Smart Travel Tips: Five Ways Social Media is Helping Airlines and Passengers …

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

As the summer travel season kicks into high gear, the world’s largest
airlines are using the power of social media to keep millions of
travelers informed and in touch as they plan their summer getaways.

U.S. airlines will carry 206.2 million passengers from June through
August, up by 3 million from the same period in 2010. This is great news
for the industry, but can mean added challenges for travelers.

For airlines including airBaltic, easyJet, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue,
Icelandair, Southwest Airlines, United and US Airways, customer loyalty
and brand engagement are a top priority.

With more than 4 million combined followers on Twitter alone, these
carriers have turned to global interactive
marketing provider ExactTarget‘s
CoTweet enterprise social media management platform to manage high
volumes of customer interactions for flight delays, rebooking, seat
assignments, frequent flier programs, luggage handling and more.

Here are five ways social media is helping airline customers make the
most of their summer travel plans:

• Fare Deals – This summer, everyone is looking for hot deals. @SouthwestAir
  recently celebrated their 40^th anniversary by having a
  72-hour fare sale and alerting fans and followers through social media
  channels. JetBlue found so much success through pushing fare deals
  through social channels they started a separate Twitter account @JetBlueCheeps
  to offer weekly and pop-up last minute deals to their customers.
• Reservations, Rebooking – Need to make a change to your travel
  plans? Often social media can produce quicker results than customer
  service lines. @airBaltic
  regularly connects with travelers to provide flight and schedule tips.
• Weather Alerts – When a storm blew through Chicago, @UnitedAirlines
  alerted their more than 200,000 followers of potential delays through
  Twitter and Facebook. Travelers can keep an eye on their feeds to get
  the latest on weather delays.
• Rewards Programs – Do you do lots of traveling? Airlines like @USAirways
  provide program updates, partner deals and last-minute rewards
  opportunities through social media.
• Baggage Handling – Having trouble finding your bag? Reach out
  to customer support through Facebook or Twitter and often you can get
  a quick resolution.

“Tech savvy travelers are increasingly using social media to provide
real-time feedback to carriers and share their experiences with others.
You need to stay sharp if you want to keep up and stay engaged,” said
Morgan Johnston, JetBlue Airways. “CoTweet has helped us transition from
a single listening post to a 24/7 monitoring hub with the ability to
leverage multiple areas of expertise within our organization to provide
a seamless flow of information between our operations, and our
customers.”

Many airlines have also turned to CoTweet to engage with customers
during travel disruptions or crises, such as the 2010 Icelandic volcanic
eruption that resulted in the unprecedented closure of some of the
world’s busiest airports.

“Over the last few years we’ve seen a significant uptick in
conversations about air travel across social media, which has opened the
door for airlines to say, ‘We’re here, we’re listening, and we care!’”
said Jesse Engle, vice president of social media at ExactTarget. “These
brands face some of the most challenging customer service situations
around. By giving them the tools to capture, respond to, and even
anticipate their travelers’ needs, we are helping the world’s biggest
airlines drive greater customer loyalty and satisfaction ratings in a
highly competitive market.”

ExactTarget’s Twitter
X-Factors research report found that people active on Twitter
are three times more likely to impact a brand’s online reputation
through syndicated Tweets, blog posts, articles and product reviews than
the average consumer. Twitter X-Factors was the fourth research
brief in ExactTarget’s and CoTweet’s ongoing Subscribers,
Fans Followers research series.

About ExactTarget

ExactTarget is a leading global provider of on-demand email marketing
and interactive marketing solutions. The company’s Interactive Marketing
Hub^TM technology provides organizations a single
solution to connect with customers via email, integrated text messaging,
landing pages and social media. Supported by collaborative global
services teams, ExactTarget’s technology integrates with more sales and
marketing information systems than any other in the industry, including
Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Omniture and Webtrends among
many others. ExactTarget powers permission-based multichannel
communications for thousands of organizations around the world including
Expedia.com, Best Buy, Aurora Fashions, Papa John’s,
CareerBuilder.com, Gannett Co., Inc., The Leukemia Lymphoma Society,
The Home Depot and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, visit www.exacttarget.com
or call 1-866-EMAILET.

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