How to Market Your Car Rental Business?

Do you know every day, millions of people all over the world commute to work? Now, that is for office-goers; multiply that figure again to include long-distance travelers who are out for leisure activities or office work. Harvard Business Review quotes that 600,000 mega-commuters are traveling each day only in the US. The figure is much more for the global commuters.

Now, these all figures also are the reasons for the car rental market which is booming with staggering figures. More and more enterprises are now taking up enormous opportunities to have a full-fledged car rental business. Only to quote 2021 from Mordor Intelligence, the car rental market accounted for just under US $120 billion, and is likely to shoot with a CAGR of more than 11% during the forecast period between 2022 and 2027 at USD 223.07 billion.

Such lucrative sales and revenues would certainly trigger any entrepreneur’s business sense, and if you are one, this exclusive guide on how to market a car rental business is for you.

You can start a car rental business with a perfect business plan, and business model, determine your target audience, and then get on to developing a perfect car rental business app to prosper in the market. But the soul of your business lies in the question – how to market your car rental business application? This short guide answers it all –

Why is Marketing Car Rental Needed?

You need to market your car rental business because you must inform, educate, and attract your customers who are diversified and unaware of your products and services. Just like any other business, you have tremendous benefits from car rental business marketing –

• Reach more customers or commuters
• Increase brand visibility
• Significantly earn more revenues
• Turn customers into loyal clients
• Stay competitive
• Inform any upgrade, change, or update in business quickly
• Stay alert and keep your customers alert in the industry
• To have an eye on the latest market trends and consumer demands
• Targets new geographical areas for business growth and market expansion
• Create Brand loyalty by encouraging repeat business by creating a memorable brand experience
• Trust building

How To Effectively Market Your Car Rental Business?

It is essential to have specific methods to market your venture to keep track of and have a yardstick for measuring the success of the car rental business. Strategically planned marketing campaigns and actions will help your company see newer heights in the business and for that, you need to cover both the dimensions – ground marketing for the car rental business and the Internet as the most potential way to exhibit your brand.

Ground Marketing for Car Rental Business

Ground marketing strategies are ways to promote a car rental business in the local area. And for this, you need to use physical and direct methods.

Some possible ground marketing strategies are:

Distribute flyers and brochures

Distributing marketing and educating content to potential customers like tourists, travelers, and business people, is essential. The flyers and brochures should be carefully designed and put content that highlights the benefits of car rental like convenience and flexibility. For your car rental company, you can also showcase affordability and exclusiveness. Such marketing physical materials should also include contact information, rates, and special offers.

Partnership

Partnering with local businesses and organizations who are in direct or indirect touch with your customers is another ground marketing tactic for the car rental business. For instance, hotels or resorts, travel agencies, event planners, and sightseeing agencies are good options. You can offer discounts or commissions to the partners for each referral, and your partners can also display your business services in their marketing materials and physical sites.

Participate in local events and trade shows

Local connections and networks can be increased manyfold by participating in events relevant to the car rental business. Such events include tourism fairs, travel expos, car shows, and the like. You can set up a kiosk for your car rental business to showcase your cars and services. Further, you interact with potential customers and offer them free trials, giveaways, or contests. This will attract everybody’s attention and generate more leads.

Sponsor local causes and initiatives

Philanthro economy works. You may sponsor local causes and initiatives that align with your car rental business’s values and mission to gain traction. There are environmental protection, social responsibility, and cultural diversity programs and initiatives and you can contribute, donate, or sponsor these causes and initiatives. In return, you get your logo and name displayed on the banners and materials. These organizations can also invite their customers to join them in supporting the causes and initiatives and creating a positive image for your brand.

Advertise the car rental business

There are potential media platforms that reach the local audience more effectively. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and OOH (Out Of Home Advertising) are the best options to get into onlookers’ eyes. The car rental advertisements should be catchy, creative, and informative to convey the unique selling proposition (USP).

Car Rental Business App Marketing

If ground marketing strategies are good ways to promote a car rental business in the local area, having car rental business apps are groundbreaking way to exhibit your brand to millions of potential users throughout the region and even worldwide. There are innumerable benefits of a mobile app for your business, and for your cab venture, you can bank on it too.

When you take your car hire business online, you break the geographical boundaries along with other restrictions and limitations that ground marketing has.

Here is the step-by-step guide to performing an infallible car rental app marketing –

Understand your target audience

Who are you renting to? You need to analyze your target customer’s commuting needs and preferences. Check whether they are budget-conscious families or business travelers seeking luxury. Gathering users’ needs and focused market research helps you tailor car rental app features to give extra mileage to your online marketing and make your product successful.

Identify your ideal customers

Your marketing campaign would drive differently if you are tapping commuters who are office goers; similarly, you will have to have a different approach if the target audience is leisure travelers who are on getaways. Identifying your ideal customers is key for any marketing campaign.

Analyze their needs and preferences

Analyzing target customers’ preferences includes knowing what type of fleet of cars do they need. Also, find out whether they prioritize convenience, price, or fuel efficiency. Learning the end-user’s preferences will allow you to highlight relevant features in a car rental app and expect good conversions for your business revenues.

Develop a strong online presence

Let your cab riding app be seen, and get assurance of being booked! It is highly essential to create a user-friendly car rental app and a website with unambiguous information and on demand cab booking options. You can hire a digital marketing agency to optimize online content for search engines and leverage popular social media platforms to widen your target customer base.

Create a user-friendly website/app

Find the best car rental app development companies and choose the right one to build a quality solution that is scalable and user-centric. This is because your cab-riding app should be intuitive and easy to navigate, and if you have experienced developers by your side, you are ensured of having the end product with optimum performance, aligned with your business objectives.

Implement SEO/App Store Optimization (ASO)

A digital marketing agency can help you with optimizing car rental app descriptions and website content with focused keywords for better search engine visibility. SEO and ASO are two powerful tools that bring your web and app top on the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). The higher the rank, the better opportunities you create to get visitors and convert them into regular customers.

Utilize social media platforms

Social media marketing is another sure-shot arena where you can have powerful car rental business marketing for your on demand apps. Sharing engaging content and promotions on platforms your target audience (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, X) can multiply your marketing campaign effects to reach millions of users in a very short time. You can also run and experiment with unique ideas along with hashtags to make your campaign viral.

Leverage digital marketing strategies

Targeted ads can bring targeted renters to your cab booking business. Digital marketing experts can utilize various available campaigns and digital marketing strategies to tap potential commuters actively searching for car rentals in cities and towns. You may also partner with travel platforms for cross-promotional opportunities online.

PPC/Ad campaigns

One of the most common yet effective car rental app marketing is utilizing targeted pay-per-click (PPC) ads to reach renters searching for cab booking in specific areas of your business operations.

Implement email marketing campaigns

Another traditional way to market car rental businesses online is to run targeted email campaigns with amazing offers and irresistible promotions. This will help you reach existing and potential customers seeking cab booking services regularly. For example, reaching out to corporates for their regular car rental needs for their employees and guest clients.

Cross promotions

Like on-ground marketing for your business, partnering with travel agencies, hotels, resorts, or local businesses online can help you reach a wider audience through cross-promotions. Link exchange, guest posts, and other participation on different platforms and forums will help you get the required attention of netizens all around the world.

Offer competitive rates and packages

In any business, price matters, value sells! You can highlight transparent pricing and competitive rates for your cab booking company. Creating attractive rental packages for specific needs such as weekend trips, and one-way rentals is a good option. Additionally, you may also consider loyalty programs to incentivize repeat cab bookings.

Highlight competitive pricing and transparent fees

To market your car rental app, you need to be upfront about pricing and avoid hidden costs. Customers become ‘loyal’ customers when they trust your company through its transparent services and business model. You can research and offer competitive prices as compared to other car rental businesses in your area. This will help you convert other customers into your loyal clients.

Develop attractive rental packages for different needs

Car rental could attract a range of needy commuters and travelers. For effective marketing for car rental applications, you can work on offering weekend specials or one-way rentals. Also, special packages with airport pick-up/drop-off are quite popular in metro cities where celebrities, business tycoons, and other renowned people travel frequently.

Consider loyalty programs and referral incentives

Everybody, irrespective of their financial status, loves discounts. One of the most effective marketing strategies for car rental apps is to reward repeat customers. You can do this on your car rental mobile app and website by showcasing amazing prizes, discount coupons, loyalty points, and other programs such as referrals to assure steady and continual business growth.

Provide exceptional customer service

It is not a secret anymore that if you have happy car renters, you have returning car renters! One of the best methods to make your business leverage word-of-mouth publicity is having user-friendly features in the car rental app. Through these features, you can make the booking process smoother and offer the best customer support through different channels.

Streamline the booking process

The first step is to make booking a car quick and easy through your app or website. Having digital solutions for the car renting business has the benefit of streamlining the entire booking process where users can browse through locations and available types of cars (Sedans, Luxury sedans, MUVs, SUVs, and so on). Furthermore, with GPS-enabled features, they can track their vehicles and also know the estimated fare and time to reach their destination. They can also view, edit, or cancel bookings online.

24/7 customer support

The success of any business depends on the prompt execution of issues raised by customers. For the best marketing for your car rental app, you can offer convenient multiple channels for customer support such as direct phone calls, video chat, email, or even live chat to address inquiries promptly. With the latest features of AI-enabled chatbot, you can promptly address feedback and concerns to build trust and satisfaction.

Address customer feedback and concerns promptly

Addressing customers’ concerns as early as possible increases the chances of trust. Nevertheless, the process does not end there. You must actively listen to customer feedback and address concerns quickly to build trust and satisfaction, which is one of the most essential marketing strategies. You can display such use cases on your social media handles and other platforms to show that you do care about your elite users.

Spread the good word about your car rental business!

Your business will lie in a dark corner unseen if it is not exhibited properly. This guide showcased that you not only can have foolproof ground marketing strategies but also the option to develop a car rental app to cut your marketing efforts by half but double the effects.

Leverage the benefits of car rental apps by including the best features that render a unique user experience through its easy cab booking, GPS tracking, secure payment gateway, and amazing offers. With combined ground and car rental app marketing, you can have a surefire way to exhibit your business and lead the industry.