Blog 
Would you believe it? Only a few days ago, while releasing the case-pack for the Best Airlines Driving Customer Service and Crisis Management we had reported that the total votes for the 2nd SimpliFlying Awards for Excellence in Social Media had crossed 12,000 in just about a week! We also mentioned how votes had been received from more than 2,500 cities across the world. But today, we have updated figures for you, and we request you to hold your breath!
With about a day still to go for voting (and trust us, a lot of votes come in on the last day), the total number of votes has already crossed 30,000. Moreover, votes have come in from 4500+ cities across the world. How incredibly awesome is that?
Yes, while you gather words and your breath to answer that, this would be a good time to remind you that only a day is left for voting so you can still vote for your favorite airline if you haven’t done so. Do vote if you care about the airline you love! Meanwhile, you can check out the latest result for the current category below. All voting closes September 15.
Before we jump into today’s case-pack on the Best Airlines in Social Media, here are a few key takeaways from these campaigns:
- Freshness and innovativeness are the keywords you need to keep in mind if you wish to drive a really successful social media campaign.
- If you’re able to engage the interest of the customer, it’s possible to overcome certain price-point barriers. e.g. KLM’s new Economy Comfort option was a hit due to the viral video of a levitating magician.
- People are looking for instant engagement online – if you’re looking to provide customer service online, don’t do it half-heartedly. Throw everything you’ve got into it and your customers will appreciate you for it. eg. AirAsia’s AskAirAsia.
- To a certain extent, building emotional bonds with customers will drive long-term loyalty and revenue. eg. KLM Surprises and JetBlue’s glass half-full video.
- Being “controversial” or disruptive is also a great way of driving buzz, receiving eyeballs and getting new customers as long as it is done right. eg. Air New Zealand have been brilliant in their “provocative” social media endeavours such as “Nothing to hide” etc.
- Leverage the latest technology as and when it becomes available to engage more customers and to appear to be at the cutting-edge of innovativeness. eg. the Chrome web app by Virgin America, Groupon route-launches etc.
With that said, here’s the case-pack. We hope you enjoy going through it!
Best Airlines in Social Media – SimpliFlying Awards 2011
View more presentations from SimpliFlying