New technologies and techniques have the potential to revolutionize the way you market and sell your aviation industry products and services.

Here’s a list of 10 fresh ideas to inspire your transformation.

1. Live Chat: Welcome customers to your website with a Live Chat feature to provide 24-hour support and assistance. It’s time for aerospace to leverage this capability, and customer service is an important differentiator.
2. Product Reviews and Customer Forums: Inviting customers to publicly rate and discuss your products and services sends a powerful message about confidence and accountability. Worried about a negative review? Don’t be. It’s actually an opportunity to show the market how well you respond to customer issues and concerns.
3. Flipbook: Our staff is high on Flipbook, a technology that can transform any digital page content into a virtual document where the pages turn on screen. It’s a quick and easy way to impress your prospects and the boss with interactive content that’s a cut above static PDFs. Ditch or minimize printed brochures — imagine how much you can save on printing and shipping: www.flipb.com
4. CRM: Customer Relationship Management software brings accountability and transparency to the sales process. Used in conjunction with marketing automation, it’s a powerful way to attract, nurture and manage leads.
5. Measurement: Having the ability to identify the marketing tactics that work best for your business is a really big deal, especially for resource-constrained organizations trying to do more with less. Be disciplined about gathering and analyzing data and stop investing in things that just don’t deliver.
6. Interactivity: At AirVenture Oshkosh last month, several companies went the extra mile to provide customers with an immersive event experience. The Icon Aircraft exhibit featured a simulator, as well as iPads with special apps that allowed visitors to explore and learn about the product. And the Quest Aircraft website has a feature that allows visitors to design their own aircraft, including paint. See it here.
7. 3-D: Say goodbye to boring banners and one-dimensional trade show graphics. Imagine how 3D printing could help you convey critical information and stand out from the crowd.
8. GoPro: Give away a GoPro with every product you deliver, and ask customers to send you mission and operational footage. You’ll have a happy customer and a treasure trove of unique content for use on social media and other marketing channels. Of course, this isn’t right for every aviation company, but consider if it could work for you.
9. Drones: Drones are being used by everyone from Amazon to dry cleaners, so maybe aviation marketers can use them, too. From capturing high-resolution video to drone-vertising products and services, just about anything is possible. A recent article in Adweek proclaimed that “having your brand associated with something so innovative and unexpected is a new kind of creative,” and “drones are a no-brainer.”
10. Audio: White papers are used to provide factual information about complex products and services, so they are ideal for the aerospace marketing and sales process. A typical white paper is about 2,500 words, though, making it difficult for your growing audience of mobile viewers to view. Try providing them with a fresh option to access white paper content just as they would an audio book. They’ll be able to choose the format that works best for them while positioning your business as both up-to-date and customer-friendly.

You might also be interested in our other blogs: Military vs. Commercial: What to Know When You Market to Them Both or The Truth About Marketing to OEMs.