Here is why JetBlue is the most loved airline brand on Twitter

Did you know that JetBlue has over 507,000 followers on Twitter? (as of 13 May, 2009). Yes, that’s more than half a million “fans” of the brand who choose to be exposed to the airline’s 140 character-long short messages. And this is almost 20 times greater than the second most followed airline, Southwest, which has just over 27,000 followers. But why? What is it that JetBlue does that makes it such a loved brand on Twitter?

I did some basic analysis and here are some stats for those of you who like numbers. Of the last 62 messages JetBlue sent out,

• 42 were replies to others (68%)
• 33 contained external links (53%)
• 12 were free tips, like how to overcome jetlag (20%)
• 10 answered customer service  queries (16%)
• 9 had sales offers/promotions of some sort (14%)
• 6 were Re-tweets (including one from SimpliFlying!) (10%)

It’s NOT just about selling on Twitter

The numbers tell a story. Do you realize that the overwhelming majority of messages were interacting with individuals, as they were replies. And there were lss than 10 messages that were trying to drive sales. The key – JetBlue adds value to their “followers” through interaction, and doesn’t only see Twitter as a medium for additional sales.

I’ve seen airlines pop-up on Twitter recently that have only been releasing deals! Well, if they really want to do that, then have they should set the expectations right, like @delloutlet, which only sends out special special offers.

It’s about making each interaction count

I shall let the examples below do the talking. These are screenshots of Tweets sent out from JetBlue’s Twitter account in the last 24 hours. They’re even having fun with their competitors! See what I mean?

So, what do you think? How should airlines be making use of Twitter? Is it actually a good thing to have a fan-following as large as JetBlue’s? If so, then how to leverage it? Let’s discusss…