The state of superyacht marketing and the return of Make Your Mark

Social media might be awash with self-styled business moguls who claim visibility is the currency of success, but the cliché resonates for good reason. Sound, targeted and effective marketing is one of the sharpest tools your business has in a rapidly changing competitive marketplace. Yachting has come a long way from the colony of seagull images and an array of compass badges to a far more succinct, digitally fluent market. But, as the Superyacht Agency’s latest data reveals, there is still far more to be done to adapt and stay ahead of the curve.

As the superyacht sector becomes increasingly complex and globally competitive, marketing teams are facing growing pressure to deliver more with less. And with nearly half of companies operating on annual marketing budgets under €50,000 and many relying on micro-teams to execute strategy and content, it’s a difficult environment to navigate with clarity and confidence.

So, to give organisations a clearer view of what is changing, The Superyacht Agency has released the Marketing Survey Report 2025.

Read the full report here.

It gives a comprehensive analysis of marketing investment trends, strategic pressures, channel performance and emerging priorities across the industry. Here, the views of senior marketing leaders and decision-makers across the market reveal how audience behaviour is changing, expectations are rising and communication strategies are being forced to evolve.

These leaders from across the ecosystem, from shipyards and suppliers to brokers and charter firms to marinas and agencies, reveal an ambitious but constrained sector: digitally curious but unevenly equipped; outwardly confident but internally conflicted about what is actually working.

And these are exactly the questions we will put under the microscope at the return of the superyacht marketing, advertising and digital strategy summit, Make Your Mark, in 2026.

Yachting is a sector still driven by events, but how is it evolving?

Among the clearest trends identified is the enduring importance of face-to-face events. A majority of companies (63%) continue to allocate the largest share of their marketing budgets to events and yacht shows, particularly Monaco, Cannes and Fort Lauderdale, which remain central to visibility and relationship-building.

However, budgets seem to be gradually diversifying. Even as spending on events and yacht shows continues to grow, companies are beginning to devote more attention to areas such as website improvements, video content and digital tools that extend the impact of shows long after they finish. And although events remain the industry’s comfort zone, rising costs and questions around ROI mean marketers are increasingly focused on how to extract more meaningful value from them.

These shifts signal a recognition that future visibility will rely on more than just turning up in person. It will depend on how well brands connect, communicate and follow through once the crowds have gone home. Of course, events still matter, but the rules around how they drive value are changing.

What shared structural challenges are limiting growth?

Despite this progress, the report illuminates structural challenges that continue to restrict growth:

• Limited budgets remain the most cited barrier

• Many marketing teams operate as small or one-person departments

• Content access is often blocked by privacy and confidentiality factors

• Difficulty reaching the right audiences, even with increased channel activity

Layered onto this is a growing sense of saturation, with respondents repeatedly highlighting how hard it has become to stand out in a market where brands often look and sound increasingly similar. Marketers described rising pressure, shrinking bandwidth and the challenge of being “everywhere at once” with the resources of a micro-team.

Perhaps the more striking finding is that almost half of the companies from our survey do not invest in market research and analytics. This suggests that marketing efforts often proceed without the evidence required to understand what is working or to justify meaningful change. Activity continues, but confidence in performance does not.

Where do the biggest opportunities lie?

The data points to five core areas where marketers see opportunity and expect the most meaningful impact:

• More intentional, high-value events

• Deeper digital storytelling

• Sharper narrative differentiation

• Improved CRM and  data infrastructure

• Smarter audience targeting

These priorities reflect a sector ready to evolve, one that can maintain its heritage and human connection while also embracing digital sophistication and a more measurable approach to value. They also allude to a sector ready to break the cycle of sameness that many see as inhibiting growth, with clearer, more distinctive brand personalities. Coupled with this is a growing desire to shift from reactive marketing to a more evidence-based, performance-driven approach.

Read the full report here.

So what happens next?

Superyacht marketers are under more pressure than ever. Budgets are tight and timelines are shorter. The report offers the clearest picture of how the industry is changing, but understanding the challenges is merely the first step; Make Your Mark 2026 will tackle real, tangible solutions.

In Amsterdam from 19 to 20 March 2026, the two-day summit is a place to pause, reconnect, rethink and return to your desk more creative. Here you will get a concise playbook for contemporary superyacht marketing, learn from real campaigns with numbers, hear candid panels, benchmark your strategies against both peers and competitors and then leave with clear priorities, times and metrics you can own.

Book your seats now.

Click here to become part of The Superyacht Group community, and join us in our mission to make this industry accessible to all, and prosperous for the long-term. We are offering access to the superyacht industry’s most comprehensive and longstanding archive of business-critical information, as well as a comprehensive, real-time superyacht fleet database, for just £10 per month, because we are One Industry with One Mission. Sign up here.