Aviation - 24th February 2010
Stephen Joyce at Tnooz has written an excellent post about Canadian airline WestJet and how it is using Twitter to great effect for customer communications.
Key points covered include:
- Before you plunge in, understand your customer service culture and how/whether social media fits in.
- Next, develop a clear strategy for issues like training, procedures and investment. WestJet thought it all through first, even though it meant delaying its Twitter launch for a while.
- Handle Twitter or Facebook with the same professionalism you would a customer phone call.
- Use social media to promote things of widespread interest, like promotions and special offers. WestJet shows how successfully this can be done.
- Handle exchanges with individual customers offline or as (private) Direct Messages, as in this recent WestJet tweet: “@maxcameron Hi Max, sorry to hear about the delay. Do you mind following us so that I can DM you?”
- Come up with creative ways to encourage customer interactions and brand loyalty – in WestJet’s case, ‘Winglet Wednesday’ and the ‘Declare your Love’ Valentines contest.
WestJet is an excellent case study, not only for airlines and travel businesses, but almost any organisation.
