Airlines ramp up social media efforts
Air New Zealand, KLM and Emirates are all ramping up their social media activity in a bid to boost engagement with UK travellers and gain deeper insight of holiday trends.
Air New Zealand has launched what it claims is the first affiliate programme to reward users for social media recommendations on airline seats.
The ‘Share and Earn’ scheme offers UK consumers £50 for every share via Facebook, Twitter, email or blogs that directly result in a Premium Economy booking for the airline up until 16 May.
Air New Zealand’s scheme is part of its ‘Premium Enjoyment’ digital push that lets users explore the airline’s Premium Economy cabin and its Spaceseat when they click on ads.
Chris Myers, Air New Zealand’s general manager for Europe, says: “Since we introduced the new Premium Economy on the London route our customers have been sharing some great experiences with us. This is a great chance for them to now be rewarded for telling their friends and family about it.”
Elsewhere, Dutch airline KLM has kicked-off a four week campaign with a competition for consumers to win one of four holidays by posting their ideal destination on its profile page.
The promotion will be backed by a viral game, which launches later this week for two weeks, that lets Facebook fans visit four cities in Holland.
KLM expects both promotions to add 10,000 fans to its Facebook page.
It is part of wider push to build its profile in the UK and will be backed by a travel trends poll on the social network. The company says the poll will be used to “better understand the travel habits of its UK followers” and act as a “temperature gauge of why people are travelling to Amsterdam and The Netherlands.”
Meanwhile, Emirates has launched a Facebook page to support its new positioning as a global lifestyle brand.
Fans can access details on the company’s sponsorship deals as well as apply for jobs through a careers app via its revamped Facebook profile.
Emirates launched the page last month (25 March) to tie in with the unveil of its ‘Hello Tomorrow’ global marketing strategy and claims its has gone to become the number one airline in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region on the social network.
The announcements come as a new study revealed that advertisers have been asked to pay 15% more per thousand views to advertise on Facebook.