Social media and the airline industry – 4 ideas to springboard from

Posted by: | Posted on: January 24th, 2011 | 35 Comments | Posted in: Facebook, Social media, social media marketing

What can we learn from the airline business in how they are using social media?

In 2010, Delta Airlines enabled an application you can use if in the US to book your tickets to fly with Delta – and you don’t have to leave their Facebook Page to do so and South West Airlines have been active in social media for many years through their blog, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube channels.

However a European airline to watch is KLM. Here are four examples of activities they have been undertaking in the last year.

1. Connecting Facebook Photos with your brand

In Spring of 2010, KLM launched a Facebook application (no longer working) that enabled people to create a branded KLM luggage tag using their personal Facebook photos. They recognised the fact that people love sharing photos on Facebook and they enabled people to create personalised luggage tags with their favourite photos while the KLM brand was also highly visible.

2. Engaging with fans at times of crisis

When the Ash cloud affected travel across Europe in 2010, the KLM Facebook Page developed a customised Facebook Tab with the frequently asked questions that they were receiving about disrupted flights and how passengers could re-book their flights. They realised that people may seek out advice on their Facebook Page so integrated customer service support.

3. Surprising customers in ‘real time’ with small acts of kindness

Late in 2010, KLM introduced a programme to connect with their customers called ‘KLM Surprise’ at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. They found KLM passengers who had checked into their KLM flight and had shared the fact on FourSquare or Twitter and researched their interests to then provide them with a personalised gift. You can watch a short video here about how the programme worked to build positive word of mouth marketing about the airline:

You can see some of the photos of passengers with their gifts on the KLM Facebook Page.

social-media-marketing-case-study-KLM-surprise

4. Rewarding customers for being a fan of their Facebook Page

With the KLM Facebook Page approaching 100,000 members to mark this milestone, they currently have a customised application on their Facebook page where you can predict the exact date and time (Central European Time) they hit this milestone – the winner will be awarded a prize.

social media case study KLM Facebook Page 100000 fans

So what ideas do these give you for your social media marketing? And what other great ideas have you seen in the airline industry?

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