ready to book, your name is the first one they think of and search for.

-> What to Expect on Costs: For a competitive market like Miami for a luxury service, leads won't be cheap. We run a campaign for an HVAC company in a competitive US city and they see costs around $60 per lead. For you, I'd expect a cost-per-lead (someone filling out a form or calling you) to be anywhere from $50 to well over $100, especially at the start. This sounds like a lot, but if a single booking is worth thousands, it's a great return. I’d suggest a starting ad spend of at least $1,500 - $2,000 a month to get enough data and see what works.

This is the main advice I have for you:

As you can probably tell, this isn't just a case of switching on some ads. It's a strategic process that involves setting a solid foundation, careful planning, and constant testing and optimisation. Doing it yourself can be a steep learning curve and its easy to make costly mistakes.

Getting expert help can often get you to profitability much faster and avoid that initial period of burning through cash while you figure things out. If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and see how we could apply this specifically to your business, we're happy to offer a free initial consultation. We can take a look at your website and map out a proper strategy together.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh