FBO Marketing, Part 2: Affordable Promotions

As any FBO owner or operator knows, attracting new customers and keeping current customers is the lifeblood of your business.

In previous blog posts, we have discussed the aspects of keeping current customers by providing an exceptional customer service experience: Be the restaurant owner, and don’t forget the cheese!

In this multipart series, we talk about attracting new customers with little or no cost. In Part 1, Low- or No-Cost Promotions, we discussed the basics of promoting your FBO on a limited budget. In this post, we’ll talk about public and media relations as an affordable promotion that will help extend your brand reach even further.

Public and Media Relations

Writing and distributing a news release is a cost-effective communications tool. However, there are some basic guidelines that FBOs need to follow in order to ensure their announcements make their way to the selected media.

1. Ask yourself if the news is newsworthy.

Many companies, including FBOs, will send a news release out on everything that happens at their place of business. Trouble is, most of it is not newsworthy and, therefore, gets ignored. If you do too many of these, there is a chance that when you have something that is truly newsworthy, it may get passed over because of your past history. 

Editors and writers keep very busy, so only offer announcements that are at least potentially newsworthy. Here are a few ideas that most editors find of interest:

• New facilities or expansion of current facilities
• Any significant renovations
• Acquisitions of other facilities on your airport or other FBOs
• Key personnel changes to your organizations

Here are some things editors would rather not see:

• Announcements about a new web site
• Releases that are not timely or current
• News that is completely off target and irrelevant to the industry

2. Be clear and concise.

In journalism school, you learn to write in an "inverted pyramid" style. In other words, say what is most important in the first sentence or paragraph.

• Then support the main information with other facts and figures. Think of the five “Ws”: Who, what, where, when and why?
• Include a relevant quote by a key manager or employee
• Follow up with what we call a “boilerplate” that is a concise overview of your company information, the services you provide and your contact information.
• Keep the information as short as possible, and don’t use flowery language.

3. Include a photo if possible.

• Use a fairly good camera. Make sure the photos are in focus and of high resolution. Most publications request a resolution of 300 dpi.
• Frame your photo so you are not too far from your subject.
• Watch out for background clutter. This is particularly important when you shoot a photo of an employee for what we call a ‘head shot’. I’ve seen photos taken against a wall with a clock in the background, pictures, bright colored paintings and even model aircraft that look like the airplane is flying right out of the person’s head.

4. Timely and relevant: Think outside the box!

Earlier, we talked about being timely and relevant with your information. A couple of years ago, I worked with one of my clients on a short news release relating to the popular green movement. They had just replaced all their gas powered ramp courtesy carts/golf carts with state-of-the art electric carts. They also invested in a new ramp sweeper to pick up FOD.

For this announcement, I took a photo of their new cars along with the ramp sweeper, and framed it with an aircraft in the background to add relevance to the aviation market. I also used their distinctive terminal building with company logo as a backdrop. As they say, a photo is worth a thousand words.

Then I issued the photo with a photo caption only, not as a long news release. Of course I included details about “going green” on the ramp. This announcement was picked up by many on the media database.

Media Database

Now that you’ve crafted your new release, it’s time to send it out to a qualified database. First of all, you should always send it out to your local media, including newspapers and business journals. Also include local TV and radio if possible. You never know when someone needs a story like the one you send in or maybe just a filler story.

Also, you should build a list of aviation writers and editors. You can find these contacts in the front part of magazines and newspapers in what they call the masthead. Also, for most media, you can go to their web sites and get either specific email addresses or a generic one that goes to their news department. 

And don’t forget the electronic newsletters, like acukwikalert.com. They’ll be happy to review your release for posting.

In addition, you should give a courtesy call to a few of the selected media to make sure they received the information.

Electronic and Social Media

All news releases should be published on your Web site as well. Services like Google send out crawlers that search for keywords that help push your news item to the top of a search. Speaking of keywords, your release should use key industry words and phrases in both headlines and the body of your copy.

Also, post a link on your company’s Facebook page to your news release on your Web site, and issue a tweet to your followers.

If you have any questions regarding writing or issuing a news release, please contact me at Ron@thejacksongroup.biz.

Ron Jackson

Ron Jackson is co-founder of ABSG and president of The Jackson Group, a public relations agency specializing in aviation and FBO marketing. He has held management positions with Cessna Aircraft and Bozell Advertising and is the author of Mission Marketing: Creating Brand Value and co-author of Don’t Forget the Cheese!, the Ultimate FBO Customer Service Experience.

FBO Marketing, Part 1: Low- and No-Cost Promotion

Did you know there are ways you can market your FBO with little or no out-of-pocket expense?

At our NATA FBO Success Seminars, we examine various aspects of marketing for an FBO. One of the most popular sessions is Marketing and Communications for Any Size FBO.

Many FBOs that attend our seminars believe they can’t compete with the big FBO chains because they don’t have the money and resources. To that, I kindly say, “Bunk”. There are plenty of ways you can “shake hands” with your customers or potential customers without breaking your budget or robbing your kids’ piggy bank.

Getting Down to Basics

In the business of running an FBO, there are basically two ways to increase your business and, thus, the amount of fuel you sell.

1. Increase the number of base customers you service.
2. Increase the number of transient customers you service.

For the purpose of this blog post, we will concentrate on the second item of reaching out to the transient customer. However, if you are having trouble filling your hangars and think you can do a better job of increasing your base customer population, read on. There are tips for you as well.

Here is what I call the Level One, or Basic Communications, Checklist. You might be already doing these, but they are worth the review. These are not all free, but we’ll get to those shortly:

• A listing in a major FBO directory and Web site, such as AC-U-KWIK and acukwik.com. There are various listings and offerings to choose — some at little or no cost. You need to create some kind of awareness at the most basic level.
• Fuel supplier listing. Most FBOs have a relationship with a major fuel supplier. Make sure you are listed accurately in everything they produce, including their Web site and other promotions.
• Basic Web site. By now, most FBOs have built at least a basic Web site. Believe it or not, though, some companies forget to put their phone numbers up front to make it easy for the customer to make contact. Instead they bury it on an obscure page.

You must remember the most basic reason for a Web site is to provide information quickly. Therefore, you don’t need a lot moving pieces, fancy graphics, etc. Also, you should test the viability of your Web site in terms of search engine optimization (SEO) by doing a Google search of keywords for your area and business segment. Keep in mind keywords a customer would use to do a Web search. Some keywords for the fueling side of the business are obvious:

• FBO Dallas, TX (Your City and State) and FBO DAL (Your airport identifier)
• FBO Dallas Fort Worth (or) FBO North Texas
• Aviation Fuel Dallas, TX (or) Jet A Dallas, TX (or) Avfuel/Jet A DAL

Note: If your facility does not appear at or near the top after keyword searches, you need to look into rewriting the copy for your Web site to include keywords and phrases for your business segment and geographic locations. There are numerous free articles on the internet that can help you.

Web Site Tip: Refresh your copy on a regular basis. Keep keywords and phrases intact, but create something new that will be of interest. And don’t forget to post any press releases or news articles that may have been published. Look for ways to post your press releases to the free aviation sites, such as acukwik.com. Do some research, and create a PR database to which you may send your news.

• Get Social! Create a business Facebook page, list with LinkedIn, and investigate Twitter but only if you are serious about keeping social networks active and up to date with frequent posts.
• Giveaways. Don’t be afraid to put out a bunch of low-cost pens or other freebies at the customer service desk or in the pilots’ lounge. What’s the worst thing that could happen? So what if they disappear? That’s a good thing. They just might get back to the customer’s home base where a dispatcher gets a hold of one and, presto, your brand is right there, top of mind!

The Really Free Stuff

As mentioned, there are a number of things you can do that really don’t cost anything except some time and effort.

• I Spy Program. One of the techniques we teach at the FBO Success Seminars is creating your own I Spy Program. This is simply building a database of potential customers by tracking the transient customers who use your airport, or surrounding airports, but don’t come to your facility.

In the old days, you would simply use a pair of binoculars and scope out your competitor’s ramp and record the aircraft registration numbers. Now there are a number of electronic programs you can access that track flights into and out of your area. Usually a registration number is associated with the flight, and you can then cross-reference this registration number with a database of aircraft owners and operators. Some of these databases do cost money, but most that use these services do find them to be worthwhile.

Once you’ve started to build your database, send out a postcard to the potential customer offering an incentive to come to your facility on the next occasion. Incentives can be a one-time fuel discount, lav cleaning, interior cleaning, a fruit tray, etc. Note: Most of the time, one contact will not do the job. You need to be consistent and aggressive in making frequent contacts.

• Pick up the phone. Sounds simple, but if you can track a potential customer with an address, you should be able to get a phone number. Don’t be afraid to ask for their business.
• Be aware of customers who haven’t been back in a while. Getting customers to come back is like finding new customers. Again, pick up the phone, and find out why they haven’t been back. Ask them if you did something wrong, and offer an incentive to get them back in the fold.
• Be aware when a new customer does come in. Have your line service personnel and CSRs become aware when you do attract a new customer. Then be the restaurant owner. Meet, greet, thank him or her for the business, etc. And don’t forget the cheese!
• Write hand-written notes. It doesn’t cost anything to write a note thanking customers for their business. Anytime you can keep a customer coming back time and time again is one fewer customer you have to replace.
• Network, and be a part of the community. FBO owners, operators and general managers should use opportunities for community involvement, which will strengthen local aircraft owners and operators’ and their flight department staff’s awareness of your business. There are usually high-profile clubs, fellowships and nonprofit organizations that rely on volunteers that include high net worth individuals. Moving in the right circles can strengthen these relationships and help provide referrals. This is a great way to increase your base customer prospect list.

And because business aviation is such a small niche market, you never know who a pilot for a new base customer knows. Chances are they know more pilots at other companies who just might give you a try.

These are just a few strategies and tactics we teach at our FBO Success Seminars. If you have something that works for your FBO, please let me know by emailing me at Ron@thejacksongroup.biz.

Ron Jackson

Ron Jackson is co-founder of ABSG and president of The Jackson Group, a public relations agency specializing in aviation and FBO marketing. He has held management positions with Cessna Aircraft and Bozell Advertising and is the author of Mission Marketing: Creating Brand Value and co-author of Don’t Forget the Cheese!, the Ultimate FBO Customer Service Experience.