Airlines rush to get brand pages on Google+, but why? 7 questions to ask before you join a new social media platform

I just got a note from a good friend at SAS Scandinavian that they’ve become the first airline in Europe on Google+. This, just 15 hours after Google+ announced that they have launched business pages for the platform, similar to company pages on Facebook. The other airline that is already there is jetBlue, which is not unexpected.

While there’s good potential for engaging customers in a new platform like Google+, airlines and airports need to be careful before jumping in the deep end. They need to have a strategy and goals they would like to achieve on the platform. And for that, we’ve put together a checklist of questions to be answered before staring.

7 Questions to ask before launching a new social media company platform

1. Who is the target audience and how are they using this new platform? Many Google+ users joined due to the initial excitement, but have never logged on much once the initial hype died down.
2. Do you have the resources to manage the engagement on this new channel? What happens if too many people start interacting with you?
3. Have you set a clear expectation about the platform – why should people follow you here, as opposed to Facebook, Twitter or other channels?
4. Which analytic tools are using to listen to conversations about the brand on this platform?
5. Are you able to segment users on this new platform, between those who have flown you before, those who are likely to fly you, and just the ranters?
6. What goals would you like to achieve? Revenue? Loyalty? Or something else?
7. How will you measure success?

Hope these questions give you food for thought before you start on something new. Do share your considerations too…