Design and Engineering
Article | January 7, 2022
DataBridge recently released a new market research analysis on AI in aviation, and the findings are promising. The aviation industry has relied on artificial intelligence (AI) for years. The technology has assisted pilots through machine learning algorithms to collect flight data about altitudes, air traffic management, weather, and route distance. It has enabled them to optimize fuel usage and reduce fuel costs. And now, it is going further.
AI has been cascading into other areas of aviation. Here are some trends to note from the “Global Artificial Intelligence in Aviation Market” study.
Benefitting Ground Operations
AI is extensively used in real-time support systems and air traffic control. From automated baggage check-in to facial recognition, it is powering several ground operations. These functions contribute heavily to maximizing resources, reducing labor costs, and enhancing seamlessness across different processes.
Improving Performance and Processes with Machine Learning (ML)
The emergence of AI in aviation is thanks to a surge of capital investments by key aviation players. Cloud computing is being used by many organizations as a way to consolidate processes and deal with complexity better.
Impacting How Planes will be Piloted
AI will considerably impact the future of piloting as we know it. Building on Airbus’ first ever takeoff, landing and taxi using vision-based AI in 2020, prominent aerospace tech firms continue to work on self-piloting planes or passenger autonomous aerial vehicles (AV) that will employ AI-powered intelligent navigation to fly.
Improving Efficiency and Accuracy for Manual Processes
According to aviation experts, ML digital assistants are able to process massive volumes of historical data in order to support ground staff and pilots alike. With AI’s capabilities of enabling elusive insights into patterns and complexities of data, the technology is considered ideal for aviation, where there is no room for errors.
The Path Ahead
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of new technologies in pushing the envelope and innovating solutions. The evolution of technology will only propel the adoption of AI further into the aviation industry. With multiple use cases and brilliant results from the use of AI, the aviation industry is all set for a digital transformation fuelled by data, machine learning and precision
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Air Transport
Article | July 15, 2022
Whether you’re a small, newer airline looking to make a splash in the online world or a niche brand wanting to expand your customer base, you’ll need the right aviation marketing strategies in your arsenal. Similar to any other industry in today’s market, digital strategies are non-negotiable for brands in the aviation space who are hoping to connect with customers online and restore customer confidence in the aftermath of COVID-19.
And if you’re looking to take your brand to the digital skies, you need impactful strategies that help you offer a seamless customer experience. Let’s look at five strategies you can use for your aviation marketing strategy.
Aviation Marketing through Social Media
Visibility is a hugely important goal to achieve for any business. After all, how can you hope to attract new customers if no one knows about you? This is especially true and important for smaller airlines or those not operating in the commercial space. For example, when the average customer thinks about traveling by plane, they probably aren’t considering private airlines.
But if customers see content online about airlines, perhaps even highlighting that some private airlines fall in their price range, things can change. Once customers are aware of your company, you’re one step closer to securing a sale. The key is getting in the picture in the first place—something social media can do.
In addition to visibility, use social media to keep your customers informed. Despite us seemingly living in a post-COVID world, uncertainty is still a big factor that customers and airlines alike have to consider. Positive coronavirus results or transmission outbreaks can throw a wrench in travel plans right up until check-in, but social media offers a way to keep customers informed with live information and updates.
Airlines can use social media platforms like Twitter to post live updates on flights, including regular information on delays, but also more unexpected and yet super useful updates on things such as weather conditions at their destination.
And if you’re looking for international aviation marketing strategies as a multinational company, social media is a great way to connect with customers across territories too, thanks to its global reach.
Digital Customer Service Strategies
We saw during COVID-19 how important it was to provide quick, accurate information to customers, with things like up-to-date websites, live social updates, and automated texts for flight changes. These strategies all helped to streamline customer service offerings, as well as free up helplines and customer service booths at airports, and they have helped establish a new benchmark when it comes to customer service.
Having a solid customer service strategy in place is more important than ever—specifically, having one that’s responsive, flexible, and digital. This means offering smart chatbots that can assist with frequently asked questions, detailed guidance online addressing common challenges that customers face, and over-the-phone support in multiple languages that can enhance an international aviation marketing strategy.
Customer service might not seem like it matches with airline marketing, but going above and beyond for your customers is essential in creating the right reputation for your brand. Establishing your company as a gold-star service provider will not just give you something to shout about online, but it will also keep customers loyal and engaged with you too.
Mobile Solutions
We all know that the future is mobile—and it’s no different for aviation companies, who have that same pressure to keep up with technological advancements if they want to provide the best service possible for their customers.
Smartphones are an integral part of all of our lives, and they’re now just as important as ever, as people are taking their digital identification with them on their travels. Aviation companies must recognize the company they keep in the travel space, where mobile apps support customers on their journeys and trips—from navigation to weather and accommodation to ridesharing. Without an interactive app or fully mobile-friendly site, an airline’s strategy for marketing won’t be as impactful.
Customers used to have to carry printed versions of their flight documents in order to board, including boarding passes and booking confirmations, but things aren’t so paper-based anymore. Digital wallets that keep boarding passes safe and apps that store customers’ flight information are the norm now.
Mobile apps are also fantastic for driving loyalty programs. With an interactive app where customers can collect and cash in loyalty points, you not only provide an easy way for customers to enjoy their rewards, but also make flying more accessible and cost-effective.
In a post-COVID market, there is even more of an emphasis on contactless travel—another area where mobile solutions can play a key role. Phones allow consumers to have all their information handy, and other contactless technology helps facilitate airport management.
Content that Creates Real Connections
Digital content has the potential to reach a wider audience and, more importantly, turn readers into customers, so it should be included in any airline marketing strategy. Showing customers exactly what your company can do for them, and how you do it, is crucial for establishing strong branding and customer relationships. It’s how airlines can differentiate themselves from their competitors and add value to their services.
Meaningful content that your audience will trust includes user-generated content that offers real insights into what it’s like to be a customer of your company, such as honest reviews and feedback from real customers. You can deliver this content in a variety of ways—e.g., blogs, videos, social media, PR—but however you choose to do so, be sure to keep the story at the forefront of your narrative to create those all-important connections with customers.
Omnichannel Digital Experiences
Alongside social media, there are a slew of other digital channels that should be considered in your digital strategy. This is hugely important because of the myriad ways that consumers interact with the online world nowadays. If it’s not live Twitter updates, it’s check-in reminder emails. The point is that brands need to be present across different platforms and digital mediums in order to provide a competitive and effective experience for their customers.
For airlines, it’s about making sure that no matter what device a customer is using, their journey is cohesive and streamlined. They should be able to switch seamlessly between your website on their laptop and emails on a tablet, with the right information easy and quick to find in a consistently branded way.
It’s also worth considering that people tend to carry multiple devices with them while traveling, making it even more important for airlines and airports alike to offer omnichannel digital content to their customers.
Conclusion
Whatever part of your aviation branding or marketing you need support with, the team at TPT Digital can take your brand to new heights. The 2022 Aviation Festival is a great opportunity for learning, connection, and collaboration—come and say hello to us there!
Also, get in touch if you’d like to discuss how TPT Digital can support your paid social media content. We’re happy to give you a free quote.
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Air Transport
Article | July 6, 2022
Let’s be honest!
Customers support advertising. But they seek out information.
In a marketing world where advertising reigns, aviation customers want well-researched, proficiently crafted informative content that tells stories, explains products, and helps them make smart decisions.
Content: Builds Credibility and Influence with Information
When you make a decision, you seek out the most credible sources of information available on the internet or off the net. However, for many aviation consumers, content types like publications, blogs, whitepapers, and other high-quality are the most preferred to read.
A consistent flow of information maintains the credibility of your publication and communication with your clients, customers, or stakeholders. This can only be possible when you have a good content marketing strategy.
Good content marketing, as marketers say, is an all-hands-on-deck affair. Strategizing, content production, analysis, audits, and reviews play a vital role in creating great content marketing ideas. In addition, you need to coordinate with different departments to meticulously create a plan of action that hits the right audience at the right time with an accurate message.
But remember, even if you plan it in the right way, things can go wrong. And you might feel that nothing more can be done, even having perfect airline marketing strategies.
So, in such a moment of disparity, for your aviation marketing, it’s helpful to revisit some of the most amazing content marketing strategies successful stories out on the internet to get inspired and give a new perspective to your next content marketing ideas.
Content Marketing: Stories
Let us have a look at the excellent content marketing success stories. The following examples showcase the suitable approaches you can have for your next content marketing campaigns. So, take a look and learn to craft a better strategy.
JetBlue’s Campaign Towards Passenger Concerns
The airline industry has had its share of ups and downs in executing airline marketing strategies and airline advertisement plans since the pandemic outbreak in 2020.
Under such conditions, low-cost airline JetBlue showcased its brand stand above all these struggles. Their content marketing strategy that creates compelling, engaging, and informative content consistently helped convey the brand message to the audience and build brand image.
The Strategy
JetBlue’s content marketing ideas focus on humanizes its approaches. For example, the company launched a campaign that awarded passengers with rewards points.
The airline’s digital marketing strategy, at every level, has a unique way of providing information to its audience and offering solutions. This way, it offered the clients more reasons to engage with its brand. The brand used blogs and media coverage to engage with its clients. Here are the following content strategies it used:
Timely published airline articles attracted instant attention of visitors to the website. The information provided in the article was about the usage of technology and successful collaborations to ease the operations.
Filled the website with timeless articles that served information to overcome the pandemic challenges and provide value in real-time.
Always tried to go with the trends, latest news, and updates. As updates were in time, it maximized clicks and engagements.
The Outcome
Content published and strategies implemented successfully enabled JetBlue to acknowledge their audiences’ concerns. The information provided solved the persistent problems of the audience. This approach resulted in a significant hike in the percentage of website visitors, which eventually grew traffic.
Copa Airlines’ DotDigital
Copa Airlines, like other airlines, also wanted to streamline the operational processes allied with content marketing campaigns, emails to target the most of audiences, and stabilizing its market position. It was all because the manual process took up a long time and contributed to accuracy errors.
As part of its recovery plan, it also wanted to become more agile in its email and content marketing by synchronizing the gap between website visits and email triggers to focus actively on capitalizing on the demand.
The Strategy
Copa Airlines’ partnering with dotdigital, a marketing and engagement platform, successfully implemented the campaigns. It focused only on active audiences and accurately understand the purpose. By employing powerful content creatives to create and automate email copies with variations, it was able to restructure the process and added personalization that subjected audiences’ demands and preferences.
The Outcome
Copa enhanced its brand visibility, which boosted conversions by 2%. This result led to a 14% hike in revenue, thus improved its ROI.
With the addition of automation and personalization, Copa also experienced an 11% drop in unsubscribe numbers. This pointed towards the increased engagement of audiences with the new content marketing strategy.
AirAsia’s Media Business Expansion
AirAsia’s topmost concern towards its business expansion was content marketing, media, data, and adtech. The brand wants these functionalities to perform on the top in revenue growth and lift its performance in 2021 & beyond.
To grow its business, it focuses more on engagement and providing value to its audience. It seeks to build a more substantial base of audiences than before. Since early 2020, the brand accelerated its digital business by demonstrating product offerings through blogs, video, and chats. The content information provided through the content marketing strategy was more authentic, relevant, and delivered significant value to customers.
The Strategy
The brand runs campaigns using self-service adtech and content platforms. The company has a deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), through which it created RedCarpet that focuses on smart campaigns with the help of content creation capabilities.
The Outcome
The critical part of the RedCarpet initiative is it created multiple partnerships signed for the upcoming quarter of 2021. It also introduced flexibility in tech offerings to the customer through various content generation on its website and social media channels. But, most importantly, the brand took a step ahead to enhance content services as a publisher. This is a new investment straightaway to become the pandemic warrior in the airline industry.
The brand envisions surged engagement among customers and potential audiences once travel restrictions are lifted. Thus, AirAsia’s database will have more users in the coming years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the need to educate audiences in the airline industry becoming necessary?
Today consumers are becoming smart. They are saturated with businesses offering the same repeated product or service. So, being educated help them to make informed decisions. And creates loyalty towards the brand along with a long-term relationship.
How can content marketing help to address target audiences in the airline industry?
Content marketing can help in addressing the queries of the client at various levels of the process. This strengthens a positive outlook towards the brand and probably motivates them to become part of the brand.
How to use content marketing to increase brand image in the airline industry?
Follow these steps to increase your brand image using content marketing:
Create a brand that tells a story about offerings to the audience
Research on the unexplored side of your industry which is still untouched and thus attract eyeballs to drive your brand
Think of expanding content created out of your research
Create evergreen content pieces
Create a live website and include the easiest ways for visitors to approach
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Aviation Technology
Article | December 3, 2021
Experience is Everything—human or mechanical. But Get it Right.
"AI's potential doesn't solely lie in its ability to improve business efficiency. Rather it lies in its ability to bridge the gap between businesses and customers. AI-powered communications enable for surged personalized and strengthening of information, stimulating customer trust and customer experiences."
- Kevin Gosschalk, CEO, Arkose Labs, in a conversation with Media 7.
Whether you make payments with a single tap in apps, ask Alexa to instruct in your smartphones, select Google assistance to find flights, or connect to airline companies, digital transformation is omnipresent. So, the appreciation comes naturally for how today's digital atmosphere transforms and affects our lives in every way.
Yes, you heard that right!
Using Google assistance to find flights is not the new way the industry uses AI. Instead, it has enhanced its way of AI usage into its process and operations. Like other businesses, aviation businesses are catching up well in using data and technology. With the help of these, they now create more compelling and prompter customer experiences.
The developments and revenues in the global aviation industry are skyrocketing. The industry expects almost 8.2 billion passengers to fly around the world by 2037. The rising numbers are because of digital transformation. The most interesting thing is aviation now has to manage high expectations of digital-savvy customers. It will be even more interesting now!
Before the blog breaks into discussing the futuristic airline customer experience, let's look at the flashback of the past customer experience scenarios (challenges) that prevailed in the airline industry.
Past Customer Experience Scenario in Airline
The aviation industry in 2018 recorded 4.4 billion passengers flying around the world. Furthermore, according to the IATA reports, the count is anticipated to reach 8.2 billion by 2037. But the industry is increasingly lacking behind in customer experience.
Complex booking procedures and missing out on the best flight offers because of complex app/website navigation and other potential customer services are issues raised in air travel today. Apart from this, customers also raise concerns over inflight infotainment systems. The systems merely do their job. Therefore, as many airport terminals are still empty, customer service representatives are working harder to overcome such issues.
As the industry has stepped into the fourth industrial revolution, AI rewards the best experiences for travels and other airline customer services. Now, airline marketers can find diverse AI-based digital solutions to sail through the cloud. And the findings are quite remarkable.
Let's come to the part where you will know how AI is helping the aviation industry scale its customer services.
How Can AI Enrich Airline and Scale Customer Services?
Airlines that leverage AI customer experience have had a significant advantage during the pandemic time. Their insights have been put into enriching the entire aviation business. Let's understand the 'how.'
Get Multiple Output in Seconds
When the demand for air fly rise, offering immediate services for customer handling teams becomes stressful. However, with AI, instances like this get a perfect solution.
AI can handle an infinite number of customers' demands at once. By leveraging AI-based digital solutions, you can scale up fulfilling airline operations in seconds. As a result, teams in your firm can easily diminish the increased demand for services and serve remarkable customer experience.
The benefit of AI can also be seen crosswise support channels. For instance, WestJet's ticket volume surged by 71% on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp during the beginning weeks of COVID-19 disruption in North America. However, the airline kept its response time low as its virtual agent Juliet ultimately resolved 87% of tickets.
Identity New and Trending Issues
Aviation is an industry of challenges. Issues and obstacles keep knocking on the door of airline companies. In such cases, AI informs if there are any trending issues over channels. For example, during the COVID-19 outbreak, new onboard safety issues and questions towards social distancing surfaced for the first time. However, airlines have never come through about social distancing. So, by leveraging AI, they created a responsive plan for customers. They communicated the same through AI-enabled solutions on websites and applications.
In response to the coronavirus, Gartner suggests that companies should use chatbots in digital channels to focus on the most ordinarily asked questions to give solutions for customers.
Feedback Analysis
Air travel can be stressful at times, even for frequent and experienced travelers. For example, it could be passport-related or booking tickets, baggage checks, ticket prints, arrivals, departures, seat assistance, etc.
So, by analysis of data, artificial intelligence in customer experience learns about these pain points of airports and flight experiences. In this way, customer experience can be improved and enhanced simultaneously.
Then comes feedback. Using AI for feedback analysis, airlines can research the market. It can make informed decisions related to processes and operations.
"AI systems can quickly allow airlines to discover opportunities to intervene in the customer journey and turn a miserable experience into a delightful one. It also allows companies to respond faster in a synchronized and regulated way that is uniform with the business's values. Ultimately, we want to understand how an airline can fascinate a customer as well as where there is an abrasion in the customer journey and figure out how to fix it,"
- CEO of PureStrategy Inc. Briana Brownell
Briana highlights the growing relevance of natural language used in AI. Understanding technology in the processing and analysis of customer experience data thus allows businesses to explore the customer journey in their own words.
For example, ANIE, an AI assistance, can help customers find, book, and pay for flights.
Effective Communication
The speed of responsive communication to customer queries is highly considered to resolve issues. For example, airport issues like flight delays or baggage loss crop up quite often throwing. As a result, travelers usually get into a state of nervousness. However, when they do not get a response or explanation to their problems, they start considering other airlines for their future trips.
In these cases, AI software deployment can speed up and simplify services, automatically enhancing airline customer experience. In addition, effective customer emails with exact information can also solve significant issues and streamline employees' workflow using natural text.
Another way to automate and improve airline customer experience is chatbot development. Today, many airlines enhance their customer support with AI-powered chatbots on their websites and mobile applications.
The Business Insider’s research report says that by 2022, over 80% of airline businesses are likely to have chatbot automation implemented in operations.
These chatbots help passengers with bookings, managing flight schedules, and updating customers about general flight information. In addition, they can post queries and other types of assistance to get quick responses.
Self-Services at Airports
Easy self-check-ins, ticket booths, and overall communication (from booking to destination arrival) add to the comprehensive AI-based digital solutions.
The pandemic forced the aviation industry to witness the extraordinary rise of numerous contactless technologies. So, airports are now more focused on providing self-services for customers. These include contactless payments, luggage checks, robotic assistance for queries, and more like these.
Self-service systems in airports are critical automated systems. AI technology is installed to automate passenger journeys without any hurdles.
Today, airline companies and airports implement an end-to-end solution using artificial intelligence in customer experience to facilitate smooth passenger air travel and operations. In case of point, Delta Airlines, one of the world's largest global airlines, uses intelligent systems such as Fly to Gate by Thales. The system works with biometrics technology. The employees use it for the document scanning process to recognize and verify passengers at security checks.
Such technology reduces passenger check-in time and improves customer experience.
Future of AI Customer Experience in Airline Industry
There are many shreds of evidence that customers increasingly want a personal touch with their communications. They adore personalized services. Even airline companies are seeking profound connections with their customers. And this is the right time to act by offering personalized customer experiences.
Today, AI makes it possible for the entire airline industry to enhance customer experience with automation, provide self-service solutions, ensure safe air travel, and more. Technology is a powerful tool for airlines to make informed decisions that they couldn't take in the past few years. Now airlines can make decisions faster on essential decisions such as on pricing of tickets by analyzing data, enabling secure authentication of customers than before.
Ultimately, the success of artificial intelligence in customer experience is driven by having a deep understanding of different customer segments. By harnessing the power of conversational AI, airline businesses can improve their ROI, nurture long-term customer relationships, metrics being the core elements.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can airline companies improve their customer experience?
To improve customer experience, airline companies can follow these ways:
Focus on knowing the target audience
Meet unique and specific customer needs
Keep customers engaged on social media platforms
Make smart customer-targeted decisions
Be responsive towards customers
How does AI play its role in aviation concerning customer experiences these days?
AI plays a crucial role in helping customers in aviation to find the correct information more efficiently. It actively helps analyze customers' data and recommend services based on their browsing preferences about flights.
How does AI improve customer experience?
AI enables the power to strengthen customer engagement, encourage activities, and improve customer retention. Although not a replacement for human beings, it does help increase the efficiency of serving — like answering frequently asked questions, providing the correct information, and being available 24*7.
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