Take a proactive approach to promoting your taxi or private hire business by reading our top 10 marketing tips below now.
- Get a professional website
As a taxi or private hire firm you may not think you need a website but it can have a number of benefits. More and more people are using the internet to search for local services including taxis so you need an online presence to compete.
A website will also help to reassure your customers that you’re a legitimate and established taxi or private hire firm.
- Find a unique angle for your business
By having a look at what other local taxi and private hire firms are doing in terms of marketing you may be able to spot a unique angle for your firm.
For example, if none of your competitors offer an online booking facility you could make this a feature of your marketing.
- Let customers book online
Making it as easy as possible to book a taxi or private hire car is in your best interests. If people are in a noisy pub for example they may prefer to book online via their internet enabled mobile phone rather than calling.
Having a simple registration process for online members can make the whole process of booking one of your vehicles much easier wherever someone is.
- Use social media for promotions
One of the great things about social media sites such as Twitter is that you can communicate instantly with your client base. If your taxi or private hire company is having a slow evening you could try to boost bookings via a coupon on Twitter offering no call out charge for the next 20 people to book.
- Use SMS marketing
Getting people to register on your website can be good for gathering mobile numbers for SMS marketing.
A great way to use this would be to send a text out to all your clients at around 7pm on a Friday or Saturday evening with your phone number included in case they need a taxi or private hire car later that evening.
- Choose someone to be the public face of your firm
Rather than always hiding behind a logo, why not choose someone in your taxi or private hire firm to be its public face?
People will find it easier to relate to and remember your business if for example you have someone introducing your company on the website, the same person on social media sites and who does any press interviews or networking for the company.
- Go to networking meetings in your local area
Most people need to take a taxi or private hire car at some point in their lives whether it’s for personal or professional use.
Getting your face and company known at local business networking events could lead to more corporate and private work for your firm.
- Get professional photos taken of your vehicles
Whether you’ve got a fleet of black cabs or private hire cars, people will want to see that your vehicles are well looked after.
Having professional photos taken of a nice clean cab or car on a sunny day will create the right impression when people visit your website.
- Give something useful away for free
In the back of most taxis and private hire cars you’ll find business cards with their phone number on. Even if people take one of these it’s unlikely they’ll carry it around with them at all times.
You could be a bit different from other firms by giving away a keyring fob or pen with your contact number and web address as these are more likely to be used by your passengers.
- Use your website to create peace of mind
Getting into a vehicle with someone they don’t know is a worry for many taxi and private hire passengers. You can go some way to easing their fears through the words on your website.
If all your drivers have undergone criminal background checks for example, make sure you tell people about it. If your taxi or private hire firm has been operating successfully for many years, again tell people how long you’ve been established to make them feel safer.
Any comments, thoughts or questions as always are welcomed below.
Image Credit: Ilco
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