Airline Social Media Strategies

Social media describes websites that allow users to share content, media, etc. Common examples are the popular social networking sites are Google Plus, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, twitter etc.

As of January 2009, the online social networking application Facebook registered more than 175
million active users and every minute, 10 hours of content were uploaded to the video sharing platform YouTube in the same year. Even in organizations where social media use on corporate systems is prohibited, people still use social networking sites on their personal devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets.

Airlines are using the social media as a platform for brand development and product marketing, improving customer service and improving passenger experience e.g. through updating and responding to customers’ feedback. Data from Mindshift Interactive, a digital outreach firm, suggests that 40 per cent of airlines are actively growing their social media team to incorporate representatives from marketing, customer service, e-commerce, corporate communications and other departments. The primary function of a SMS is to convey news about airline or the influential factors in aviation industry as a whole and also to highlight the airline culture to engage with its “customers” i.e. the travelling public. It gives the customers a backstage view of the airline. It thus develops the airline`s brand identity in the mind of the customers.

In this era of globalization, airlines are now focusing on SMS to enhance customer experience. They are interested to get feedback from their passengers to add value to existing products and services or to introduce a new product or service to stay competitive in the market.

SMS can be used for:

1.      To listen and respond in real-time. E.g. Answering passenger queries like baggage misplacement or any other complains etc.

2.      Dispersing information about any technical delay in flight, harsh weather conditions affecting flight schedules.

3.      To build relationships and to increase awareness about the brand

4.      To appear honest and transparency

5.      Taking snaps of some famous personality and uploading it on social media with logo of the airline.

6.      To drive traffic

7.      Initiating social media marketing campaigns like follow our page and win a free ticket.

Every airline is different. No one strategy is confirmed to work in another airline. We have to note that Social media efforts are a reflection of the company’s culture and attitude. There are a huge number of Social Media platforms on the web and new ones are being created almost every day. Choosing the right platform for implementing an SMS depends on the target group to be reached and the message to be communicated. Most airlines uses a combination of social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn), blogs, and content communities (YouTube videos) to maximize their reach.

On the one hand, we also have to keep in mind that each Social Media application usually attracts a certain group of people and airlines should be active wherever their customers are present. ‘‘Being active’’ online and responding back in real time is one key requirement of success of an airlines SMS. It’s all about participation, sharing, and collaboration, rather than straightforward advertising and selling. This concept of building relationships and just implanting the idea of the product into the minds of the customers is also termed as Guerilla marketing in marketing books.

Example 1:

Southwest Airlines has a blog named “Nuts about Southwest” on which the airlines employees themselves write and post articles. The social media program was started back in 2006. Ivey (2011) quotes that “12 million monthly visits this website and there are more than 1 million Twitter followers, 1.3 million plus Facebook likers”. This helps people to speak out in their real voice and be authentic.

Example 2:

AirBaltic SMS manager Karlis Smiltens says: “We are proud to have a larger presence in social media than we probably have in the real world.” He commented that airBaltic noticed that airlines around the globe already had social media accounts and saw that they were benefiting from it. According to Simpliflying, their business model “went from being a point-to-point low-cost carrier to a service minded network carrier. Also, due to the economic recession, travel dramatically declined in Latvia.” So the Social media strategies allowed airBaltic to easily reach customers who lived outside of Latvia too, and this ended up in a larger presence online than in the real world.

 

Through detailed market research and analysis, the AirBaltic saw that most of their followers were using and trying to communicate to them through Facebook so they focused their SMS to this platform. To derive engagement, the airline has held several competitions to engage with their fans. “Help us set lowest fares for specific routes”, was a recent contest they held. It offered a 30% discount exclusively for their Facebook fans. This has also generated lots of buzz and increased brand awareness in key markets other than its home country e.g. Finland.

Example 3:

Alaska Airline, unlike AirBaltic has focused its SMS on Twitter instead of Facebook. Elliott Pesut, its SMS manager justifies this decision by saying that Almost 70% of the airline’s “fans” are on this platform.

On twitter, Alaska Airline has to limit each message into 140 characters so they are almost forced to be creative and derive engagement. Less characters equals less clutter on the customers screen and thus the message is communicated to them directly and clearly. The use of #hashtags helps the customers to share the posts on a wider scale. Elliott Pesut explains this by saying that “it is easier to develop relationships with people when you talk casually, as opposed to broadcasting marketing messages.”

References

Ivey, M. (2011, June 30). Southwest Airlines and Social Media Strategy: 5 Lessons for Marketers. Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/southwest-airlines-strategy/ 

Social media. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2015, from http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Social_media

 

SimpliFlying. Airlines in Social Media: Case studies featuring six airline brands conquering the

 space. Accessible through the link: http://simpliflying.com/wp-content/uploads/Compiledv9.pdf.

 Photo Credits: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/