We all know how valuable social media can be to one’s business especially small businesses. So we’ve got some helpful tips for you when it comes to managing your social media outlets.
All posts tagged social media
Airline Industry Takes Social Media To New Heights
With the economy still recuperating and with oil prices high the airline industry has been hit hard. This has been the case since 2008 and with the huge snowstorms that blanketed the country this past winter—canceling a ton of flights—many airlines will continue to suffer losses in 2011.
Enter social media. If anything can help a brand rebuild itself, it’s the web and the power of social networks. Many airlines are pulling out all the stops and engaging with their fans more than ever in hopes to build a lasting relationship with their audience.
Virgin America is looking to achieve this by engaging with fans on multiple platforms. They provide funny and entertaining video content on their YouTube channel and offer their fans a chance to win free flights by engaging with their Facebook page. Virgin is also jumping on the location-based bandwagon, encouraging passengers to check in at their newest terminal. They also use their Twitter account to engage with their followers—directly addressing issues and comments. They have a great balance of quantity and quality when it comes to their content and they do an awesome job of interacting with their fans.
JetBlue is another airline doing a great job of utilizing social media. Their Facebook page alone is filled with videos (which are also featured on their beautifully branded YouTube channel) and special offers for fans. TrueBlue members can make their way to the ‘Go Places’ tab and register themselves to earn some of these special offers as well as TrueBlue points and badges just by checking in using Facebook Places. Like many companies, they use Twitter to more directly engage with followers and follow up on any issues they may have.
There is also one airline with a small following that is shaking up the social media game with some attention grabbing tactics: Air New Zealand. Their YouTube channel is filled with all of their hysterical video campaigns, promoting the airline through creative content and even enlisting big name celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Richard Simmons to get the word out. Their most notable campaign includes a series of videos featuring Air New Zealand’s flight crew donning nothing but body paint (check it out, you know you want to). They also have a ton of cool content on their Facebook page as well as host a slew of giveaways on Twitter. A few years ago not many people even heard of Air New Zealand but because of their creative use of social media they are gaining a lot of ground.
If airlines are going to bounce back something must be done and what better way to connect with your audience than with social media? It’s the perfect solution. It’s cheap and can be extremely effective when it comes to interacting with your fans, gaining their loyalty and converting them to buyers. If you don’t believe us just ask the airline companies.
Tweeps Around – Augmented Reality for Twitter
Tweeps Around is a fancy augmented reality service that allows you to check out the peeps tweeting around you…hence the name.
It’s a free feature in the application Layar, a free augmented reality application that shows you the things you can’t normally see. Just download it for your iPhone, Android or Nokia Ovi, open the app and search for the layer called Tweeps Around and start discovering fellow Tweeters around you.
Find new people by using the camera and the augmented reality aspect of the app or just stalk them old school by pinpointing their location on a map. As creepy as it may sound, have no fear because you have to opt-in for geotagging and by default no geolocation data is associated with Twitter posts. You would have to allow whatever Twitter client you use on your mobile device to share your location using your phone’s GPS.
With over half the Twitter community accessing the service via their mobile device, applications like this could be the new wave of how we communicate with each other and interact with new people. The other services within Layar are pretty useful as well, using geolocation and augmented reality to help you find everything from apartments and museums to local street art.
With mobile usage rising we are curious to see what kinds of new apps and features Twitter and/or third party developers will implement to add more depth to the platform.
Baseball’s Opening Day Gets Social
It’s finally here! Yankees opening day has arrived and although it would be nice to be at the game it’s a lot warmer—not to mention drier—watching it from here in the Squeaky Loft.
We’ll be a little upset if this particular game gets rained out but there will be others and we are psyched for the start of the baseball season nonetheless. We know the sport is typically classified as an American past time but contrary to that cliché it is played and enjoyed around the world and is actually the leading team sport in both Japan and Cuba. There is even evidence of an early form of baseball that dates back to 18th century Europe.
Fast-forward to 2011 and modern technology is keeping us in the loop with up-to-the-minute updates on every single play of every single game. Whether you’re checking out your fantasy teams or following the games on ESPN, baseball during the modern era is creating friendly competition and conversation amongst friends and co-workers and has the power to bring us all closer together.
The MLB has stepped up their social media efforts as well, paying an average Joe in NYC to live in a ‘fan cave’ and virtually watch every game of the season on 15 Sony TVs and tweet about it. Pretty sweet gig. Follow the lucky winner here.
