Ready to be agile?

“Trust and brand loyalty are becoming more intertwined, even as consumers expect brands to be able to pivot quickly in these uneasy times,” Kim Davis wrote in the report analysis on MarTech Today.

Purpose. “Flourishing brands will be those that know why they exist and who they are built to serve,” Davis said. OK, that sounds easy: Flight schools exist to teach people how to fly. But drilling down into “who they are built to serve” is key. Are you laser-focused on career pilots? Do you welcome recreational pilots? Do you serve a mix? It’s critical to know why you serve these stakeholders.

Agility. “Successful marketers will be those who invest in agile marketing strategies. The pandemic-triggered recession is not one that will reward retrenchment over imagination and innovation.” In other words, hunkering down and riding it out without looking at your current marketing tools—whether that’s your website, your social media platforms, or your advertising—will not help you gain new customers.

Human connections. “Making authentic connections is now more important” than ever, Davis said. “It’s the choice between taking a cheaper flight or a safer one; buying clothing with the fastest delivery or from the supplier with the most ethically designed supply chain.” If your flight school has a “mill” reputation, it may be time to consider putting some human faces front and center on your marketing efforts.

Trust. “Trust arises when what’s promised is what’s delivered,” Davis said. “Messaging should be transparent, and delivering on those messages should be consistent and reliable.” I consider the “we can make you a pilot in just 40 hours!” message to be the most egregious violator of transparent marketing in this industry. Educate your customers and help them to understand all that is involved—in time as well as money—to complete a pilot training program.

Participation. “Customer engagement at a deeper level, going beyond passive responses to activities like writing online reviews, giving advice to fellow customers, joining conversations (whether with the brand directly or on social media…” Davis said. We see this already in the aviation community. Anyone who’s been on Reddit or Facebook or Twitter knows that pilots are not shy about giving their opinions on aviation products and services. And when it comes to flight training, where large amounts of money are involved, they’re ready and willing to help fellow pilots get the best value. So make sure they’re not talking about you in a negative sense. Nobody should walk away from your flight school disparaging your instructors, your airplanes, or your policies and procedures.

You can read the entire analysis here. It’s based on two surveys—one of almost 2,500 adult consumers in selected countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and the second of more than 400 executives from U.S. global countries.