Introduction

Today, most of the passengers cannot even think of spending their time in an airport for booking airline tickets, most of them solely rely on the internet. They just go to the airport with a boarding pass/e-ticket and board the plane. So, here’s a big deal for every air travel and aviation sector company…. Their strong online presence is crucial to differentiate themselves in the market!

Website is the Touchpoint

First and foremost, you need a great website, as it is the major touch-point for your brand. Ensure that you have the right design to attract the visitors and engage them to the maximum extent. Make it informative, easy to navigate and engaging. Check out the website of Emirates, see how the background video is correctly placed in order to make the webpage more lively and appealing to the travellers. The better your website, more are the chances of the visitors becoming your consumers.

Standout in the Crowd!

It has become lucrative for every company or brand to emerge with great web designs and populous apps to stand out in the crowd. The right travel apps and sites not only increase your traffic but also the conversions! Make sure your app integrates with the latest user experience and design that makes searching, selecting and booking tickets a smooth experience. It is a must to provide the travel planners with an extensive range of options and price comparisons. Every passenger wants all the information on his/her fingertips. Highlighting your offers and benefits is equally important. Consider the proliferation of price prediction and travel planning apps and tools, such as FLYR, Hipmunk, Priceline, and Google Flights, Expedia and Hopper. They allow travelers to track flight pricing, plan travel and get relevant information in a blink. Why not have all those features in your app and website too! 

Make Them Loyal

Once the customers register with you, you need to follow up with them every now and then. You should use the information provided by them wisely. Personalize their experience and offer suggestions based on their preferences. Remind them about the coming vacations, wish them birthdays and special occasions and stay in regular touch to ensure a loyal customer base in future.

Videos for a Better Visibility

Planning to get tons and tons of publicity? Then you need to design a video marketing strategy. A majority of search results in Google are videos. It is pretty obvious that you need attention-grabbing videos to attract more audiences and increase your brand visibility.

para- Build Credibility!

It’s always a great idea to educate your viewers through training or instructional videos. It does not always have to be a pushy video, trying hard to get sales. Rather, just offer a helping and guiding hand for the public. Such videos not only get your brand recognized and clear the doubts of customers but also make your operations easy! Plus, you don’t even need to sound boring!

Virgin America steals the show with this song and dance number. The video has more than 12 million views! Notice the annotation in the video that leads the viewers directly to the brand’s flight searching page.

Recruitment announcement videos can go a long way in showcasing you as a great employer and attracting the right talent! You can also create a series of hack videos to help out the travellers. Corporate films are essential to let the world understand your brand, its story and mission.

Even if you have a simple content and basic benefits to offer, it is wise to make it available in a video, which eventually reaches millions and millions through social media sharing. The right videos can take you to the flight of quick popularity. Don’t get surprised if you are showered with tons attention and ROI.

Social Media is Phenomenal

Never forget that brand visibility is the king. A Forbes article that discussed the above-mentioned safety video from United Airlines, also mentioned that Jason Goldberg, Principal at Envisionit (a digital marketing agency in Chicago) said that, “Not only do snappy safety videos increase engagement on the flight but offline they become a medium for heightened brand visibility as the content spread across social media.” This clearly indicates that your social media presence is indispensable for increasing your visibility. Social media has become a hub for 24X7 communication, so always make it a point to regularly respond to comments and resolve the problems of your fans and followers.

According to an article from WNS, “Today the volume of social media communication for some of the world’s leading airlines, ranges between 15,000 – 200,000 tweets and between 60,000 – 1,000,000 Facebook fans, but in the near future, the numbers will increase phenomenally.” The article also mentions that “It will thus, make strategic sense for airlines to partner with providers that can provide them with a readymade resource pool of social media experts and technology platforms that help enhance brand equity on social media.”

KLM Dutch leveraged the power of social media by introducing Meet and Seat, which enabled the passengers to go through the Facebook and LinkedIn details of fellow passengers and know where they’ll sit….way before the flight actually takes off! Similarly, Virgin Atlantic’s interactive “Looking for Linda” social campaign increased consumer interactions by manifolds and generated over 15,000 entries and 8,000 new users!

Social media has proven to be really efficient in connecting with the traveller. It also improves the customer service, lead generation, and results in an increased web traffic. Empower your social media team to inject new ideas to increase engagement and improve your brand personality. Do not forget to enhance the human touch and respond promptly. Try to integrate your different social media platforms seamlessly, it will enable your customers to identify your brand easily.

Qatar Airways clearly knows how to engage its 1.5 million followers through Instagram posts. Their Facebook page is also always buzzing with activities…informing you about new apps, new flights, offers, CSR activities etc.

Singapore Airlines too acquainted Twitter as a powerful tool for their branding. As this airline has a reputation for luxury, they show appealing pictures of the gorgeous interiors, luxury goods and royal guest like treatment. The Twitter handle is loaded with gifs and images inviting you to take a trip with the airlines.

Cathay Pacific Airways does an excellent job by using social media in almost every department like brand storytelling, communications, reservations, employee recruitment customer service and much more. According to an article in Forbes, Dennis Owen, the group manager for social media at Cathay Pacific Airways says that “Cathay Pacific’s Facebook page includes deals, promotions, limited time specials, and photos/videos/articles about its aircraft or clubs—the type of content that resonates with loyal customers. “ Also, Cathay Pacific engages with nearly everyone who used @cathaypacific in their Twitter posts!!

Your Twitter posts will appeal to their loyal customers and to people who simply love traveling. LinkedIn, on the other hand, has to be more business focused, for people who are interested in employment, those who seek to stay up-to-date with aviation industry news or the ones looking for a premium business travel partner airline.

Thus, growing a strong brand on social media requires determination, commitment and dedication to interacting with the fans, potential customers, and employees on a regular basis.

Leave No Stone Unturned with VR

Do more, with the mind-blowing immersive virtual reality (VR) experience! VR allows users to become a part of and interact with a virtual world. At ITB Berlin 2015, Lufthansa took the visitors on a short and fun immersive trip to San Francisco. Obviously, it was a pleasant and memorable experience for both, the airlines and the visitors. Moreover, it increased the sales!

Leave no stone unturned to attract more customers. Gone are the times when you just needed to write or say about the benefits you offer….Now, your customers want to “see” and “experience” it all. Let the customers experience flying a plane from the cockpit or sitting in a business class, through virtual reality.

Be Diverging with AR

This technology has become quite popular among customers in all the major industries. AR can help the users locate your airline counters on the airport, oxygen masks on the plane or emergency exits.

You can also use AR to make your print ads lively. Such ads differentiate you from the lot, attract more attention and are remembered for longer.

As you can see, customer engagement can be greatly enhanced with the use of new media solutions like videos, games, AR and VR.

If you’re looking to create some great consulting or brand collateral, simply email us at hello@pixelsutra.com with your requirements, and we’ll be glad to help.