Media mix and affiliation: how SamBoat reduces its reliance on paid search

The number one boat rental platform for individuals and professionals.

SamBoat’s mission is to democratize boating, ensuring that anyone—from novices to experienced skippers—can find the perfect boat that matches their needs. As the online boat rental market leader, SamBoat is driven by four core commitments: democratizing the nautical world, making escape accessible to everyone, digitalizing the boating industry, and educating captains on the ecological impact of boating on marine ecosystems.

The challenge

Diversifying online acquisition channels

• Autonomous localization: creating and developing an independent network of affinity partners managed in-house by local country teams.
• Competitive edge: establishing a strong, unique competitive advantage and securing premium digital visibility.

The objectives

• Significantly reducing the brand’s heavy reliance on traditional serp (search engine result pages),
• Specifically across organic listings (seo) and paid advertising channels (sea). The priority was to minimize budget exposure to paid google ads acquisition campaigns.

The strategy

• Multi-market program architecture: launching dedicated affiliate programs tailored to each european market to build targeted, localized partner networks.
• Cpa migration for travel publishers: challenging the flat-fee payment structures traditionally demanded by major travel industry players, successfully pivoting them toward high-performance cpa models.
• Automated catalog syndication: distributing a real-time data feed listing available boats to automate display ads across partner websites, triggering a 500% increase in ctr.
• Sustainable partner scaling: negotiating exclusive, long-term partnerships built on mutual growth to foster sustainable brand advocacy.
• Advanced multi-touch attribution: deploying a dual-tracking methodology across acquisition levers to refine customer journey insights and optimize campaign targeting.