Odds are you've got quite a list of people who have taken introductory flights, contacted you about training, or maybe started instruction with your school but disappeared after just a few lessons. You probably have these people in some sort of database (even if it’s just a binder or file folder), and you likely promise yourself to get back to these folks at some point. But have you?
If you have a pulse, odds are you've seen the news about ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence app that promises to do everything except cook French toast (that's coming in version 2.0).
Unless you retain an ad agency or have a marketing wordsmith on your payroll, odds are you'll be the one doing the copywriting for your website, marketing materials, email prospecting, and advertising. This reality has stymied many a flight school owner or manager, who often winds up doing less promotion than they should simply because they can't move off the blank page staring them in the face.
Most local flight schools and many flying clubs offer Discovery Flights. Often these flights are provided at a reduced price, anticipating that at least some will take the bait, get hooked, and become long-term customers as they advance through their certificates and ratings.
Social media and network marketing are where it's at in today’s flight school world. The targeting opportunities available with social media are unlimited, the costs minimal, and the potential for truly impressive return on investment is within reach of even the smallest flight school or club. The challenge for many schools is knowing which social media tools to use, how to use them, and how to get started.
A couple of years ago, I wrote about the opportunities that applying video to flight school marketing could create. At the time, video was not in widespread use by flight schools. While most schools had adopted a mostly digital approach to their marketing, few had used video to much effect, and even fewer had tapped its full potential.
Flight schools can be busy places, and your CFI has his or her hands full helping you and your colleagues get to that next phase in your training. Larger schools may have hundreds of pilots pass through their halls in any given year, and the instructors and staff try hard to meet the needs of each individual. Many schools schedule their instructors in back-to-back time slots, with little time in between lessons. Given the hectic pace of many flight schools, just how do you set yourself apart?
Marketing can be defined as the things a business does to attract, develop, and keep customers. By this definition, marketing includes everything from advertising to keeping the bathrooms clean.
Traditional media, such as newspapers or local TV and radio, costs too much to reach the relatively small number of people who want to learn to fly, while social networks let you target just those people who have expressed an interest in aviation or tightly fit the pilot profile. With social network marketing, you only pay to reach people who share the dream of flight, with little or no wasted circulation.
