Plane Conversations

This is part 3 in a series of Social Media and Business Aviation

Jay Deragon, in his post entitled Social Technology Is Changing Business, says “The impact of social technology on business as usual is and will continue to be profound. Profound in that social technology fuels never ending change caused by the markets of conversations. These markets represent intelligence that is transparent, fluid and engaging by crowds of suppliers, employees and consumers.” He goes on to say, ” The voice of the customer used to be analyzed based on old feedback mechanisms and survey’s which were poorly designed and time consuming. Today the voice of the customer is instant, transparent and designed by the content and context of open and transparent conversations. The new world of instant communications controlled and influenced by the end consumer is the outside force  fueling organizational changes and businesses must adapt if they wish to thrive or survive.”

For those of us who have faced the challenge of marketing and selling our services to the public, social media may be  the answer we have all been waiting for. That is if we know what to do with it.

I have always been jealous of the big companies who have multi-million dollar budgets for marketing, sales, and advertising when they launch a new product or service. The big guys will spend a million plus dollars for the coveted 30-second spot on Super Bowl Sunday.

What about us small business owners in General / Business Aviation who don’t have that kind of money? I can tell you that over the years I have fretted over spending $1000 to place an advertisement in a local business journal. Will it pay off? How much business will it generate - if any? How will I even know if anyone sees it? How will I know if we get any business from the ad? Do I have to advertise because my competition is advertising?   All of these questions really get down to the question of Return On Investment (ROI).

I have yet to determine true ROI on traditional advertising. There are methods to do that to some degree but small businesses have not had the means to use those methods. Our unscientific and “best guess” methods include asking people when the phone rings how they found out about us, conducting surveys (which no one wants to fill out) and getting traffic counts on our web site (web hits don’t always equate to dollars).

The Internet has provided a new medium to advertise. Google Ad Words, Pop Ads, buying ad space on web sites that show traffic for demographics that we want to attract. In reality, this new medium is the same old advertising dressed up in a new suit. Studies show that people don’t like the pop ads and they very seldom click through. Jay Deragon, who helps us understand social media and its application to business, calls advertising on the Internet anti-social media and push marketing.

So where does this new form of communication called social media fit into the picture and how does it revolutionize marketing of business aviation?

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and new social networking and communications tools are popping up by the day it seems. A friend mentioned to me this week that if Facebook was a country it would be the 6th largest in the world by population. I would venture to say that it may end up higher than 6 in the not too distant future.

The value of these new ways to communicate is several fold:

1. Its Free! Our company has (and so can yours) a Twitter Address, Facebook Page, and more than 30 people in our company are on Linked In. We have a blog (you are reading it).
2. It is out there for the whole world to see. Anyone who is connected to the Internet can see you.
3. You have the ability to tell your story. Traditional media has always  controlled how the story was told. Any of you who have ever done an interview with a TV reporter or Newspaper reporter know what I mean. You are all excited about your story and you tell it to them. What ends up in print or on TV is something entirely different than what you hoped for - not anymore!
4. Feedback from your market: You now have the ability to hear back from your market-  current and potential customers – about your ideas, your value and how well you are executing. That’s a little scary; but, better to hear it directly than to hear it after it’s been through the grapevine. This provides the opportunity to increase value by adapting to the market.

All of this value comes with a few catches. The biggest one is time. When I say “free” I mean free to use, not really free. We sell time in our business; so, we should know what time is worth. This form of communicating takes time.  To communicate effectively you have to spend time thinking: first about what it is you do and your value, then you have to be able to communicate that value,  and finally and most importantly, you have to listen to what the market is saying. That is the one thing that I must admit needing the most help with. Listening!

Six months ago if you had asked me to define the term “social network or networking” I would have probably started into a line about spending time going to Chamber of Commerce functions to network. If you had asked me to define social media I would have probably given you the “deer in the headlights”  look and said, ” social media what?”

I have been fortunate to meet some really smart people who have given me a lot of education in a short time. I still consider myself a neophyte on the subject matter and a rookie in the game. I probably need to keep that frame of mind because this new way to communicate to the market is evolving and changing faster than any one person can keep up with.

So, if I can jump in the waters and swim, so can you. There is a world of information on social media out there that is free if you just look for it.  On our blog site there is a free mini-book called Social Media Directions you can download. The guys who wrote this are willing to share their knowledge for free, no strings attached and no tricks. Now that is what social media (versus anti social media) is all about. More than anything, if you are in the business of business aviation I want to encourage you to look into Social Media and start figuring it out. If you want to be around in a few years you’d better start now!

Click on pen to