Airports must successfully build relationships with their communities to effectively market their airport. Paula Williams, strategic aviation marketing advisor for Aviation Business Consultants, Lara Kaufmann, associate director of the Greenville Downtown Airport and Doug Goldstrom, president of sales and marketing for Special Services Corporation, spoke about their airport marketing tactics during a recent NATA webinar.
"Everybody gets all carried away about the technical aspects of marketing," Williams said. "The shiny objects, the Facebooks the TikToks, that sort of thing. But all of that can be really shallow unless you back up and think about what's really important. We only really trust people and companies when we know their stories."
Williams said decades ago kids would hang out at the airport after school to watch airplanes and even talk to the aircraft mechanics on duty. She added newspaper reporters could gain easy access to the airport to write stories about the facility.
"It was really kind of the center of the community and everyone knew that the businesses at the airport were of vital importance to the community," Williams said. "But these days, nobody is telling your story for you. Airports are bristling with fences and security. The kids can't hang out, the reporters can't get in and there are a lot fewer reporters to begin with. So, the only time the average citizen that's not already involved with aviation hears about the airport, it's about noise or about taxes and that is not the story that we want told. It's not a surprise that people in the communities don't know, like or trust us, because, they don't know our stories."
The most important marketing tactic for airports is to develop strong relationships with their community members. Kaufmann gave a variety of examples of how the Greenville Downtown Airport works with the community to increase positive community relationships. She mentioned when reporters approach her for a story, she often talks about other projects the airport has going on, as well. This typically leads reporters to write a second article about the airport.
Kaufmann mentioned she works with schools to conduct field trips, as well. "When we have field trips that come out and people say 'well, why do you spend so much time on field trips?' Well, the young children might not enter our industry, but who's with those children? The chaperones, the teachers, these are adults in our community that are voters," she said.
Goldstrom commented on the field trips, saying they not only foster great relationships with the community but further the aviation industry as a whole. "I'm trying to further my business, grow the business, but it's really a love of aviation, as well, that's broadcast through all of this participation. I think the public and your clients see that yes, you're not only out here just to make a dollar, but you're also out there to make an impact on the community," he said. "This high school kid may not make an impact on my bottom line today, but if I can encourage him to go to school and get his A&P and get involved in the maintenance, whether it's at our airport or the next airport, that's furthering aviation as a whole."
"And you know he's going home and talking to his parents and people in his community and his church groups and school groups and things like that about his experience at your airport," Williams added.
Involving the community with the airport could be as simple as hosting an event. Goldstrom said Special Services Corporation rents out its space to charities and church groups. This gives the community a chance to see private jets up close and gets them excited about the company.
"And it's been very successful for us because it allows the community to see what we do and also allows the community to see what the airport does," he said. "And, when those events are outside, it's even better because now they're seeing what's going on at the whole airport. Everybody's intrigued by an airplane. Everybody loves aircraft, everybody wants to talk about airplanes, so it's very easy to get your foot in the door."
Kaufmann underlined the importance of cross-promotion. She mentioned the Greenville Downtown Airport sends out weekly email blasts to all tenants, so each business knows what the others are doing. This makes it easier for them to share other businesses' posts on social media, for example.
When the airport makes these connections with the community, it's more enticing for people to engage with the airport's content on platforms like social media, Williams noted. She also offered some tips for creating social media content.
"Of course [airports should share] those great stories like your origin story, why you do what you do," Williams said. "Not everything has to be a big story. Some things could just be 'here's what happened on our ramp.' We had one client who took pictures on our ramp of a deer that was by the airport. That is one of their best performing subjects. Humor is always good, or how-tos. Maybe tips of the week, things that people don't know about. 'If you're flying private for the first time here are ten things you should know before you get on the airplane.' There's lots of things and you don't have to be too clever, you don't have to be too over the top, but having a great visual is always good. Pictures are fantastic."
