Thx 4 Da Info - Airlines and Social Media

Social networking sites have changed the way that people communicate with one another. When I was younger the best way to update anyone about your life was to give them a phone call. In our gloriously modern times, there are quite a few more options that can end up being much more efficient and quick: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, email, Foursquare. The list could go on for quite a bit. Where as before I would be required to call up 10 friends to get a message out, now I can just make a quick post on my Facebook or send out a short 30 character tweet and have them all see it almost instantly.

Social networking has also changed the way that airlines communicate with the traveling public. While the traditional tools of outreach such as commercials and magazine ads are still the most prevalent, most airlines have begun to incorporate some elements of social networking into their marketing/outreach efforts. As you can imagine, some airlines have been more successful then others in utilizing these new formats to connect with fliers. Being based in Chicago, it makes sense for me to take some time and look at how United Airlines (UA) and American Airlines (AA) have harnessed the power of Twitter and Facebook to varying degrees of success.

TWITTER

For those of you who haven't quite figured out what Twitter is, here's the cliff notes version: Twitter is an online/mobile service that allows a user to make text-based post of up to 140 characters to a distribution list of subscribers. So UA or AA can publish short messages of up to 140 characters related to any subscriber who indicates they'd like to receive messages from the airlines. While this might not sound all too different then an email, the strength and success of Twitter has lied in its ability to become compatible with other formats. Twitter now allows users to receive specific updates directly on their cell phones, within an application on that cellphone or wireless capable device, or to automatically update the sender's Facebook or blog page. With a single 140 character burst, UA or AA can communicate with the flying public via Twitter, text messaging, email, applications, Facebook, or blogs. Talk about efficiency.

The trick is how do you convince subscribers that they might be interested in receiving "tweets" from your respective airline. After all, the advent of these technologies has brought the level of unwanted spam advertising to stratospheric heights. United's angle on gaining subscribers seems to be the most effective: offer periodic sale pricing on a variety of routes. Labeling this sale a "tware" (a combination of tweet and fare), United will occasionally sent out a tweet notifying its subscribers that for a few hours, they are providing an airfare discount exclusively for Twitter followers. The message usually links to a web page on United's site that includes details on the dates and destinations that are currently on sale, and will provide the user with a limited time use code to take advantage of the sale.

While the discounts can vary (I've personally seen small discounts on flights to Washington DC all the way up 40% off flights to Australia), one important goal is always achieved: UA has provided adequate incentive to its subscribers to receive advertisements and UA information without feeling bombarded by advertising. The subscriber can at least feel like they "get" something out of it, despite the more mundane and banal postings UA might make:

The one aspect of UA's use of Twitter that I feel leaves more to be desired is the level of professionalism that is used when posting. While the use of Twitter in and of itself might be viewed as "hip and youthful", I think UA makes a mistake when it allows the individuals who run the account to make posts that are at times unintelligible due to overuse of internet slang and abbreviations. For example: "RT @elliottyamin Mad important partnership b/w @MalariaNoMore & United 2gether able 2 touch more lives & help eradicate malaria in africa." While the idea is good (UA is replying to a user, former American Idol Elliott Yamin, who mentioned that UA has partnered with a non-profit to fight malaria in Africa, as blogged about in our last installment), I'm a little put off by the fact that United's official response was to call the partnership "mad important". Is this public relations for a major company or the Real World?

On the other hand we have American Airlines, another user of Twitter that might need to spruce up its offering a bit. Where as UA has successfully offered Twares to its users for over a year now, I have yet to see a single offering from AA that provides any incentive to its subscribers. AA's twitter postings are entirely consumed with responding to flyer's complaints and compliments, or announcing various AA news pieces and charitable works.

While good in theory, AA has yet to harness Twitter as effectively as UA for one simple reason: UA gives people a reason to BUY a ticket. AA doesn't. Low airfares provide an incentive to fliers to buy tickets. While AA's PR work addressing customer complaints and charity work is admirable, it doesn't give incentive for anyone to actually buy something. AA's Twitter team definitely aces the professionalism test though. Rarely have I seen the messages utilize slang or excessive abbreviations unless absolutely relevant or appropriate.

While AA might be a slightly larger airlines then UA (for now), the Twitter audience skews in favor of UA: 91,000 vs. 75,000.

FACEBOOK

Another popular method of connecting with flyers through a social network is Facebook. Facebook is a social networking website that allows the user to post a variety of media onto the site which will automatically load on any "friend's" (i.e. subscriber's) news feed. Similiar to Twitter, an airlines can utilize Facebook to upload its latest television ad and instantaneously provide access and advertisement for it with thousands of potential customers. Replace the television ad with a photo, advertisement, sale announcement, press release, or any other outreach tool and you can see how much potential use this might have. Again, both AA and UA utilize this social networking website to varying degrees of success.

UA's Facebook page is essentially a dead zone. While it has 20,000+ fans, the airline has never utilized any of Facebook's features to communicate with its audiences. It essentially serves as a method by which users can advertise their affinity for the airline by "liking" the page. Fans can "tag" UA in posts and pictures of the airline, but with no official presence they are unable to communicate directly with the company. Based on the blank updates page its safe to assume UA seems to have no interest in using the site to relay information or interact with the traveling public:

It seems United is missing an opportunity here. While their Twitter account actively interacts with the public, the Facebook account is a stagnant and almost sad representation of the company.

On the other hand, AA's Facebook page is very active and provides a lot of the same information its Twitter account does. Several time a day a representative from AA will update the page with information on new flights that are being initiated, improvements to the cabin, or potential weather delays fliers might see. It also serves as a method in which to advertise sale fares offered by the airline, though unlike UA's Twares these sales are open to anyone and do not require a code specific to Facebook fans.

The one thing AA seems to fail miserably at on its Facebook account is handling negative feedback. Without fail, any information posted by AA on its page will inevitably be swamped by a litany of complaints from users ranging from an individual's damaged luggage from a flight the night before to requests to lower the airfare on specific routes so the user can visit family. While this is to be expected with any public forum where a company interacts with the public, AA's response seems to be to ignore the users. Though once in awhile the AA account will address specific user's complaints, 95% of the time its posts become a battleground between users tearing down and building up the company.

I'm not an expert in handling public relations, but common sense tells me that ignoring the issue isn't working and probably does more to anger individuals then to calm them. Perhaps AA can reply with requests to contact AA's customer service department directly with complaints through its website or dedicated phone line? Anything would be better then seeing an announcement of a donation made to the Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research be bogged down by complaints from users asking for assistance with their canceled flight.

Again, the success of each airline's use of Facebook seems to be in the numbers: UA's low following of 20,000 users is trounced by AA's 80,000 fans.

The modern world is fickle with its attention, and social networking seems to be (for the time being) the wave of the future. An airline's attempt to link into these up and coming trends can really shape how the flying public interacts and chooses to spend money their carriers of choice. Have you had an experience interacting with an airline through Twitter, Facebook, or some other social network?

Safe Travels,

Leo