The two key points I raised were:

1. Airlines need to dissect their customers on social media, just like they do on their CRM, to be able to better target them and drive more efficient results. Remember my Cult Relationship Management presentation?
2. Airlines also need to decide which social media platform should be driving specific business goals – like Twitter for customer service, versus Facebook for new route launch awareness. I shared some statistics from the recently released monthly Airline Twitter report too.

Below is the actual presentation done in Prezi (click here if you can’t see it). I’d love your comments and feedback!

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1. 99.8% of all tweets are about service item issues – like flight delays, baggage inquiries and other customer service issues that’d typically go to the call center
2. While the number of airlines on Twitter has increased 10% to 184, 27 of all airlines make up 80% of the tweets (this number stood at 30 last month)
3. While Delta still remains the airline receiving and sending most tweets, it only replied to 11% of the tweets it received, as compared to 18.2% last month
4. While there’s a 250% increase in tweets about Timeliness, it is also the worst rated item in terms of satisfaction, with a score of -81.6
5. Air New Zealand has the highest global satisfaction score of 107.6 this month, unseating Cathay Pacific, which scored 107.7 last month

More interesting data and facts in the infographic below. Enjoy!

• Airlines on Twitter in May 2011: AirAsia and TAM Brazil hot on the heels of Delta Airlines
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for August 2011: Cebu Pacific joins the big league and scores high!
• Airlines on Twitter in June 2011: Delta Airlines is the breakaway “listening and talking champion”
• Eezeer and SimpliFlying launch airline monthly twitter report – Delta leads Twitter use, and customer service is in!
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs

IATA Training and Development Institute trains more than 35,000 air transport professionals each year. And the “Airline Social Media Strategy” courses will be offered across IATA’s six training centers in Montreal, Geneva, Miami, Delhi, Beijing and Singapore, in addition to other locations like Sao Paolo and Sydney.

These case-study based courses will offer interactive sessions conducted by a SimpliFlying Certified Trainer and offer in-depth analysis into the latest trends in social media while stimulating participants to come up with solutions of their own to pertinent questions. The courses will typically run for three full-days, which makes them very complementary to SimpliFlying’s own MasterClasses, which are offered in 1/2 day, 1 day and 2 day formats.

Goals

Upon completing this course you will have the skills to:

• Identify specific drivers of ROI and present a case for media budget and resources
• Evaluate the appropriateness of social marketing approaches and tactics
• Build a brand personality through social media
• Increase the effectiveness of e-mail marketing and SEO through social media

Audience

This course is recommended for:

• Senior managers in commercial departments at all levels
• Suppliers working with airlines, including travel agents and IT companies

Airline Social Media Strategy is a required elective for the Diploma in Airline Business Development, and recommended for those who have taken the Advanced Airline Marketing course. To register and find out the next available course at a location near you, please visit the course website.

These IATA courses can also be delivered on-site at your airline’s offices. Please drop us a line through the contact form in the sidebar, or getting in touch directly through the IATA course website.

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These are very exciting times in the airline industry. Last month, I shared a number of vital statistics about airlines’ twitter usage at a keynote in San Francisco [view presentation]. While those gave a good overview of how the industry is using the platform, one key aspect was lacking – the social media landscape for is constantly evolving, and a report produced once doesn’t do it justice. While we felt we should produce an ongoing report on that, we didn’t really have a data source for all the latest and greatest statistics.

That’s when Arnaud from Eezeer got in touch [remember? Eezeer = real-time airline reviews], and mentioned that they’re looking to produce a monthly twitter report from all the data they’ve been gathering from travelers. One thing led to another, and the end result was this first infographic that you see below – full of startling data about how airlines (and travelers) use Twitter. The best part is that this report will be released monthly – so look out for this every month in our infographics section (latest by the 5th of each month).

Airlines on Twitter – Oh…the stories data tells

While you drool over the data in the infographic below, I thought I’d highlight some interesting stories, which may not stand out on first glance:

1. You’ll see that twitter use among airlines is spread out globally – with Top four airlines featuring Delta, TAM Brazil and AirAsia (Malaysia!)
2. While there are 168 airlines on twitter, only 77 are actively tweeting, and 80% of all tweets come from just 30 airlines (17%)!
3. While Delta Airlines replies to the most number of tweets, it’s AirAsia that replies to the largest percentage of tweets to an airline – over 40% of tweets are replied to – that’s some serious effort, and this is way above the industry average of 24%
4. While customer service is the most important function being addressed on Twitter (due to its real-time nature), it’s comfort & security that’s on the rise – remember how @TimF10 was helping American Airlines passengers with security setup at AA terminal at LAX?
5. Long-haul low-cost carrier AirAsia X has come out ahead of legacy carriers like Cathay Pacific and Asiana in the quality of customer service provided on Twitter. And it’s Azul from Brazil that’s leading in the “comfort and security” space.

The conclusion from all this – twitter use is on the rise. Some airlines are adapting quickly to travelers’ increased use of social technologies. But not all have a strategy for this, and we’ll figure out in the upcoming months who are the flukes and who are the real deal.

Exciting times!

• Airlines on Twitter in May 2011: AirAsia and TAM Brazil hot on the heels of Delta Airlines
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs
• [Infographic] Airlines on Twitter – April 2011 data reveals the need to focus on Customer Service
• Airlines on Twitter in June 2011: Delta Airlines is the breakaway “listening and talking champion”
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for August 2011: Cebu Pacific joins the big league and scores high!

As part of the inaugural ‘Social media for the aviation industry‘ conference being held in London on Oct 1, 2010, we are launching an awards scheme to recognise and reward those innovating in the field.

We are inviting everyone involved in social media strategies to sumbit their entries in one of three categories:

• Best social media marketing campaign
• Best use of social media to drive revenue
• Best use of social media in a crisis situation

Please use the form below for nomination. The last date of submission of entries is Sept 20, 2010. After which public voting on SimpliFlying.com will form part of the decision process to determine the winners, who will be announced on Oct 1, in London.

Additionally, SimpliFlying will be giving away the award for SimpliFlying Hero of the Year, who will be chosen from one of the SimpliFlying Heroes selected over the past year.

All the best!

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What is a social media policy, you ask?  Basically, it addresses the concerns that many airlines have when getting started in social media… What if an employee says something they shouldn’t?  How do we respond to passenger complaints and compliments?  How can we possibly control what our employees are doing online?  If you’ve been up and running on social media for a few months, it’s time you formalize your thoughts in this area, and ensure everyone at the airline is on the same page.  Here are five key imperatives for your social media policy:

1. Explain the Scope in User-Friendly Terms

When you say “social media policy” to many of your employees, they may think “that doesn’t apply to me because I’m not in Marketing.”  So, it’s important for your policy to explain what types of activities it covers, possibly including their personal Facebook profile, their Twitter account, YouTube accounts, etc.  Giving these types of examples up front in the policy will ensure that employees understand that their online persona is a reflection of the company, even if they are not an “official spokesperson” for the company.

2. Authenticity and Transparency

I could write an entire blog post alone about what these two terms mean!  But, basically, employees need to be transparent; meaning that they should use their real names in anything they are writing online, and disclose that they work for your airline when appropriate.  For example, if they are commenting on a blog post related to the airline industry, they should be clear that they work for your airline. And state clearly whether or not their views are personal, or official.

Authentic and transparent also mean being human. Show who you are as a person, not just an employee.  Be real.  Be wrong.  Be personal.

3. Confidentiality

Being authentic and transparent don’t mean that everything that happens in the company is open for public consumption. Employees need to understand what is confidential, and exercise judgment about what to share and what to keep private. Explaining what is considered confidential and off limits for social media, is an important part of your social media policy.

4. Think About Who is Listening

Before anyone writes anything online, they should think about who could see it.  If your competitor saw it, would that be OK?  If your airline’s promotions agency saw it, what would they think?  These questions should be asked with every online interaction. If the employee is unsure, they shouldn’t post it.

It’s also important to remember that the Internet is permanent.  Anything written will stay on record in some way.  Nothing is ever fully deletable.

5. Guiding Principles

Porter Novelli, a public relations company, has a set of guiding principles in its social media policy.  This is a great way to summarize the policy into overarching guidelines, rather than rules, that are easy to remember.

• The web is not anonymous. Assume that everything you write can be traced back to the company, if not you personally.
• There is no longer a clear boundary between your personal life and your work life.
• Do not lie or withhold the truth.
• he web contains a permanent record of our mistakes. But do not try to change things retrospectively.

I can picture these as thought bubbles running through someone’s head before writing anything online.

While these are the 5 most important items to include in your social media policy, there are many more considerations when writing one.  Look out next week for a follow up post with more on this topic.

What do you think?  Have we missed any imperatives? Have you had success with a social media policy? What are the key elements there? Let’s discuss.

(Photo credit: Transparency, Big Ear)

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Yesterday, in Sydney, at the Australia Pacific Aviation Summit, I gave my keynote on airline branding and social media a different touch. I emphasized on the fact that airlines and airports need start moving from broadcasting messages to their customers, to having conversations about their brands with their “cult”.

Featuring case studies of over 25 airlines on social media, this was the presentation that I used for my keynote on 6 Aug 2009. It was very well received by an audience of experienced senior aviation executives. And I’d love to have your feedback on it. What do you like most? What’s the biggest challenge?

Keep Flying, SimpliFlying,
Shashank

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