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Who does not intend to maintain their business and expand it?
Promoting differentiation
Adopting a good marketing strategy is very important for the differentiation of your brand, especially in a sector where companies offer similar services, such as ferry transportation. In fact, brand recognition and differentiation are what allow companies offering these services to stand out and remain competitive.
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There is therefore a double advantage to developing a promotional campaign. On the one hand, your company can attract more customers (increase your turnover). On the other hand, you can work on strengthening brand awareness (awareness of your brand) to achieve more credibility with a minimum investment cost. You just need to be creative and know what are the exact expectations of the consumers of your service in your area.
Ferry passenger segmentation
There are several types of services for ferry operators: simple passenger transportation; round-trip transportation of vehicles and passengers; excursions and tours. Each service requires a different level of organization and different technical and structural skills.
In fact, the big difference is that consumers of these services have different buying behaviors. It is then a matter of adopting marketing strategies adapted to each segment. But how do you segment your market?
1. Motivations of ferry passengers.
You can use the “purpose of the trip” as the basis for your segmentation and then focus on the segments you find most interesting. For example, there are two main types of travelers: regular customers who travel by ferry from one island to another for work; and tourists, more interested in full services including, for example, a meal on board or excursions.
You can also segment the market more precisely, identifying more travel motivations: tourism, leisure, visiting family or friends, interests, business and others. These motivations will influence the travel needs of your potential customers. Some will be looking for a value-added service (such as a guided tour, an included meal or even accommodation), while other customers will be looking for a simple transportation service from point A to point B at the most affordable price.
2. Buying behavior of ferry passengers.
As we mentioned before, the buying behavior of your potential customers is influenced by the reason for their trip. In fact, there is a relationship between passengers’ travel patterns and the scope of services they are likely to purchase on board the ferry.
Locals (or regular customers) provide you with a steady stream of revenue throughout the year, especially if you are successful in encouraging loyalty (by offering loyalty programs or discounts), but are reluctant to request additional services. On the other hand, passengers traveling for tourism reasons are those who seek greater added value and are more likely to purchase onboard services, so it is thanks to them that you can generate higher turnover.
As you can see, it is essential to know your potential customers and their travel preferences well. How? With online tools and channels that allow you to get relevant information for your tourism business.
Online marketing
This is where the importance of online marketing lies. Because to capture these foreign customers, you must differentiate yourself from the competition and attract their attention.
Today, when we talk about marketing, we also talk about e-commerce and digitalization, which are becoming increasingly important to consumers. The best illustration of this phenomenon is undoubtedly the development of mobile solutions for reservations and cancellations.
Also, online marketing is the best way to reach a wider range of consumers. Today, almost everyone uses the Internet to search for information, and the Internet has no boundaries.
