As budget-planning season approaches, marketers in business aviation face important decisions about how to invest their money to achieve more focused goals and improve their return on investment. We talked with AIN Publications associate publisher Nancy O’Brien about the best ways for marketers to promote their brands, capture data, and provide the sales staff with solid leads. We asked her to describe a typical media plan that she recommends for organizations seeking to promote their brands and retain their positions in the marketplace.
“A good rule of thumb,” O’Brien said, “is to create a mix that reaches the target audience through a variety of channels. The plan can then be fine-tuned to focus more on print or digital channels, depending on the marketer’s requirements and budget. We help our clients to choose which options will be most effective in supporting their goals, especially return on investment. For instance, clients are often surprised to learn that we can produce a content-marketing video to promote a new product or service for less than $6,000. And once the content has been created, the client owns it and can repurpose it for other uses, from social media to internal communications.”
O’Brien offered a sample media plan—scalable, based on the client’s goals—along with comments on each of its elements:
Print ads
“Print ads should run at key events and regularly in key publications,” O’Brien commented. “Print is still the most effective tool for making a lasting impression with decision-makers in the bizav community. A recent AIN study showed that almost 70 percent of readers still prefer to get their news in print. Print has a long shelf life, and we have research that proves advertising in print tends to be remembered longer.”
Online banner ads
“Online campaigns reach a larger and more diverse audience than print,” O’Brien noted. “While Aviation International News has a subscriber base of about 40,000, AINonline.com attracts more than 270,000 unique visitors every month. Clicks on banners from a website or e-newsletter will get prospective customers to your site, where you can promote your products and track prospective customers. This can be especially helpful in conjunction with major events.”
Content marketing
“Startups and companies seeking to introduce a new product or service should supplement a targeted advertising plan with a content-marketing strategy,” O’Brien said. “Content marketing can include sponsored articles and cost-efficient video that can be distributed as printed inserts or online and can be used in the company’s social-media campaigns.”
Special-report sponsorship
“Developing programs where you can capture data on prospective clients is key,” O’Brien noted. “Sponsorship of special reports, downloadable papers, and videos can generate actionable leads.”
Event sponsorship
“Trade-show/airshow participation and event sponsorship is another essential element to a successful marketing plan,” O’Brien commented, “because it provides face-to-face interaction with potential customers and the ability to demo the benefits of products in real time. The success of a trade show will depend on promotion before, during, and after the event.”
Are you in the process of preparing your 2017 marketing plan? Contact Nancy O’Brien at nobrien@ainonline.com or (530) 949-1075 to arrange for a free consultation to discuss how to leverage the power of media and events to reach your goals.
