32 Ideas for Maritime Companies on World Social Media Day 2026

Eve Church
28 May, 2026
10 Mins read

AI generated image of a container ship flying a flag with social media logos on it

As someone working in maritime recruitment or crew planning, World Social Media Day, which is celebrated annually on June 30th, might not be something you’ve ever really given much thought to. So what’s the point of this blog post?!

For a start, we originally published this post back in 2024, but since then social media has evolved, and the need for you to get your company in front of the people who matter is more important than ever before.

So, we’ve updated this post to make it more relevant to today’s social media climate, and given you even more ideas for content that you can post to engage with your partners, clients and seafarers.

We’ve also told you what’s changed since our original blog post and where you should be focusing your efforts. But first…

World Social Media Day was created to recognize the profound impact social media has on global communication and connectivity. Initiated by Mashable in 2010, this day celebrates the ways social media fosters interaction, builds communities, and facilitates the sharing of information and ideas across diverse cultures and geographies.

It’s a day to acknowledge how platforms like Facebook, X (formerly known as, and still generally referred to as) Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others have revolutionized personal and professional communication, enabling instant connections and the dissemination of news in real-time. Something that your seafarers probably greatly appreciate!

World Social Media Day also highlights the role of social media in driving social change, promoting digital literacy, and supporting businesses in reaching broader audiences. It’s an opportunity for users, influencers, and companies like yours to reflect on your social media usage, celebrate its benefits, and advocate for responsible and positive engagement online.

If you’re a crew manager or recruitment officer, did you know that you can use social media to help with your maritime recruitment efforts?

LinkedIn is an obvious place to hunt for seafaring candidates, but a huge number of seamen and women also look for work on Facebook.

And If you already post your maritime jobs with Martide we’ve got you covered because we post and promote your vacancies on our Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky and X feeds.

Martide's seafarer jobs listed on our website

This works well for us (and therefore for our crew managers and manning agents!) - we see plenty of engagement and receive messages from interested seafarers who then create an account with us in order to apply for those jobs.

This means, too, that they’ll upload their work experience and documents and become part of our candidate database and if they’ve set their profile to public, you’ll be able to see their profile when you’re searching for suitable candidates for your jobs.

So if Martide is doing all the heavy lifting for you and posting YOUR jobs on OUR social media pages, why should you bother creating your own company profile?

Today, most companies can’t afford not to be on at least one form of social media platform and creating a strong brand presence on social media has a number of benefits.

Here are just a couple of key reasons why your shipping company should leverage social media:

It will increase your brand awareness

Many potential customers research online before purchasing a service or product. Social media might seem like an unlikely platform for promoting your shipping company’s services, but it plays a crucial role in building brand awareness.

a woman working in a maritime job ashore looking at her PC

For small to medium-sized shipping companies, establishing an online presence is essential. The more people see your name and logo, the more memorable your brand becomes.

It will enhance your Google presence

When someone is interested in your shipping company, whether it’s a seaman seeking a job, a potential client, or a prospective partner, the first step they usually take is to Google you.

Having an active social media presence means that your company website and social media profiles will appear in search results. This increased visibility boosts your chances of connecting with searchers.

It will boost your company’s success

Many of those people or companies seeking shipping services or maritime jobs are active on social media. Promoting your services on relevant social networks can attract significant attention. Up-to-date stats are hard to find but a report from back in 2013 found that a number of shipping companies were very active on LinkedIn. And as the platform is consistently growing, it’s fairly safe to assume that’s still the case today.

While LinkedIn is often seen as a job-seeking platform, it is also a powerful tool for networking and establishing B2B connections. Using social media effectively can significantly enhance your company’s exposure and success.

However, a word to the wise; it’s all well and good signing up for a Facebook, X, Instagram or LinkedIn account, but you need to make sure you post, and post regularly. Otherwise anyone who does follow you is going to get bored pretty quickly and either unfollow or unlike your page.

neon thumbs up and thumbs down sign

Posting consistently and posting content that is relevant to your audience (i.e. other maritime companies or seafarers looking for jobs) is crucial if you want to create engagement and build on your number of followers.

As Hootsuite says in their blog post about how often to post on social media: “The answer to “how often to post to social media” varies by platform. But it will also require some testing on your own accounts.”

To dive into this a little deeper, and specifically for the maritime industry, here is a little more information to help you develop your own social media strategy.

Here we’ve listed the social media platforms you might want to consider posting on, the number of times a week you should consider posting, a few general ideas for content and the type of posts that will work well on that platform and for its audience, plus we’ve added some handy tips for 2026’s social media landscape.

Facebook

Frequency: 2-4 times per week
Content Ideas: Crew stories, vessel milestones, company updates, industry news with commentary, recruitment posts, community and charity initiatives, port call pics, and short-form video clips.

Good to Know

Facebook organic reach continues to decline for business pages unless your content generates comments or shares. Maritime audiences still use Facebook heavily, especially seafarers and older industry professionals, but quality matters more than quantity now. In addition, Facebook Groups now outperform company pages in many maritime niches.

Frequency: 2-4 times per week
Content Ideas: Industry analysis, recruitment insights, staff spotlights, leadership commentary, job postings, safety culture discussions, coverage of networking events, training and certification updates, and carousel posts with tips or statistics.

Good to Know

LinkedIn now strongly favors personal storytelling, employee voices, opinion-led posts and native documents/carousels. Purely corporate posts tend to underperform, so it’s a good idea to encourage your senior staff members to post from their personal profiles alongside your company page.

Twitter/X

Frequency: 3-7 times per week, depending on the relevance of your post
Content Ideas: Breaking maritime news, live event updates, regulatory changes, freight and shipping commentary. and quick operational updates.

Good to Know

The reality is that engagement on X is far less predictable than it was just a couple of years ago when we first wrote this post. As a platform, it’s also now less important for many maritime companies unless you’re a news publisher, maritime analyst, port, shipping journalist or organization covering geopolitics or live maritime events. In fact, many maritime audiences have partially shifted toward LinkedIn for professional discussion.

Instagram

Frequency: 3-5 times per week
Content Ideas: Vessel arrivals/departures, day-in-the-life content, reels from onboard life, port operations, crew culture, and environmental initiatives, maritime facts, before/after drydock content.

Good to Know

Reels are now essential - video matters far more than it did when we wrote the original post in 2024. Static photos alone generally perform much worse unless the photography is exceptional. Instagram Stories work well for polls, Q&As, recruitment reminders and event coverage.

Threads

Non-existent in 2024, Threads is a micro-blogging site – a bit like X/Twitter - but closely linked to Instagram. (You need an Instagram account to use Threads.) Adoption in the maritime industry remains somewhat unconvincing so you might just want to play around with it and see if it works for your company. It could potentially be useful for lighter industry commentary, community interaction and behind-the-scenes company personality posts.

YouTube

Frequency: 2-4 times per month
Content Ideas: Crew interviews, safety explainers, vessel tours, career advice, company/industry documentaries, maritime myth/fact videos, port operations, and drydock transformations.

Good to Know

Posting frequency is much lower on YouTube as high-quality video production takes time, especially in maritime environments. Therefore aim for quality over quantity. Plus, YouTube Shorts should absolutely be included now as they’re highly effective for ship spotting, quick maritime facts, behind-the-scenes moments and recruitment marketing

Frequency: 1-3 times per week
Content Ideas: Infographics, maritime-themed boards, safety tips, and industry trends.

Good to Know

Pinterest is generally low priority for most maritime companies in 2026 although it can still work for maritime training providers, marine interior design, yacht companies, travel/cruise brands, and maritime infographics. However, if you’re a shipping company or maritime recruiter, it’s rarely a strong platform. Back in 2024 we suggested posting 3 to 4 times a week; now you can treat it as an optional platform and forget it altogether, or reduce posts to an optional 1 to 3 times a week

TikTok

Frequency: 3-5 times per week
Content Ideas: Day at sea videos, crew routines, engine room clips, maritime facts and myths, port arrivals, time lapses, funny onboard moments, “What my job is really like” content, and career advice.

Good to Know

Unlike Pinterest, TikTok is arguably even more important now for maritime recruitment and awareness than it was in 2024. This is especially true for cadet recruitment and younger seafarers, as well as for cruise and life-at-sea content. Note that authenticity now matters far more than polished editing and raw, genuine shipboard content usually performs best.

If the idea of sitting down and writing or creating posts for social media sounds like something you really, really don’t want to do, there are plenty of marketing agencies out there who offer social media content creation and scheduling as a service, although this probably won’t come cheap.

social media icons in boxes

If you can find the time or you have someone on the team who would jump at the chance to be your social media person (maybe one of your Instagram or TikTok-addicted younger employees?!) you can make life easier by using a social media scheduling tool such as Buffer or Hootsuite.

Employee-generated content is now one of the strongest-performing content types in maritime social media. We’ve mentioned these ideas above, but you to reiterate, you should really be including content such as:

Crew member takeovers

Office staff perspectives

Cadet journeys

“A day in my role”

Onboard experiences

Vessel tours

This is simply because most audiences trust people more than corporate branding.

Other things to take into account:

Stronger focus on video-first content

More emphasis on authenticity

More employee-generated content

More educational/micro-learning posts

More human storytelling

More short-form content formats

Finally, with World Social Media Day upon us at the end of next month, we thought we’d be generous and give you a few more ideas for posts for your maritime recruitment or crew planning departments. Twenty five ideas, to be exact.

You can thank us later when your social media accounts are blowing up - in a good way!

Behind-the-Scenes Tours and ‘Walkthroughs’: Share short-form video tours of vessels, highlighting different areas – engine rooms, bridges, offices, or operations areas.
Meet the Crew: Audiences prefer these to be casual, not corporate, so focus on “Why I chose a career at sea”, “What my day actually looks like”, “My favorite port” etc.
Daily Operations: Post about a day or week in the life at sea, showcasing various daily tasks and routines. These work best as day-in-the-life and timelapse videos and are massive on Instagram and TikTok
Safety Drills: Share videos or images of safety drills being conducted on board. Focus slightly more on safety culture, crew wellbeing and training professionalism rather than just procedures.
Historical Insights: Share interesting historical facts about maritime history or famous ships. Historical content now performs much better when linked to modern operations. For example, “How navigation has changed in 100 years.”
Port Visits: Highlight different ports visited by the vessel with images and interesting facts about each location.
Environmental Initiatives: Post about efforts to reduce environmental impact, such as waste management practices, onboard recycling or fuel efficiency improvements. Note that audiences are more skeptical of vague sustainability claims than they were in 2024 so content should be specific, include measurable actions and avoid overly corporate language.
Maritime Technology: Showcase new technology or equipment being used on the ship. Talk about AI-assisted operations, digital navigation, predictive maintenance, smart ports and autonomous systems.
Cargo Highlights: Feature unique or interesting cargo being transported.
Weather Challenges: Share experiences and strategies for dealing with challenging weather conditions at sea.
Maritime Traditions: Explain and celebrate maritime traditions and ceremonies, such as the line crossing ceremony for seafarers.
Maintenance Projects: Post about ongoing maintenance projects and why they are important for safety and efficiency.
Training Programs: Highlight training programs and certifications that crew members undergo.
Wildlife Encounters: Share photos or videos of marine wildlife encountered during voyages.
Industry News: Post updates and news relevant to the maritime industry. Note that engagement is stronger when you add commentary, explain implications, and give expert opinions. Simply reposting headlines performs poorly now.
Customer Testimonials: Share testimonials and success stories from clients and partners. Update: video testimonials now outperform text, and case studies work better on LinkedIn.
Sustainability Goals: Discuss your company’s sustainability goals and achievements. In 2026 transparency and practical actions are important, rather than relying on generic ESG language.
Career Opportunities: Announce maritime job vacancies as well as shore-based career opportunities within the company.
Festive Celebrations: Share how the crew celebrates holidays and special occasions on board.
Rescue Missions: Highlight any search and rescue missions or emergency assistance provided.
Smart Maritime Solutions: Feature innovative solutions and practices being implemented to improve operations, such as the implementation of a maritime crew management software solution.
Cultural Highlights: Share cultural experiences from different countries and regions visited by your vessels and crews.
Maritime Legislation: Inform followers about important maritime laws and regulations. This content performs best on LinkedIn with the best-performing format now being simple explainers, “What this means for shipping companies”, short videos and carousel graphics.
Company Milestones: Celebrate company anniversaries, milestones, and significant achievements.
Interactive Q&A: Host a live Q&A session where followers can ask questions about seafarer life and office-based operations such as maritime recruitment and crew planning and management.
Day-in-the-Life: Posts and short videos about a cadet’s day, a port agent’s day, crew planner routines and bridge watch clips. This is one of the strongest-performing maritime content categories right now.
Myth vs Fact: Topics such as “No, ships do not dump all their waste into the sea”, “What seafarers actually earn”, and “Common misconceptions about shipping”. These are all excellent for engagement.
Quick Maritime Facts: Short educational posts on topics such as shipping statistics, container facts, navigation trivia, vessel dimensions, and trade route insights perform well and are especially effective as Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn carousels.
Employee Takeovers. Short videos like “A week onboard with our Chief Officer” or “Follow our Second Engineer today” posts are currently very popular and help to create authenticity and trust.
Mental Health and Wellbeing: Fatigue awareness, work-life balance, crew welfare initiatives and mental health support have all become important industry-wide topics. They’re also particularly valuable for recruitment branding.
Recruitment Advice: Especially important for maritime recruiters, posts can include CV tips, interview advice, certification guidance, career pathways and salary trends. These often outperform job ads themselves.
Myth-Busting About the Maritime Industry: Very effective for public engagement, examples of posts could be “90% of global trade moves by sea”, “What happens during a port state inspection” and “Why ships avoid certain routes”.

graffiti saying 'all we need is likes'

How Martide Can Help Your Shipping Company or Manning Agency

At Martide we don’t offer marketing or social media content creation services - we’ll leave that to the professionals. Although we do create our own posts - and if you’re not following us already, this is where you can find, follow and like us.

But what we do do is help small to medium-sized shipping companies and manning agencies streamline their maritime recruitment and crew planning operations.

From our searchable seafarer recruitment database to advertising your maritime job vacancies (for free) to document storage, contract creation and crew planning to syncing with travel agencies and port agents, we’re an end-to-end solution for busy crew managers and manning agents.

Want to know more about how we can help YOUR company? Get in touch with us today, or request your free online demo so you can really see what we’re all about.

This blog post was originally published on June 27th 2024 and updated on May 28th 2026