Background:
We worked with a premium UK-based cruise retailer specialising in luxury and expedition cruise experiences around the world. The company offers a personalised service, matching travellers with the most suitable cruise lines, itineraries and experiences.
The company approached us as a newly launched start-up with a brand-new website. At the time, they were struggling to gain visibility in search results and had a limited backlink profile, making it difficult to compete within their industry.
The travel sector is highly saturated, with countless established brands vying for top rankings and media attention. Starting from scratch, the brand needed to build authority, establish relevance, and forge strong media relationships to stand a chance in such a competitive space.
Strategy:
Our goal was to raise their brand profile, build a strong backlink portfolio, and improve their visibility in search engine results. The brief was clear: win coverage on high-authority domains to support SEO, drive organic traffic, and position the brand as synonymous with ultra-luxury cruise experiences.
To secure relevant coverage across travel, luxury and cruise-specific publications, we focused on the brand’s core brand strengths: exclusivity and personalisation. High-intent audiences were a priority for the brand, so our digital PR efforts needed to go beyond links - we had to convert visibility into meaningful interest and sales.
We set out to position them as an authoritative voice in luxury travel by:
- Building relationships with journalists at high-end travel and cruise publications
- Aligning the brand with the aspirational tone and expectations of their target audience
- Leveraging their niche expertise to create timely, relevant and compelling stories
With lots of experience in the travel sector, we understood just how competitive the space could be. We applied proven strategies from previous campaigns to focus on what matters: content that was succinct, helpful, relevant, and aligned with luxury aspirations.
Our tailored approach targeted consumer media, luxury travel titles, and cruise-specific outlets. We used a mix of tactics - including data-led campaigns, expert commentary and strategic storytelling - to elevate the brand’s visibility in both media and search.
The nine-month campaign delivered strong results. Their domain authority rose from 9 to 31, with a total of 848 items of coverage helping to cement their reputation as a go-to name in luxury cruising.
Results:
Overall, we secured 848 coverage items and 859 high quality backlinks. Our focus on gaining coverage from a variety of publications means we ended with 142 new referring domains for the brand.
Despite the competitive market, we were able to cut through the noise and introduce the brand to a number of journalists, readers and potential customers. Over the course of just nine months, we earned high-quality coverage across a wide range of media titles.
Here are some of our coverage highlights:
- Luxury Travel Magazine - 1 x follow link, DR 72
- Travel Monitor - 2 x follow links, DR 53
- Luxury Standard - 2 x follow links, DR 26
- Travel Daily Media - brand mention, DR 75
- Cruise Lowdown - 2 x follow links, DR 19
- Daily Mail - 1 x no follow link, DR 92
- Luxe Magazine - 2 x follow links, DR 39
Our work delivered a significant improvement in domain rating, increasing from 9 to 31 - clear evidence of the power of a targeted and strategic digital PR campaign.
