Archive for May, 2006
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) recently reported record setting numbers for deliveries in the industry. Cessna led with 187 shipments. Cirrus had the best-selling model (SR22), with 124, plus another 35 SR20s. Diamond Aircraft and Columbia 400 both shipped 46. Finally, The New Piper Aircraft shipped 39 aircraft.
So how do these numbers relate to the effectiveness of each companies website? Alexa.com is a free online tool that gives overall reach and page view statistics for popular websites. Here are charts for both website reach and pageviews for each of the top five manufacturers:
A few interesting things to note:
First, prior to January, Cessna really dominated reach and pageviews. In the last few months they seem to be losing their grip on both. Cirrus and New Piper have been steadily trending up while Cessna has taken some hits.
Second, Diamond and Columbia have equal sales and Diamond has been around a bit longer. Yet Columbia is making great improvements in both measurements while Diamond barely registers on the scale. Time for Diamond to step it up. I believe they redesigned their site not too long ago but it appears to be ineffective.
Third, this is anybody’s game. Cessna and Cirrus certainly have leads but they are not insurmountable. None of the current websites go beyond typical brochure-ware. If any one of these manufacturers were to decide to “own” the web channel from a marketing and lead generation perspective, they could accomplish it with a reasonable investment.
Alexa is a fun tool. Go play with it to see what you can learn about your own company and competitors.
[tags]Aviation Marketing, Aviation Website, Cessna, Cirrus, Columbia Aircraft, Online Marketing[/tags]
May 18th, 2006
A while back I set up a few news alerts through Google. Using keywords such as “general aviation” and “sport pilot” Google dutifully sends me an email once per day containing links to stories from around the country that contain the terms. While many of the links contained in the news alerts are irrelevant (for example, the Honda “Pilot” SUV is often described as “sport”-y), many are fantastic. Here is a quick sample from the last week or so:
Free as a bird
A writer from the Calgary Sun takes an “uplifting” flight in a sailplane.
MN Airstrip Rises From Cornfield in WWII
This story by WCCO TV covers the history of the Stanton airport, just outside of the Twin Cities. It includes mention of Sport Pilot and contains quite a bit of footage of what appears to be a Flight Design CT.
The Ups and Downs of a Reporter’s Flying Lesson
Bob Cox from the Fort Worth Star Telegram goes for a lesson through AOPA’s Project Pilot program. While somewhat reluctant, Cox gives a favorable impression and recognizes the sense of empowerment that aviation delivers.
Stories such as these are fantastic. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if each flight school, FBO owner, and aircraft dealer tried to get similar stories produced in their local communities. Seems like a great way to reach out to non-pilots and generate some interest in the sport. Taking a unique approach, such as the historical perspective in the WCCO video, might be a good approach if you are a small business looking for a noteworthy angle.
If any of you have tried this approach I’d love to hear about it. Also, if you see local stories such as these, please send them my way!
[tags]AOPA, Aviation Marketing, General Aviation, Light Sport Aircraft, Sport Pilot[/tags]
May 15th, 2006
AVweb.com recently published a sport pilot update titled Emphasis On Training, Outreach. It included the following promotional effort by Jeff Parnau and Sportplanes.com:
So far, many buyers of LSAs are already pilots, but a lot of effort is going into expanding the market by finding and training new pilots as well. Jeff Parnau, who is working with Sportsplanes.com in Wisconsin, said the company recently brought an Ikarus C42 S-LSA to an outdoor-sports show in Milwaukee and hung it from the ceiling. Interest was “phenomenal,” he said: “We got hundreds of leads, and signed up 40 new students.” CZAW is reaching out to new pilots by offering 20 hours of free flight training with its Sport Cruiser. And EAA’s Charlie Becker told AVweb yesterday that 150 new student sport pilot certificates were issued at the show.
How cool is that? This is an idea that everyone in the LSA industry has been talking about. It’s exciting to see it executed with such positive results! It’s also worth reading the local newspaper coverage and viewing a photo of the display.
[tags]aviation marketing, light sport aircraft, marketing promotions, slsa, sport pilot[/tags]
May 4th, 2006
The Sport Pilot rule has cut the cost and time required to earn a license to fly by 50 percent. This presents an enormous opportunity for the aviation industry. More importantly, it provides an incredible opportunity to the countless individuals that were unable to justify the commitments involved in obtaining a private pilot certificate. While still not cheap, or easy, the sport of aviation is now accessible to more people than ever before.
We will never be able to express the gratitude that industry leaders such as Tom Peghiny or industry associations such as the EAA (and Earl Lawrence) deserve in making the rule a reality. However, the adoption of the rule is just a beginning. To fully leverage the rule it needs to be effectively promoted to those currently within the aviation community, as well as the general population that is not aware of the new way to take to the skies.
Lots of good work is already underway. The Sport Pilot Tour managed by Dan Johnson and the EAA is drawing in standing room only crowds as it moves around the country. One of their events is coming to my local airport in August and I look forward to attending. Popular Science has had two aviation-related cover stories in recent months. This is enormously beneficial to the aviation industry as it raises awareness with a very relevant demographic that is not currently part of the aviation community. Industry tradeshows such as Airventure have been, and will continue to be, one-stop resources for all things related to aviation. These traditional forms of marketing have served the aviation industry well for several decades and they will continue to do so.
Looking forward, Sport Pilot is a unique opportunity and it is necessary to consider new ways of marketing it to those outside the aviation community. By all measures, the Internet is the most effective platform available to accomplish this. Websites are relatively inexpensive to launch and maintain. They work hard 24 hours a day and 7 days week. Most importantly, when structured correctly a single company website can speak to the needs of everyone from a retiring airline captain with 25,000 hours to a flight sim enthusiast that always wanted to fly but felt it was beyond their reach.
Even more compelling, the Internet is currently being used by 73% of adults in America. 91% of Americans with a household income of over $75,000 are online. In addition, 91% of adults with a college degree are online. 84% of adults age 30-49 as well as 71% of those 50-64 are online. These are the people we need to pull into the sport of aviation! Some of them can be reached through magazines or tradeshows, all of them can be reached online.
For individuals that cannot make it to Oshkosh, Lakeland, or a Sport Pilot Tour stop to see a product in person, a company’s website is their best measure for quality and performance. For individuals that are new to aviation, a website reflects the safety and value of the product. With this in mind, there is a great need for companies in the sport aviation industry to evaluate their online marketing efforts and make improvements.
Today, the online marketing efforts of the sport aviation industry is lacking. Many sites appear to be built in-house, using templated designs, provided by neighborhood ISPs. A review of 179 sites in the sport aviation industry showed over 30% with errors such as broken links or missing images on the home page. This reflects poorly on the industry.
We have recently released, for free download, a 255 page report that evaluates 179 websites in the sport aviation industry. This report can help companies meet all of the basic, tactical requirements for a solid website. If you own a company in the sport aviation industry, or are responsible for marketing and aviation-related product, please take a few minutes to download the report and review it.
We will also continue to use this website to provide relevant and actionable advice for improving your site beyond the basics and into a sales and support powerhouse. Please stop back often and sign up for our email newsletter (in the right column) to stay current. By using the web to efficiently, we can help make sport pilot a success.
Demographic data sourced from: http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo_4.26.06.htm
[tags]aviation marketing, aviation website, online marketing[/tags]
May 3rd, 2006
Veer Interactive has released the Sport Aviation Industry Website Analysis report as a free eBook download (8.2mb, PDF). The report includes a 30 point analysis of 179 companies in the sport aviation industry. In addition, a search engine effectiveness study for each company is included with five category terms and five company specific terms for each.
The report also includes a 50+ page introduction that describes each of the 30 analysis points in detail with an explanation for each potential score.
The Sport Aviation Industry Website Analysis report was highly researched to provide relevant and useful information to business owners in improving their web presence to deliver real business value. All of the information included in the report is practical, accurate and actionable.
To learn more about the Sport Aviation Industry Website Analysis report visit the report overview. To learn more about the author visit: www.veerinteractive.com
[tags]Aviation Marketing, Online Marketing, LSA, Sport Pilot, Light Sport Aircraft[/tags]
May 2nd, 2006
