AirAsia charts another milestone in its efforts on the social media front when its Facebook Fan Page exceeded the 200,000-fan base last week.
The company even claims reaching such heady heights now positions it as the leader in social media marketing.
Kathleen Tan, regional head of commercial, says that its Facebook Fan Page has enabled the airline to steer away from the usual limitations of conventional marketing, “which consumers are no longer reacting to”.
The forum-like nature of Facebook has been a catalyst for AirAsia to move into new media and digital marketing, further enhancing its e-commerce nature, she adds.
“Lifestyle changes on the digital front as news and information are now made available real-time via the social media platform. This has prompted AirAsia to engage in social media to connect with our guests, and the response has proven to be encouraging through AirAsia’s Facebook Fan page.”
She says the airline started building and investing in social media marketing two years ago. Today, it has its own blog and a presence on Twitter through @airasiadotcom, a Flickr page as well as a YouTube channel.
“This is a movement not just at the corporate level but generally our staff also embrace it and use as tools to communicate and share experiences. It is driven at top level as most of our CEOs and senior management tweet, including me.”
While social media has generated a lot of buzz and is seen as the latest corporate tools, she says that it “really needs huge commitment and resources to manage 24/7 or it may backfire”.
“We interact, listen, have some fun, engage and action if we encounter complaints and not hide.  Transparency is crucial.  Of course we are also learning lessons on how to improve.”
Through its Facebook page, Tan says: “we can now be more relevant in providing content, based on feedback or requests from our guests, instead of just sending out a one way marketing push or product updates.
“With Facebook, we are able to optimize our engagement and interaction with our guests, apart from creating a fun and creative platform among the social media community. ”
In addition, she says the airline’s Facebook page has enabled guests to share their travel experiences, create travel networks, as well as receive real-time information updates on its flight operations and local airport conditions, such as the recent snowstorm in London.
“You can say that AirAsia’s Facebook Fan Page has become a one-stop service centre for guests travel needs,” she adds.
Marking the 200,000-fan milestone, the airline is offering an exclusive low fare deal for its fans. Tan says: “With an average of 6,500 fans and over 33,000 visits to our fan page weekly, we know that they are taking us seriously on the social media front.”
AirAsia’s Facebook Fan Page was created in April 2009 and hit the 100,000 mark in December last year, where it rewarded its fans with a 20% discount on selected routes. It has grown steadily to 205,280 total fans in the span of three months.
About Siew Hoon Yeoh
Congratulations to Air Asia from leading social media airline in European Union. In our last race we gave -70% to our Facebook friends
@air_baltic
What a great example of how a larger organization can embrace social media. Notice the keywords here include “Transparency is crucial”, “our staff embrace it”, and “We interact, listen, have some fun, engage and action”. This reads like a lesson in social media engagement. I wish them all the best success with their approach, they are one of only a few who seem to really get it.
Amazing achievement but demonstrates that social media can be very effective for travel brands if time and funds are committed to project.
the key metrics are their weekly figures (which really aren’t that spectacular) – rather then impressing us with large numbers, facts like conversion fb page vs home page would be interesting…