Andrew Hennigan talks to travel industry social media expert to find out what makes a campaign stand out

Ask anyone to name an outstanding social media campaign and they tend to recall the most original and usually much-copied cases like KLM’s 2010 ‘Surprise’, where passengers using social media in the airport were identified by the team and surprised with an appropriate gift based on information in their public profile.

Other people might choose innovative campaigns like Royal Caribbean’s 2015 ‘Come Seek Live’.  In this one, cruise ship passengers live-streamed video from various locations to out-of-home advertising displays in New York.

But what defines a ‘great’ campaign? Is it originality, virality, increased business or something else? Here is what the experts think:

Be loyal to your customers

Bethany Evans, a social media strategy expert at SouthWest Airlines feels thatcompanies have to be loyal to their customers, versus the other way around.

“A lot of the best campaigns I’m seeing are personalised, educational, or ideally both,” she says. “I love how Coca-Cola melded the digital and physical with their virtual #ShareACoke campaign, and how they used Twitter-tailored audiences to serve followers ads with customized Coke bottles.”

One example from Southwest Airlines was a multichannel campaign launched last autumn titled ‘Transfarency’.  It highlighted how the airline treats customers honestly and fairly, and how low fares actually stay low with no unexpected bag fees, change fees, or hidden fees. Using TV, print and digital as well as an educational microsite the idea was to focus on the industry’s competitive landscape.

Walking the talk

“We didn’t want to just talk the talk – we wanted to actually show people side-by-side comparisons between Southwest and our competitors,” says Evans.

One way this was achieved was through ‘Fee  Hacker’ videos, showing how you can hack fees on other airlines – or skip the hassle, and just fly Southwest.

“We also held a Hidden #FeesDontFly Day where we surprised and delighted folks getting hit with hidden fees on other carriers,” she says.

… high word-of-mouth and earned media, is what marks a ‘great’ social media campaign

Bethany Evans, social media strategy expert, SouthWest Airlines

On this day SouthWest gave travellers in the airport or on Twitter a gift card to cover their fee plus a round-trip ticket to try the airline on their next trip. The idea was to be highly personalised, while educating at the same time. 

“When you achieve that, you get people spreading the word for you. And to my mind, this customer-centric approach that results in high word-of-mouth and earned media, is what marks a ‘great’ social media campaign,” Evan says.

A view from Virgin

Anna Catchpole, a PR manager at Virgin Atlantic Airways believes that what matters, is the originality and shareability of a campaign – something that a company can tap into and get genuinely excited about.

“If people are moved, excited, amazed around an activity, then they’ll want to talk about it,” she says.

Ultimately, though, it is about bottom line, and whether you can demonstrate results against objectives - be these around product and brand awareness or driving sales.

An example of one of Virgin’s most successful social media campaigns was the launch of the Detroit route; the aim was to raise awareness and also drive bookings.

“Our strategy,” says Catchpole, “was to create social first content in the run up to the launch, informing and exciting people about this undiscovered city followed by an integrated PR and social campaign that highlighted its rebirth.”

Aiming to impress and delight, the campaign included a stunt onboard where the cast of Motown the Musical danced in the aisles.

Campaign results included:

• The video had five million views

• 16% increase in bookings in the first week followed by a 9% week on week increase for the next seven weeks

• Flight searches for Detroit on the website increased by 146% in the week activity began

Join EyeforTravel in San Francisco later this month for Social Media & Content Strategies for Travel (March 14-15).