Using your content as a currency. Emerging Media Coordinator Brooks E Thomas demonstrates how Southwest Airlines provides the best online content of any airline and shares how they measure their success.
6. Where We’ve Been
Oct. 09: Southwest
Jan. 11: Social
Airlines streams a
Media Policy
press conference
July 09: The Social and Handbook
April 06: The “Nuts February 07: A announcing ECP
Media crisis are created.
About Southwest” media buy is used to service.
response is tested
Blog is launched, launch a Facebook
when Flight 2294
picking up where page to host a May 08: The Nuts March 10: The
makes an
Airline left off. basketball bracket About Southwest Blog Employee Blog
Emergency Landing.
game. get a makeover! launches.
December 06: The Southwest June 11:
Summer 07: Sept 09: The Emerging
Airlines Marketing Team uses Employee
Southwest begins a Media Team is converged
YouTube to host a “Wanna Get App created.
YouTube channel. with the PR and Employee
Away”video submission contest
And joins Twitter! Communication team
May. 11: Social
Media Customer
Relations
Jan 10: The Social Specialists are
Aug 08: The Emerging Media
Media Council and The hired to help
May 07: A Social Media Team is developed within
Rapid Response teams manage online
integration team is created Communications and includes 4
are created. CR issues.
between Communications full-time Social Media
and Marketing. employees.
8. Fan Page created: March,
2007
Nearly 2.2 million fans
Facebook is a hub for
Customer interaction!
Using Facebook, we link to a
Southwest page (typically,
Nuts About Southwest or
southwest.com).
10. Top Things We Do on Twitter
• Monitor: We monitor keywords regarding the industry and Southwest.
• Respond: If necessary, we respond to questions and concerns.
• Live Tweet Events: From plane pulls to city openings – we provide real time updates to followers.
• Behind the Scenes Glimpse: Followers love to see what’s going on behind the scenes at SWA.
• Connect with Reporters/Bloggers: We respond to media or put them in touch with a spokesperson.
• Create Buzz: We alert followers to sales, giveaways, or news announcements.
• Crowdsource: We ask our Followers for what they would like to see (Gary’s Halloween costume, a headline on a press
release, how we should celebrate our Millionth follower).
• Emergency Notifications: we’ve used Twitter multiple times to share information regarding emergencies or incidents.
• Sharing our Story! Southwest has a long history or being FUN, friendly, and outgoing. Twitter takes that persona and
brings it to the Internet. For example, singing flight attendants, LUV couples, and the best inflight/gate agent humor are all
shared via Twitter.
11. Our Hub Where we Showcase:
• Stories From Around the System
• Company News
• Contests
12. Blog Basics
Story Submission Sheet
• Idea: the storyline
• Multimedia: the elements
• Timeline: when to expect it
• Misc.: what we can do to help
13. Content Sharing
• Our Digital Presence Enables Us to
Broadcast Our Story to Millions
• Once a Particular Story is Crafted and
Sent Through Corporate Accounts, it
is then Shared by Others, to Others
(Domino Effect)
• Media Sees the Initial Story, or the
Buzz Surrounding it, and Covers our
Story
• What this looks like…
17. Holly’s Story
• Using WiFi, Rowland comments on our Facebook
Page.
• Rowland asks us to appreciate Holly somehow,
vows to sign contract saying he’ll only fly
Southwest .
• Marketing Employee Matt J. sees comment, alerts
us & PHX Inflight Supervisor Stephen D.
18. Holly’s Story
• Flight lands, Rowland is escorted off plane with
Holly.
• Holly is presented with a sash and “cookie cake of
appreciation”
20. • Employee-Generated Content
– Events/News Items Around the System
– Unsolicited Submissions
– Internal Stories that Warrant External
Publicity
• Customer-Generated Content
– Social Media Mentions (Direct & Indirect)
– Customer Relations/CS&S Phone Calls
– Emails
Identifying Content
21. • Field Employees Are:
– Pitchers
– Facilitators
– Reporters
• Why Southwest is a Natural Fit
– Established Internal Communication
– Education in Storytelling & Policy
– Empowerment (Confidence in Your
People)
Employee Content
22. It’s a lot easier to catch a story
when you’re ahead of it.
23. Employee Content: ATL at Last
• Know Your Plans
- Have you
accounted for
everything?
• Know What’s Visual
- Are you in a
position to
capture the best
elements?
• Know Your
Timeframe
- Is the content
time-sensitive, or
evergreen?
25. Customer Content
Every Tweet or Facebook Post is a Story
Idea
– Evaluate: is it worth pursuing?
– Engage: Contact People Involved, get the
whole story
• Multimedia
• Who else was involved? (Should you contact
them?)
– Determine: is this better as a first-person
account or third-person account?
• Options: Customer, Employee involved, or Blog
Team Member