Low-cost marketing tips that will keep your charter company flying

The economy has been in a slump for some time, and while there are signs of improvement, the recovery is not here quite yet. Unfortunately, aviation has taken a disproportionate hit during these tough times, undeservedly positioned by the media as a prime example of corporate excess. Automobile executives flying corporate jets to Senate hearings only added fuel to the fire, and flamed an anti-aviation agenda in the news media.

Even those not hard hit by the economic downturn feel it is bad taste to flaunt their wealth. For example, a neighbor is installing a luxury pool in their backyard, but won’t allow the contractor to place a lawn sign advertising the pool company so as not to draw attention to this display of wealth.

Aircraft Charter Especially Susceptible in Tough Times

In good economic times, wealth expands, allowing for discretionary dollars to flow towards activities like private jet travel. During a recession, the opposite occurs, and businesses look to cut costs. They limit air travel in general and air charter in particular. Because an air charter company’s aircraft and infrastructure costs remain fixed despite the economic climate, an extended downturn can have a major impact on the company’s ability to sustain itself resulting with a number of high profile companies like JetDirect going bankrupt.

Smart Marketing Can Help Your Air Charter Company Get Through Tough Economic Times

In a down economy, aircraft charter companies that are able to maintain – even increase their marketing and sales efforts, through a smart, low-cost marketing program – will be best able to weather the downturn and emerge even stronger when the economy eventually improves.

Aircraft Charter Recession Strategy

PART I: Utilize cost-effective marketing tools

The first part of the air charter recession strategy is to utilize low-cost marketing tools that can have an immediate impact in generating sales. Look no further than your website.

1. How easy is it to book a flight or request a quote from your website? Many air charter websites have the ability to request a quote right from the homepage. Prospective customers may visit two or three websites. The one easiest to use, wins the business.
2. Is your website optimized for search engines? Will a prospective customer find you via a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search for air charter in your particular city? If you type “aircraft charter (your city)” into Google and your website does not appear in the first three pages, then you are at a definite disadvantage to those competitors that appear higher in the search ranking.
3. Are you active in industry groups that serve aviation as well as industries that use air charter services? Networking is still a great, low-cost way to meet new customers and build a network of associates who can refer business to you.
4. Are you getting your story out to the press on a consistent and frequent basis? An on-going public relations campaign is another relatively low-cost, but effective way to build awareness for your air charter business with prospective new customers.

PART II: New Opportunities Exist, Find Them!

Lady Gaga would find charter more comfortable in her crazy costumes

The second part of our Air Charter Recession Strategy is to be on the lookout for new opportunities – even when business turns south.

1. Corporations that have closed flight departments. Many of the aforementioned automakers have sold off their corporate jets, and closed or reduced their flight departments. However, these high-level business executives will prefer not to fly commercial if a practical charter alternative is made known to them.

2. Individuals who have sold their private jets. Like those celebrities that have traded Humvees for a Tesla, owning a private jet these days is considered much too bourgeois. But Lady Gaga must travel, and she’s not going to feel comfortable in one of her crazy outfits, even if she flies first-class.

3. Companies sending teams of people on location. Any company that needs to send a team of employees to service a client’s needs on location is going to find air charter an attractive and cost effective alternative to commercial air travel. Research engineering and consulting firms or other industries that need to transport teams of staff to the same locale. Reach out to them and show them how a private charter flying direct to their destination can provide considerable savings in cost and time.

4. Companies doing business in locations not served by major airports. If a business executive needs to book connecting flights into regional, rural or secondary airports, the cost for commercial flying rises dramatically. Educate these companies about the savings air charter can provide in terms of money and time when travelling to regions not served by major airlines.

After creating the page, I suggested that just because they built the page, it doesn’t mean customers will find it on the web. They really needed to optimize their website to improve their ranking when someone does a search through Google, Yahoo or MSN for aircraft to charter.

Search Engine Optimization is an important tool in aviation marketing. At Aviation Marketing Consulting, we have become expert in optimizing websites for search engines. It’s a somewhat complex and ever-changing endeavor, as there are over 100 factors that contribute to how high your website will rank for a particular search term, and there are no hard and fast rules to follow. Sometimes a couple of simple elements will get you on page 1 of Google and other times it’s a long and laborious process.

However, with enough patience, expertise and follow-through, good (even great) results can be achieved, which can lead to more sales and customers!

FYI, if want to find out how well we did for Panorama, go to Google and do a search for “aircraft charter new york,”  Panorama Flight Service’s aircraft charter webpage was ranked #1 in the organic search listings as of this posting.