The chartered private jet market is growing, and steadily becoming accessible to a wider audience. While still very much a practice for the wealthier end of society, growing competition amongst brands and diversification of provider offering means the industry is beginning to dip its toe into the top end of the mainstream market.
With that in mind, how does a modern private jet business go about retaining its traditional customer base, whilst branching out to new potential revenue streams? Here are three key marketing strategies private jet businesses should be looking towards.
An Optimised Web Experience
For an industry so technologically advanced, the marketing efforts from many in private aviation can often seem somewhat ‘localised’.
For some, marketing efforts will only extend to single page advertisements in industry specific magazines or networking at aviation conventions. For others, the attitude will be that they already have success selling their product to a high-earning audience, so needn’t re-evaluate their marketing strategy.
As the industry changes, however, one should never get too comfortable, indeed there is always more to be done. For those not up to speed, this should start with boosting the visibility and usability of their web offering.
Every business should have an effective search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy, with keyword research and content creation boosting search ranking and driving traffic to the webpage.
Once you have visitors there, it’s important they stick around. Developing attractive, engaging and actionable landing page material will improve click-through numbers as well as offering the business an opportunity to generate information on customer profiles.
Embrace a Modern Demographic Through Modern Media
Right now, the bulk of the private jet customer base is older, wealthier and less tech savvy than the next generation of private flyers. As the market widens to incorporate a new target demographic, your business’s media offering should too.
Social media presence is huge for any respectable business, and private aviation brands should be no different. The active use of major social media platforms is essential, as is quality support content via up to date formats. Blogging, digital ads and live streaming should all play their part in building the brand and engaging new potential customers.
Furthermore, with mobile devices having long overtaken desktops as the primary source of web browsing, a mobile app seems more or less a must have tool to meet the demands of the modern online world.
Command Loyalty Through Membership Perks
Finally, as competition builds in the market space, customer retention remains as important as attraction. Developing a loyal customer base of regular users will make up the bulk of your revenue, so it remains an utmost priority to keep them around.
It doesn’t matter if the traditional market of private aviation is one of the wealthiest out there – everyone still wants the best deal possible on private jet price. Developing various membership schemes tailored to different parts of your offering that offer discounts, perks and incentives will be essential to keeping your customers interested.
For example, some businesses offer ‘anytime’ membership packages based exclusively on their empty leg flights. In exchange for an annual fee, members can access as many empty leg flights as they please. This presents excellent value to both sides – a regular customer will enjoy exceptional savings, whilst the business will generate revenue from repositioning flights.
Membership packages allow you to add a sense of value to an otherwise completely premium offering. As with any business, but even more so with high end services, regular custom should not be taken for granted, and developing a strategy to encourage loyalty in repeat buyers is a no brainer.
It’s an interesting and exciting time for the private jet market. There’s no doubt the industry faces a period of change for the better up ahead, and those within it will need to adapt accordingly. Through a solid marketing strategy, brands can find their way to new audiences, as well as keeping their current customers engaged. The brands who tailor their marketing best will likely be those leading the charge towards the next generation of private flight.
This sector, as most others, responds better if you adopt an online marketing approach rather than traditional market.