While millennials may get a bad wrap for being a self-entitled generation, the truth is they spend approximately $2 trillion on an annual basis. This dollar amount is steadily increasing. So, how much of this $2 trillion is going toward the private jet services?
The answer is not enough.
There is so much more that the business aviation industry could be doing to increase our revenue. Thinking that private jet services are for more financially abled professionals is doing more harm than good. This industry is excluding itself from profiting from this $2 trillion!
Like it or Not, Millennials are Here to Stay!
Millennials are the future and they’re coming stocked, locked and loaded with spending power.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you think millennials can afford the luxury of a private charter service. This generation contributes to the economy and continues to be an important part of businesses in one way or another. Just because your business doesn’t currently target this demographic doesn’t mean that millennials don’t matter to your business operation. Millennials are either going to be your top influencers and decision makers or they’re going to influence them.
Millennials’ income is expected to surpass $3.4 trillion by 2019, 1.0 trillion more than the Baby Boomer generation. This doesn’t account for the additional estimated $59 trillion that they are expected to inherit from prior generations. These numbers alone should capture the attention and respect of what the millennial generation has to offer.
Meanwhile, the business aviation industry is slowly moving along. The truth is, the industry should be further along than it actually is. Much of this setback is from reserving to engage and integrate with the technological advances of social media. Traditionalists—the Baby Boomers most likely adopted the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it mentality dismissing it as a fad and a trend, but it’s not.
Marketing Strategies for Private Jet Services: Changing the Game
Many businesses and corporations have recognized the value of social media and restructured both their B2B and B2C marketing efforts to adapt to new technology. Adapting to innovative marketing strategies has proven to be quite profitable for such risk takers, especially in the e-commerce industry. Even some businesses in the aviation industry are shifting the way they operate, making their services much more accessible to a generation who doesn’t like to be sold to through traditional marketing strategies.
Whether or not millennials have the financial means to fly privately is completely up to private charter companies. The question is not about whether or not millennials have the financial capability to own a private jet. It’s all about how can they afford to fly privately?
Jet Sharing: Affordable Jet Services
Services like jet-sharing make it more affordable to fly privately.
Jet sharing is a program that allows jet owners to rent out the seats of their private jet. This is done by registering their aircraft into a program to become part of a fleet that jet members can choose from. There are a variety of jet-sharing programs with varying stipulations, but they all have the same idea: make private charter flights more affordable. By doing this, the business aviation industry is sure to absorb a percentage of this annual $2 trillion spending.
How to Get New Private Jet Members
Marketing for the business aviation industry has always been about putting our products and services in front of buyers. The mistake that many business professionals are making is assuming who these buyers are. This industry does not have the luxury to dismiss the highest grossing population. It’s time to change.
In order to ensure that your entire business aviation industry continues to thrive, we must do away with some old marketing strategies. If we continue to do business as usual, all our marketing efforts will be just white noise in a sea of more sophisticated outreach strategies that buyers can personally relate to.
Information is Key
The first thing to change is the information we put out. This involves incorporating education and research. Learn what this audience likes. There’s no better way to get this information than through social media. We might think that it’s a mindless pastime, but these platforms offer us valuable information about basic demographics on a global scale, allowing us to create target audiences based on people’s likes and dislikes, their buying habits, political views, gender, age, education, occupational industry, etc.
Why and How Millennials and Social Media Can Work to Your Advantage
Millennials grew up connected to social media! Many of which have had ongoing accounts for at least a decade before they even had a job. They take information more seriously that you might assume. Social media has provided the platform to truly create an electronic global village, giving people a platform to weigh in on an opinion without much censorship. Furthermore, millennials are most likely to stay loyal to a brand for years to come because when they like something, they’re going to let everyone know about it! They’re going to talk about it through their social media platform and share it with their network of friends. The bad news is that they are twice as likely to do this with products they dislike. Also, if your competitor is putting out a better product or service than you, this will put you at a disadvantage.
Millennials will invest and buy into brands and products that complement their personality. In a sense, they operate just like a celebrity would. Social media gives everyone the opportunity to be celebrities in their own right. Anything they associate with is an endorsement, especially if they have over a million followers or if something they post goes viral. That’s buying power! If a social media user can capture and retain the attention of a large audience, companies and corporations will “bend the knee” to them in hopes of endorsing some of their products.
What is the End Goal?
The goal that private jet services need to have is to get the attention of these influencers. Yet, it’s not enough to capture the attention. We must provide valuable information they can actually use so that they keep coming back. Your message needs to inform this generation that chartering a private flight is just a few smartphone clicks away.
Your company needs to have the technological platform to cater to the Millennial generation. That means creating social media accounts, maintaining them with engaging content, and making your website mobile-friendly. Over seventy percent of searches through mobile devices are more likely to turn into a sale or some form of action. It’s also worth noting that 52 percent of American internet users get their information through mobile applications. So not only does the business aviation need to market their private jet services in front of the right people, the information needs to be valuable, consistent, and mobile-friendly!
The traditional “one and done” marketing technique isn’t going to work anymore. Today, you need to put a personality to your private jet service and create the type of online content that will connect with online consumers.
Connect or Be Disconnected
When it comes to social networking, this generation believes that it will be the driving force of business operations. Social media is where millennials get all of their information. They’re either going to “Google” it or ask artificial intelligence like Alexa, Siri, Amazon Echo, or Cortana. If your private jet service isn’t cataloged on the internet for these platforms to pull from, you lose. It’s simple as that.
Offland Media is a premier digital media firm that can help you connect with millennials and boost your sales. Our associates can guide you in executing the right strategy to let the generation with buying power know that your private jet services are affordable. We can also advise you on how to present your company as a brand that millennials can invest in. Dial into Offland Media at 1-800-604-5193 or connect with us online today!
