The days of standing in the rain and hailing a taxi cab may be over. Uber, the popular app-based ride sharing platform is taking over. Uber vs Taxi isn’t so much a game of cat and mouse as it used to be. Uber is more of a lion now. But, how did Uber grow into such a giant, and why have traditional taxi services like Yellowcab struggled to keep up? Let’s take a look at some of Uber’s key marketing strategies.
Technology Put to Use
Uber is an app-based platform, meaning the service can only be interacted with via your smartphone app. The convenience of this service is one key aspect to consider when looking at how they developed their marketing strategies. It’s a tech world we live in, and Uber leveraged this to its advantage with every step.
Promotional Discounts and Referral Bonuses
In the early days of Uber, when a new rider would sign up they would receive a promotional discount on their first several rides. This ensured that new customers wouldn’t use the service once, but many times. It created a sense of brand loyalty and familiarity with first-time users. Uber – and other ride-sharing platforms like LYFT and JUNO – offers referral discounts as well. If you refer a friend, you could earn as much as $20 off your next Uber trip. This kind of savvy marketing pushed word-of-mouth to a whole new level.
Sporting Event Discounts
Uber also struck deals with major sports teams, giving them exclusive rights to pick up fans after games. As part of the deal, fans get savings on an Uber ride home. In some cases, the stadiums have specific lanes for Uber drivers. If you use the service, your commute will be even faster because these Uber-specific traffic lanes increase the efficiency of the service, making access to and from games much more convenient and less stressful.
Ride Sharing
Because Uber is technically a ride-sharing platform, anyone with a car less than 10 years old can sign up and use their vehicle to make money. Of course, it isn’t this simple anymore. Drivers need to license their vehicles and themselves according to each state’s laws, but Uber helps with this, too. They offer step by step guidance to drivers applying for licenses to become new drivers. Uber aims to make it as easy as possible for drivers to join the ride sharing community, which in turn promotes the service and makes getting a ride at any time of day that much more convenient. New drivers also get sign-up bonuses and a minimum hourly wage. Because the app is so easy to use, drivers don’t need to waste gas driving around looking for riders.
Delivery Services
Uber Eats is now a popular food delivery service that offers drivers more opportunity to make a little cash on the side. It also increases brand awareness for the ride sharing giant. It’s no wonder that Uber is so inundated in our tech-obsessed world; their marketing strategies are so diverse.
Same Old Taxi Service
Taxi cabs work in much the same way as they always have. But, it’s not always convenient or efficient. Apps that will call a cab for you, like Gett, do exist, but the brand awareness of traditional taxi services is declining as companies like Uber, Vine, LYFT and JUNO leverage advanced technology and strong marketing strategies to grow their businesses.
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