Time to be more social?
Social media has dramatically changed the business landscape.
In just a few years, huge social networks with audiences measured in the hundreds of millions have emerged, but that shouldn’t distract you from the vast number of niche networks that exist in just about every sector or the number of individuals who have their own social spaces for just a few members.
The influence of social media can vary considerably between sectors and geographic locations.
The UK is, for example, one of the most veracious consumers of social media in the world. The big five social spaces; Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Bebo and LinkedIn; all appear in the Top 50 sites for UK traffic and the average internet browser now spends more than 26 minutes on these sites each day.
What people are doing on these networks is beginning to have major effect on businesses.
In the last three months Trip advisors traffic is up 47% and they are reportedly getting over 40 million visitors a month worldwide.
It’s not just reviews you need to think about.
Did you hear the one about ‘Sons of Maxwell’? This small Canadian country music band travelled to Nebraska last year, on tour. During their scheduled United Airlines flight, the lead singer’s $3,500 guitar was damaged.
The singer spent the next 9 months talking to United Airlines trying to get compensation, but to no avail. So, he wrote a song and recorded a video about his experience.
In a world without social media this probably wouldn’t have mattered much. But, we live in a world where social platforms are readily available...
In just two weeks:
The video was added to YouTube, and has so far:
- It’s been watched over 3.8 million times.
- It’s been rated by over 26,000 people.
- Over 17,000 people have left supportive comments - a large number saying they will boycott United Airlines as a result.
The Youtube video made its way onto traditional media including:
- BBC
- National News Australia
- Rolling Stone Magazine
- The Daily Mail
- The Times
The song was released on iTunes and as of today is the number one country track and if you care to do a quick Google search you’d find in excess of six million other websites, blogs, comments and links to the Youtube video.
United Airlines has committed the worst social media taboo - sitting back and doing nothing.
During the same period, United’s share price dropped by 11%. And whilst it may never be possible to quantify exactly how much revenue United has lost because of this event, it has had a considerable effect and this will undoubtedly continue for some time.
Want the good news?
Some travel companies have started not only to understand the importance of social spaces, but more importantly, are beginning to understand how to use the medium well.
We’re just ‘Nuts about Southwest’ Airlines.
‘Southwest Airlines’ started their ’Nuts about Southwest’s social media strategy several years ago and currently have a presence on popular sites: Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn.
The key to their success? Their holistic social media approach.
A team of 30 employee bloggers keep the site regularly updated with new content and as a result, they receive a healthy 70,000 unique visitors each month. The blog was also the winner of the 2008 PR News Platinum PR Award.
As well as a loyal following of readers, Southwest also have the attention of 8,000 people on Twitter.
Their LinkedIn platform allows Southwest to connect with the business world. They currently have 3,000 active employees connecting their professional networks via this site.
The final platform in Southwest’s strategy is Youtube which provides Southwest with a way to show the human side of the company.
One employee, notably ‘Dave the rapping flight attendant’ has really come to the fore! Dave is a genuine employee and was rapping on flights long before the Youtube channel started. He has been interviewed on the Tonight show with Jay Leno and has appeared on CBS and ABC.
Since his Rap at the Shareholders AGM (which is also on YouTube) and the surrounding publicity, traffic to the Southwest website has risen 11% taking the site from the 1312th most popular site in the US to the 687th, according to Alexa.
Social media isn’t just for the big players. Companies with much smaller social media budgets can also run highly successful campaigns.
