Flight Plan to Sales Success: New Media Marketing for the Aviation Industry
“New Media” and social media are quite the rage these days. We see Twitter, Face Book, LinkedIn, YouTube, and all the rest mentioned throughout the traditional media. There are examples of companies that have used new media to great effect, building or extending their brand image and generating incremental revenue. There are also examples of companies who have bungled their attempt to enter this different world, and even companies who have lost control of their brand as social media forces have taken control.
As in other industries, many aviation companies struggle when it comes to building a marketing strategy that embraces these new media. Enter Paula Williams, a consultant with ABCI who specializes in helping aviation companies develop B2B marketing strategies. She packs a lot of advice and insight into her recently published book, Flight Plan to Sales Success: New Media Marketing for the Aviation Industry.
Honestly, there are plenty of new media consultants and “experts” who are happy to sell you a path to success in this new world. What’s particularly interesting here is that Paula is focused on the aviation industry specifically.
Before I go too far, I should mention that Paula appeared as a guest in Episode 67 of the Airplane Geeks Podcast I produce. Also, an email interview she conducted with me is included in the book. However, I derive no financial gain from the book or Paula’s consulting services.
With that said, Flight Plan to Sales Success is a valuable resource for those looking for some guidance as they contemplate integrating social media with their marketing strategy. To this point, Paula observes in the book that social media is not really a strategy unto itself. Rather, it can be a component of your overall marketing strategy, but as such it must be integrated.
Besides explaining the value of planning your marketing strategy and tactics, Paula touches on mobile marketing (which I think will continue to grow in importance), how to produce an effective corporate blog, and how to attract and maintain your audience.
Paula notes that one aspect of new media is that the conversation between a company and its customers is a public conversation. Two way, one way, it doesn’t matter – the conversation is out there for all to see. This has important implications for your company. If you ignore the conversation, then it goes on without you among your customers, and maybe even among your competitors! If you participate in the conversation, then you have the opportunity to leave a positive impression in public and manage your brand image.
There are literally thousands of aviation blogs being published, and you may be considering a corporate blog. What content should you provide? Paula has some suggestions for aviation industry companies: examples of customers receiving value from your products or services, tips and tricks for effective use of your product, aviation humor, spotlight on one of your customers, a featured employee, company support for a charitable cause, “green” stories, and new products or services.
Flight Plan to Success also talks about writing content, or having it written by others, reasons why aviation marketing fails, effective search engine optimization, and other topics. At 118 pages, the book is not exhaustive, but it is enough to provide the basics. It also gives you enough so you’ll know what questions to ask as you look to a marketing strategy that includes new media.
Flight Plan to Sales Success: New Media Marketing for the Aviation Industry
By Paula Williams
ISBN 978-0-557-56882-6
To order the book, contact ABCI at: http://www.AviationBusinessConsultants.com/
or email Paula Williams at: paula@AviationBusinessConsultants.com.
See Paula Williams in the video of the NBAA10 Aviation Social Media Panel.
