Like many other industries, airlines have added social media to their marketing arsenal, using these new platforms to engage their customers. Used in the right way, social media can generate a lot of value to airlines with tangible results. To better understand the trends, Noticias Airbus caught up with the undisputed expert Shashank Nigam, CEO and Founder of SimpliFlying

1. MARKET TRENDS
Latest trends in social media and the airlines getting it
right
Like many other industries, airlines have added social media to their marketing
arsenal, using these new platforms to engage their customers. Used in the right
way, social media can generate a lot of value to airlines with tangible results. To
better understand the trends, Noticias caught up with the undisputed expert
Social media expert, Shashank Nigam Shashank Nigam, CEO and Founder of SimpliFlying:
CEO of SimpliFlying
Q. Why is social media becoming increasingly important to airlines?
A. The age of the Connected Traveler has arrived. From trip planning to
post-travel, sharing happens throughout the travel lifecycle. This presents windows
of opportunities for airlines to engage and drive revenue from the connected
traveler. Since most of the sharing is happening over social media, airlines need to
be present to be part of the conversation and drive results.
Q. What are the most popular social media platforms used by airlines today?
A. Facebook and Twitter are the two most popular social media platforms used by
airlines these days. Many airlines also use tools like Youtube, Pinterest and blogs
that today's connected travelers use frequently throughout their travel lifecycle.
Q. What airlines have embraced social media, and which ones are getting it right in
Latin America?
A. According to latest data from Eezeer.com, there are 198 airlines on Twitter, of
which only 90 tweet actively. This means the remaining airlines, over a hundred of
them, don't really know how to ultilise Twitter to engage their travelers
meaningfully. Of the 90 airlines that tweet actively, only 30 airlines make up the
majority of the tweets, suggesting the others don't have an effective strategy or
proper resources dedicated to social media.In Latin America, some of the best
airlines on social media are Volaris, LAN, Gol and Azul. All are very creative and
constantly innovating in the social space with the connected traveler in mind.
- Volaris is very good at launching new routes through social media. They drive
buzz and engagement through social media, often involving their passengers.
From Facebook sales alone they've had revenues amounting to $2 million Mexican
Pesos on a monthly basis. (Read more here)
- LAN has done a phenomenal job over the last couple of years of rolling out a
concerted social media strategy across its hubs in the United States, Peru, Chile
and now Argentina and Brazil too. They've got over a combined million fans across
their multiple country Facebook pages, which is commendable given their large
and spread out organization
- Gol and Azul from Brazil are excellent at involving their fans with the brand on
social media - from getting them to share photos and rewarding them for Mothers'
Day to partnering with fashion brands that the customer like, they've done it all.
Q. What's the secret to getting it right?
No. 144 August-September 2012

2. A. There are two things that we advise our clients to bear in mind when they use
social media in their customer engagement strategy. They need to understand how
today's connected travelers behave, and remember to tie their efforts to specific
goals. Strong internal resources, like LAN's, help drive long-term strategy, rather
than one-off campaigns we see so often.
Q. What are some social media trends airlines should watch out for?
A. Several airlines are starting to take further steps to make their services and
products more social, such as social customer service and social loyalty programs.
Estonian Air, one of our clients, have launched a social loyalty program, AirScore,
to reward Facebook users for social advocacy with loyalty points that can be
redeemed for flights and discounts to their ancillary products. Our research shows
that 72 percent of frequent fliers said they would join a social loyalty program.
SimpliFlying is a consulting firm that advises airlines and airports on optimizing
customer engagement to drive business goals. To learn more about SimpliFlying,
please visit SimpliFlying.com or email at wannalearnmore@simpliflying.com
For more information contact:
Patrick Baudis
Vice President Marketing, Latin America & Caribbean
patrick.baudis@airbus.com
No. 144 August-September 2012