It’s the last time to do blogging actively, so it will be the final blog for this unit. The last topic is “social network”. Social network is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, it covers in workplaces, universities, even primary schools; it’s so much popular. According to a survey, 73% of the world online population are now visiting social network, and the time people spending on social network is growing by three times the overall growth rate of the internet.; therefore, social networks are now visited more often than personal email is read.
Strategies for social networks play significant role in order to achieve the objectives in organization. Today I will introduce KLM Royal Dutch Airline as my case study.
KLM Royal Dutch Airline considers one of the best in converting “Likes” into paying customers. Part of their marketing success is their willingness to take bold yet calculated risks. They are able to do this because they understand the customer buying journey. The touch points along the journey a lead or existing customer takes as they experience the KLM brand and then, how KLM works to improve each touch point along the path.
They began in social media in 2009. Since then, they had a few failures along with great successes. One of their more controversial and successful campaigns is their Meet and Seat initiative. See the video below, then it helps you a lot to know about how KLM get in touch with customers by social media.
For KLM, 2009 was the year of orientation, they continued to set up accounts, experiment and further explore the social landscape in 2011. They focused on growing, learning and putting governance into place; in 2012, KLM reached a milestone with one million likes on KLM global Facebook page, at the time KLM has over 1.7 million writing post.
In this year, KLM aims to strengthen the leading position in social media and set an example for the airline industry. They plan to further integrate social media into business model and have done scientific research with university students. Meanwhile, KLM is keeping a close eye on opportunities, and discovering new social networks such as Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. KLM is also active on LinkedIn.
So how do KLM implementing it with social network? KLM has 3 impressive strategies:
1. Reputation
Reputation includes brand awareness, issue management, tone of voice and sharing engaging content.
2. Service
Service is all about providing a personal and accessible one-stop-shop in social media. The latest add-on to this was a pilot study in which KLM uploaded relevant passenger information from their social conversations to KLM iPads that a number of pursers were carrying. This gave KLM crews the opportunity to offer their passengers a more personal touch. Of course, KLM always respect passenger privacy.
3. Commerce
Commerce is the more challenging component; KLM does that by working efficiently. For instance, if KLM answers one question publicly, then they answer it for everyone with the same question. As a result, they get fewer calls to answer. Another return on investment is improved online sentiment and an increase in brand ambassadors. What’s more, KLM is equipped to sell tickets and measure all conversion to their website. They have introduced the social services “Meet & Seat” and “Trip Planner” and launched the Twitter bots @KLMflights and @KLMfares.
Finally, I tried “Trip Planner” on Facebook, and it’s very easy; therefore, I provided 4 steps pictures. 🙂
This is the hompage, then click to step 1 :
After that, I clicked “select trips”, then it went to step 2:
Add Facebook friends who will be travelling with, then click continue:
Choose the destination:
Then it all come out:
Reference
Social Networking. “What Is Social Networking?”. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
Playgen. “Social Network Design Examples and Best Practise”. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
Mark A Carbone. “7 Successful Social Media Campaigns From KLM Airlines”. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
