Airlines, taxi, carsharing, train and coach services — all kinds of transportation business need marketing automation to increase customers' loyalty and lifetime value. Find ideas for boosting revenue with automated communications in this post.

In order to increase revenue, your communications have to be real-time and personalized. Only this way customers can receive relevant content at the right time, via the right channel. Below you'll find ideas on how to automate your communications at every stage of user lifecycle to achieve the best results.

Opt-In (Getting Subscribers)

Before you can communicate with users via push notifications, you need to get their permission first (they need to opt in, or subscribe). Opt-in rate is one of the key marketing metrics — the success of your communications depends on how many subscribers you have.

Transportation services may have some of the highest opt-in rates across the industries: Pushwoosh benchmarks state 61.3% iOS users and 89.6% Android users are opted in for push notifications from transportation apps.

If your opt-in rate is currently lower, consider taking steps to increase it. Users' expectations are in your favor – for example, here is a testimonial from one avid traveler, Hubspot's author Amanda Zantal-Wiener:

"I’m one of those people who has to put everything on my calendar. But the one thing I never seem to remember scheduling is an online check-in for my flights. That’s why I absolutely love it when airline apps remind me to check in 24 hours in advance — and maybe that’s one reason why travel and transportation apps have the highest push notification opt-in rate".

So, how do you get more subscribers? Explain the benefits of receiving your push notifications to users who are not aware of them. Also, allow your users to choose the topics they want to be updated on. This way, they will see the value of your messages and know that they won't be spammed.

Trigger event: App installation
User segment: All users
Channel: In-app messaging
Content:

Influenced KPIs: Opt-In Rate (number of subscribers)

Onboarding

Customer onboarding is essential if you want new users to adopt your service successfully and make their first purchases faster. It's extremely important to greet newcomers and make them see the value of your product right away. Successful onboarding makes users more satisfied with their experience and typically increases user LTV by up to 300%.

Cross-channel onboarding via pushes and emails works great for that purpose. You ca new users about your app by talking about the benefits of a certain feature. Unlike in-apps, a push notification will be displayed on the users' screen even if the phone is locked.

Entry event: Account created
User segment: All users
Channel: Cross-channel (Push notifications, Emails, In-App messages)
Content:

Influenced KPIs: User activity (time in the app, app launches, screen opens, user lifetime), speed of feature adoption.

Improving User Experience

Improving user experience is essential if you want your customers to stay active. Relevant and well-timed messaging is an essential part of great user experience. It helps customers stay informed, avoid questions and confusion.

You can improve user experience with the help of:

  • Transactional messaging
  • Delivering account information and updates
  • Special offers promotion
  • Introducing new features
  • Sharing important news

User segment: Depends on the message content
Channels: Push notifications, emails, in-App messaging

Content for push notifications:

One of our customers, an Australian company operating regional passenger train and coach services — V/Line — is using segmentation based on a commuter's route and train schedule to automatically send relevant notifications to the right people at the right time.

Influenced KPIs: User activity, Engagement, CTR, Conversions, Revenue

User Retention

All of your user acquisition efforts are pointless if you cannot retain newcomers and keep them active. That's where push notifications and emails come to the rescue. They have a major advantage here: they are seen by your users even if they don't launch your app or go to your site anymore.

User segments: those who have been inactive (haven't launched app or logged in for a certain period of time)
Channel: Push notifications
Examples of content:
"Jane, get 30% off your next ride using the code CS30!"
"Check out this week's best ticket prices, Alex. You're gonna love them!"
"Long time no see! Here's your personal promo code for your next purchase, Jack. We miss you!"

Our customers' retention pushes have sky-high CTR — on average it's 17%-20%!

Influenced KPIs: Daily Active Users (DAU), Monthly Active Users (MAU), time in the app, number of app launches, screen opens, user lifetime.

Building Loyalty

Loyalty programs help improve your brand recognition and make your revenue stream  stable. Automate and personalize your messages to reward loyal customers and encourage them to engage with your partners' brands.

For example, one of our customers — Avianca Airlines — uses Pushwoosh geo-based automation to remind frequent flyers to spend their reward miles on trips, purchases from Avianca partners, retailers, gas stations, hotels and banks, strengthening their loyalty even further.

When LifeMiles members are shopping with one of the company’s Commercial Partners, they receive messages about how they can earn miles with their current purchase or spend miles on the partner’s products and services.

Channels: Emails, push notifications
Content:

Other examples:
"How was your experience with our service? We strive to be better for you"
"Mike, invite your friend using the code XJA15 and get 100 bonus miles!"
"Jack, we hope you enjoyed your ride! We appreciate having you around, so here's 15% off your next 3 rides!"

Influenced KPIs: Revenue, customer LTV

Request a free demo to discuss automation strategy for your transportation business and see how you can grow with Pushwoosh: