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Marketing a city pair air route under $1,000
Many airports don’t have mega marketing budgets, but still need to proactively promote and support the air carriers servicing the market. Here are some low cost ideas that have worked to promote city pair air routes for some airports in North America:
1. Use Google Ad Words to develop an online text based pay per click ad campaign. Through Google you can create highly targeted key word ad campaigns spread out over several months under $1,000. Using specific key words and phrases that customers search for you can bring to the top of search results a text based advertisement featuring your city pair air route. The link from the text-based ad should take visitors to a web page dedicated to information pertaining to the city pair air route being advertised (also known as a landing page). You can sign up for a Google Ad Words account at http://adwords.google.com/select/Login.
2. Collect email addresses through a subscriber form on your website’s home page, inviting visitors to sign up for email announcements pertaining to air service and other exciting developments at the airport. There are many electronic newsletter database companies out there, but one of the more popular and easy to use applications is http://www.icontact.com/a.pl/143470. iContact has newsletter templates and other helpful features with service packages starting from approximately $10 per month.
3. Host an online webinar for travel trade (e.g., travel agents and travel writers). Hosting a traditional event at a hotel or other venue can be very expensive, plus difficult and time consuming to organize. Try hosting a 30 minute webinar online for travel agents to profile one or more new air routes from your airport, plus your airport’s amenities that travel agents may want to be aware of, such as parking rates, security information, etc. Hosting a webinar can cost $250 or less for the online hosting service, plus the software provider’s toll free service for webinar participants to call in on. You will also need to budget some time and money for sending out invitations to travel agents to participate. Sending out invitations can be free if you email or phone the agents, or you can spend a few hundred dollars and send out printed invitations. There are many webinar service providers, including GoToMeeting.
4. Using Facebook set up a demographic profile campaign. In the last year, Facebook has made dramatic changes to its advertising services. With Facebook you can target potential passengers by geographic market area (e.g., the region around your airport) and audience characteristics (e.g., age, gender, hobbies, employer). Facebook campaigns start from $25. Visit www.Facebook.com for further information.
You don’t need a large marketing budget to get the word out to promote a city pair air route at your airport. For under $1,000 you can enhance awareness and help your airline tenant improve its sales success operating at your airport.
Authored by Ross Brown a Partner in Altitude Consulting, specializing in commercial aviation and tourism marketing. Ross has an accomplished background in the airline and airport authority marketing sectors, plus as an independent entrepreneur.
Five air route-marketing taboos for airports
If you are an Airport Authority, avoid these five common taboos airports often make after they secure an airline or new city pair air route:
1. Assume the Airline should or will be doing all of the marketing for the route. Often this is not the case. The Airport’s Marketing department employees are the experts on the area and should be pro-active and work co-operatively with the Airline. Often large Airlines work with major ad agencies far away from the new City Pair and may have no knowledge of the local market and what works and doesn’t work in terms of advertising. They may also miss out on key sponsorship opportunities to build PR and good will in the community due to a lack of local knowledge.
2. Fail to do a daily (or at minimum, a weekly) competitive fare analysis report. If your city pair is competing with another route from a nearby airport (e.g., Waterloo – Calgary vs. Toronto – Calgary), it’s important that you monitor fares on the other route. The Airline may not be doing this, especially if it does not fly from your competing airport, and price is the major influencing component that makes an airline guest book one flight over another. If your new city pair’s fares are out of whack with a competing route from a nearby airport, make sure you let the Airline’s revenue department know and keep them apprised of any changes.
3. Unsuccessfully work with the opposite City’s destination marketing organization (DMO) (e.g., if Vancouver Airport is promoting a flight to Houston, it should be working with the Houston Convention and Visitor’s bureau in its local market to promote departures to Houston). If you are promoting departures on the new city pair air route from your airport you should be working with the destination’s DMO. The DMO can also be a great source of co-op marketing dollars and resources.
4. Be unsuccessful at gaining community support. It’s critical that the Airport gets the word out about the new route and acquires support from community organizations. Organizations include the Mayor’s Office, Chamber of Commerce / Board of Trade, plus the Convention and Tourism Authority. If your airport serves several large metropolitan areas, it’s important to get the support from each of these influential organizations in each jurisdiction. This is difficult to accomplish in a short period of time, so if you have already launched an air route and do not have an existing relationship it may be too late. This relationship building needs to begin well before a new city pair air route is launched. The best approach is to get these agencies active and involved in the process of pitching a new city pair air route to the airline with your airport, plus get them involved in promoting the route once the airline decides to launch it.
5. Fall short on promises made to the airline in the airport’s original sales pitch to launch the new city pair air route. If your airport promised a certain amount of advertising dollars, reduction in fees or put other collateral on the table, be sure you follow through 100% - and be sure to even throw in some extras. Buy extra ads in the local newspaper; purchase some online pay per click (PPC) advertising or purchase radio spots. Follow through and go above and beyond for your airline client.
These ‘taboos’ may seem obvious to you, but shockingly many airports do miss them and consequently contribute to the failure of a city pair air route. The most important thing to remember is never assume the airline is handling the marketing, always be proactive and take initiative to help ensure the route is a great success, plus follow through on any promises made to the airline.
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Authored by Ross Brown a Partner in Altitude Consulting, specializing in commercial aviation and tourism marketing. Ross has an accomplished background in the airline and airport authority marketing sectors, plus as an independent entrepreneur.
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