Target Markets: Growing Your Black Car Business By Knowing Your Customers

Owning and operating a black car business is as much about knowing how to do so as it is about knowing your customers. How will you advertise and market your business if you don't know who you're targeting? Do you want to reach the elite business travel crowd, or are you hoping to work with the leisure/weekend/evening groups? Figuring out your target market is a crucial part of not only launching your business but making it a success in the long term. 

What are Target Markets? 

Marketing experts divide consumers/customers into four major areas: Demographic, Geographic, Psychographic, and Behavioral, according to Investopedia. Let's think about each of these and how they might apply to your black car business plan: 

Demographic: This refers to the age, income level, gender, occupation, and education levels of your target market. As mentioned above, do you want to plan on marketing your services to business travelers? Think about the age and occupation of those individuals - how will your services serve them best? What would you offer in your limousine or black car to make them comfortable? How will they book their rides? Will it be them or their assistants? Lots of questions but excellent ways to narrow the playing field. 

Geographic: While this is self-explanatory, you'll need to define travel boundaries for your cars and drivers. If your business is located in a large metropolitan area that more than two major airports service, how far will you be willing to accommodate travelers? On the flip side, if your business plans to cater more to the weekend winery party crowd or the evening city entertainment groups, what distances or services would you offer to make their experiences top-notch? Think about, again, the demographic (see above) you're hoping to hone in on, and then work the geography from there. 

Psychographic: This refers to your customer's lifestyle, attitudes, interests, and values and goes hand in hand with what is mentioned above. Have you considered how your target markets will react to your business, driver experience, professionalism, and more? 

Behavioral: If you've been in business for a while, you've hopefully received feedback or reviews from your customers. Perhaps some of this feedback has warranted further research into improvements that would help attract new customers. If your target markets are groups of affluent, fast-moving, and digitally motivated people, you might also want to consider how your black car business is run. Is it as cutting edge as it could be? Would a change in how your business functions internally and in customer-facing ways be worth it? Think about how a best-in-class software capability, like that offered by Limo Anywhere, could up the ante of your business and create an incredible customer experience. 

Growing your business isn't just about offering the best services - it's about knowing your customers, providing them with what they want and need, and then continuing to hone your offerings as you grow and become successful.